newbie: help with airbrushing

It can vary... it partly depends on the pressure of your compressor, and your personal preference. I used an Aztek, and thinned Tamiya paints about 30-40%...

Using the White or Black nozzles this worked very well. With the other finer nozzles (like the gray or tan) I thinned with about 50-60% thinner. I also used Tamiya thinner -- buy the larger bottle.

The splatter is probably an indication of not enough thinning.

With the Aztek, I had extra nozzles so I could drop one in water, while using the others, then go clean them all at once.

I am in this same boat.

I have a new Aztek 470 and am currently testing out paint mixtures for the best result. I am using all acrylics, and either Tamiya or Model Masters. The Tamiya seems thicker but I thin them the same when going into the airbrush.

I pre mix a water bottle full of 50% Rubbing Alcohol/50% Water. Then from that bottle I mix 50/50 with the paint... or there abouts. I haven't had any real problems with it that much.

I definately recommend this article about airbrushing. It is extremely informative about spidering.. too much air... too much thinner, etc.

http://www.testors.com/hobbyist_guides.asp

Go there and read the airbrush guide. It is written by a guy that really knows what he is talking about. The problem is.. he doesn't give a straight answer.. he says just mess around with the mixture until you are happy with the results. He does have a bunch of tell tale signs with examples of what it looks like when you have errors and what the problem is. Its very informative.

Yes... I found that Model Master Acryl paints need less thinning... 20-30% or so.

I did not mention that I airbrush acrylics at about 16-18psi in a gravity feed, and 20-22 in a syphon feed. But lower for thinner paints like metalics.

And even lower for Lacquers like Alclad -- about 9-10psi.

You can even have variances in the same line of paint. I find that some Tamiya colours do not need to be thinned at all before airbrushing. ie flat black.

Myself, I've gotten pretty lucky using acrylics...so far.

However, what about enamels? I'm thinking the thinning ratio would be higher?

With Model Master enamels I thin it 2:1; 2 parts paint to 1 part thinner at about 20 psi through a T&C Vega 1000 gravity feed airbrush with the #1 tip and needle.

Mike