Is It Me or the Airbrush??

Have you tried painting another colour with the same tip on an old model or scrap piece? It may simplely be that you cleaned it to well and some loosen paint maybe blocking or interfering with the paint flow.

Having paint land on the job in a grainy appearence may mean you'll have to dial back on your air pressure a little as the paint is drying on its way to the surface and therefore appears grainy or dusty. I usually have my paint (MM enamels) to a milk like consistancy for airbrushing and have no problems. Hope this helps you out a little. Let us know how you get on. Cheers Jim

It may have something to do with with XF-69, or your particular tin of it. I have had similar'ish issues with XF-1 black, my issue being that it lays down very grainy (think roughcast), as if is drying to quickly.

I messed about with thinning ratio, pressure & needle size - moving from an 0.14 > 0.2mm needle made a slight difference, but not that much. I ended up overpainting on purpose, in the hope the excess paint would settle down to a smoother surface, which it did very well. I now do this whenever I am using XF-1 & it seems to work fine.

    It could also be the airbrush was not as clean as you thought. I have a pache VL, and if I don't completely disassemble it for cleaning after use, it will not work the next time I get it out because of the paint residue that even lacquer thinner won't disolve. It's seems to be the pigment that stays behind. Flats seem to be worse than gloss. I love the results you get with an airbrush but I hate cleaning the thing. I have often wondered if a single stage would be better for painting large pieces, and easier to clean. Did I mention that I hate cleaning my airbrush?

I feel your pain!  I hate cleaning mine too; but I've resigned my self to the fact it's a necessary evil.

 

Jim:  I'll also try your advice about dialing back the pressure a little bit.  I pretty much do my painting on the weekends.  I'll let you know how it turns out.