I'm starting out with 2 strikes, but help!

I haven't tried everything on the market, but I do own a few airbrushes, including a couple of lowest price Badgers.  I haven't found one yet that won't put down a nice coat of paint if used properly and kept clean.  I've even used the canned air.  It's far from ideal, but useable if you keep the can warm.  I suspect you have a setup or cleaning problem as others have said.  It could be something simple like a protective cap over the nozzle.  Is there a troubleshooting section in your Aztek manual?  Put the paint away until you get it to work with plain water.  Check out this discussion.

Don

427 Cobra

Maybe this will help - I've used just about every airbrush on the market including the overpriced ones. An airbrush is usually only as good as the person using it, except the cheapass Testors, or Badger brands which are overpriced, and over rated. These work as long as you warm your can in warm water to make the Co2 last longer. If your getting splatter from the tip, this is because you have insufficient cleaning capacity of these poorly designed nozzles. Paint gets clogged as it builds. This makes for poor performance. Soak the tip in acetone, or paint thinner. You may need a stronger solvent like acetone, or lacquer thinner if it is indeed dried paint, as it is more difficult to remove the longer it sits. 

 You also might need to thin your paint if it doesn't spay to well. I've found that the cheaper the airbrush - the cheaper the quality of performance.  Iwata is over rated too, as most of its' users think the more expensive, the better. Nothing could be further from the truth! This is a case of "I bought one because XXXX bought one". It's only as good as the person using it. I've heard some who've had success with it, and others who aren't impressed with it. I wouldn't recommend it over anything you can get for $60 - $100 anywhere. Paache is easy to use, and clean, and get true professional quality - plus you can get parts for it cheaply, not expensively, and the revenue stays in our country unlike the Japanese made models.

You can get an airbrush just about anywhere, but I get mine from www.bearair.com They have excellent prices, products, and service. I bought the Paasche VL after trying everything else on the market. I got my compressor from Harbour Freight for $60.00, but they no longer make, or sell it. You may be able to get one from just about any home improvement store, hardware store, or other similar retailer.

                                                                                          ~ Cobra Chris

I have both a Paasche VL and an Iwata, and I've found the Iwata better in every way. I haven't used the Paasche since I got the Iwata - no compelling reason to.

In this case the more expensive AB wins in a side-by-side comparison IMO, although you're right in pointing out that more expensive doesn't necessarily equate to "better". People should do their research and make an informed decision before buying. Obviously part of that process is relying on the opinions and experiences of others to a large extent.

Maybe this will help - I've used just about every airbrush on the market including the overpriced ones. An airbrush is usually only as good as the person using it, except the cheapass Testors, or Badger brands which are overpriced, and over rated. These work as long as you warm your can in warm water to make the Co2 last longer. If your getting splatter from the tip, this is because you have insufficient cleaning capacity of these poorly designed nozzles. Paint gets clogged as it builds. This makes for poor performance. Soak the tip in acetone, or paint thinner. You may need a stronger solvent like acetone, or lacquer thinner if it is indeed dried paint, as it is more difficult to remove the longer it sits. 

 You also might need to thin your paint if it doesn't spay to well. I've found that the cheaper the airbrush - the cheaper the quality of performance.  Iwata is over rated too, as most of its' users think the more expensive, the better. Nothing could be further from the truth! This is a case of "I bought one because XXXX bought one". It's only as good as the person using it. I've heard some who've had success with it, and others who aren't impressed with it. I wouldn't recommend it over anything you can get for $60 - $100 anywhere. Paache is easy to use, and clean, and get true professional quality - plus you can get parts for it cheaply, not expensively, and the revenue stays in our country unlike the Japanese made models.

You can get an airbrush just about anywhere, but I get mine from www.bearair.com They have excellent prices, products, and service. I bought the Paasche VL after trying everything else on the market. I got my compressor from Harbour Freight for $60.00, but they no longer make, or sell it. You may be able to get one from just about any home improvement store, hardware store, or other similar retailer.

                                                                                          ~ Cobra Chris

Like Doogs said, if paint is shooting out of the cup that sounds like you have a blockage or thinning issue, more likely blockage since even if your paint isn't thinned adequately for AB use, your air is coming out at full pressure according to how much pressure is in the can of compressed air; if it was a thinning issue, probably the paint would at least initially not flow very well, if only air is coming out and not any paint (except out of the cup) - well that's most likely a blockage problem.

If I recall clogging easily is one reason why a lot of people don't like the Azteks. They're high maintainance in that you have to make sure you clean the tip REGULARLY, some people even recommend soaking the tip in lacquer thinner overnight after you're done painting for the day.

Here's an article on cleaning an Aztek you might find helpful:

http://www.howtoairbrush.com/content/cleaning-aztek-airbrush-nozzle-156/

Personally that's way more parts than I would care to deal with.

Echoing what everyone else has said about the Aztek and canned air. You can get a decent workhorse single-action AB like a Paasche H for a song these days, and a decent compressor for about $60. 

But that wasn't what you asked and you kind of knew that going in...so why is air coming out the nozzle and paint shooting out of the cup? 

Sounds like a blocked passage to me. What kind of paint are you trying to shoot? How thin have you thinned it? If you're trying to spray an acrylic, the unregulated airflow might be drying it inside the airbrush, clogging the plumbing, and sending a portion of the air back to the paint cup.

Bocks Suv

I bought a single action Aztek airbrush for some light detail work with acrylics. Since I'm new at airbrushing and havent pulled the trigger to buy a compressor, I'm using canned air.  Those are my 2 strikes, or is that 3?

  When I just tried this setup using the top feed cup, as soon as I lightly pressed the button, all the paint flew out, but air was also coming out of the nozzle tip. What the frag??! What would cause so much air pressure to shoot out into the paint cup?? I was only practicing so nothing got onto my kit, but I need some advice, other than "get a real airbrush and a real compressor." They may come later if this dio works out OK..  

I've never used an Aztek...some people like them, but most opinions I've read have been negative. This forum and others is full of opinions on airbrush brands, so I'd try searching a bit before making up my mind. I use an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS; very good quality and also easy to disassemble/clean. It can be used for both broad coverage and detailed painting.

I'd get a good double-action, opinions vary a lot on brand. The vast majority of people use double-action AB's, single-action just doesn't cut it generally but some people prefer them for certain uses - for overall use a double-action is definitely the way to go, there's very little disagreement here (if any).

As for not being able to control your paint/airflow, that's probably because you're not using a regulated airflow with a double-action AB. Do yourself a favor and toss the compressed air and buy a good-quality compressor with a regulator and moisture trap for your air supply.Those cans of air are expensive, and before long you would have spent the $$ that a compressor setup would cost.

Wish I could help, but I don't know anything about the Testors airbrushes except that they are really different.  You might try asking your question at this forum.  There are some happy Testors users there.  And, specify which model you have.

Don

Bocks Suv: forgot also get rid of canned air no good it will freeze up on you get yourself a good compressor I got one on sale at the NAPA store here for $80 bucks its a little loud when it runs but it puts out plenty of air. Be sure and put on a water filter and a good pressure regulator then you'll be off and running good luck. Just remember airbrushing a lot of practice practice practice good luck.        ACESES5                         

Bocks Suv; This is only my opinoin the Aztex airbrush from testors is JUNK!!!!!!!!!! get yourself a Paasche or Badger brush bottom feed  I've used my Paasch for over 40 years.  And still get excellent results with it.                      ACESES5