Thin lines with Patriot 105

The finest lines I've gotten with any airbrush and I use Badgers 200 (for general) and 150 (for fine work). I've found with the 150 if I drop the pressure to about 10psi and move in close, less then an inch, I can get tight lines of about 1mm. I use an extra fine needle and only pull back on the trigger enough to get a little paint flow which can take a little practice.

I thin to 50% with Tamiya paint and thinners

Hope that helps

PMitch

zapme

Hi all,

I've got a Badger Patriot 105 AB and am having troubles with getting thin lines without any over spray, this camo is common  with Italian and German aircraft. can anyone offer any tips or hints.

Thanks -Leo

Leo, your experience with the Badger Patriot is very similar to other owners. See my post here.

You can improve on it by these tricks:

1. Get the fine needel/nozzle/crown set.
2. Gradually thin the paint more and lower compressor pressure.
3. Lots of practices.

The Patriot has a relative large nozzle compared to, say, an Iwata and the needle taper is short. It is not designed for drawing fine lines. You may want to consider a second airbrush if you need to draw really thin lines, Harder & Steenbeck Evolution Silverline Solo comes to mind.

How thin are we talking here?

Generally I have not had issues with my Patriot 105, provided I thin the paint more so than usual, and lower the air pressure way down. But if you're painting fine lines on, say, 1/72 aircraft, then another airbrush may be needed, one specializing in such fine work.

zokissima

How thin are we talking here?

Generally I have not had issues with my Patriot 105, provided I thin the paint more so than usual, and lower the air pressure way down. But if you're painting fine lines on, say, 1/72 aircraft, then another airbrush may be needed, one specializing in such fine work.

It is probably a partially user related question. Some user will do a lot better than others using the same airbrush. I consider myself a modeler not very skillful with the airbrush. I found the hardware has a strong impact on how fine a line I can draw. A small nozzle, long taper needle and pre-set handle help a lot. 

I have heard many testimony that the Patriot can do most everything ok in modeling. There is a good write-up at Don Wheeler's web site. It tells what the Patriot can do in a skillful hand.

Get something to practice on. I like to use a pad of watercolor paper but you have to realize the paints will react differently on plastic. It takes practice and, if you don't do it for a while, it takes practice again. So, I practice on paper. It's easier. Let's see, which word did I use too often?

The first step is getting close to what you're painting. As in, needle almost dragging the surface close. Then you can go one of two ways. And both will work. You just have to experiment.

One is to use your paints as you thin them now and use the air pressure you're using now. Or even turn it up a little. Yes, more air can mean more overspray and that's where trigger control and getting very close comes in. But, learning to do it this way will allow you to pull darker lines without making multiple passes.

Second is to turn the air way down and make your paints very thin. Set your air at 10psi or less. Maybe around 7 - 8psi. Then thin your paint till it will spray at this pressure. Thin it until you get a blowout. That's when you shoot paint and it blows out and looks like a spider. Then go back and add a little paint to the mix. Then you know it's as thin as you can go. At that air pressure. Back off your target just a bit and spray a little paint and see if it's atomizing and giving you a fine spray or if there's little droplets in the pattern. If it isn't a fine spray then turn your air up a little until it is. If it is, you may be able to turn your pressure down a little more. That also means you may be able to thin a little more. That's why you have to experiment, to find the limits.

Now, it's all about learning trigger and brush control. Maintaining distance, speed and trigger position. And doing it without getting white knuckles. Keep the brush pointed straight, tipping it one way or the other will cause more overspray to one side. That's something you can use to your advantage but that will come later. First, learn how to keep it straight.

Force yourself to remember this and practice it; air on, paint on, paint off, air off. In other words, always press the trigger down to start the air before you pull back to start the paint and always ease the trigger forward to stop the paint before you release the trigger to turn off the air. If you don't then you may have a blowout at the beginning of the stroke or you may leave a drop of paint on the end of the needle at the end of the stroke just waiting to screw up your next stroke. Depending on how critical what you're painting is you may even go as far as to move the brush away from what you're painting before you start the air for your next stroke. One way around that is to just keep the air on.

Remember to have the brush moving when you pull back to start the paint. If you're getting barbells instead of lines then you're starting the paint before you're moving and stopping moving before you turn off the paint.

I know, a lot of words. But, in PRACTICE, there isn't that much to it. The single biggest thing is learning to control the trigger. And some paints are easier to work with than others.

Tony

Thank-you everyone for the comments. off to my man room to get some practice in. can anyone give some recommendations as to which airbrush is suitable for fine line work as i model regularly in 1/72.

Thanks -Leo

zapme

Thank-you everyone for the comments. off to my man room to get some practice in. can anyone give some recommendations as to which airbrush is suitable for fine line work as i model regularly in 1/72.

Thanks -Leo

From what I read, you can do what you want with the Patriot if you are artist and skilled with the airbrush.

I considered myself not very skillful and found some airbrushes easier to work with drawing finer lines. I will suggest Harder & Steenbeck Infinity or Evolution Silverline, and the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS.

In Australia, you may also consider Sparmax which seems to have a good distribution network there. I hope that Phil-H will comment on the Sparmax. I do not have one.

You may want to look at the online shops in Hong Kong. Cheaper price and cheaper shipping to Australia than from US.