1st try at camo

For a first attempt it not only looks good, it's probably better than my third or fourth try. Among many other AB's I used a Paasche H, a fine AB and many modelers are able to get really great results with them.

As has been mentioned, thinning is a critical element in the process. I started with the old school 2 parts paint to 5 parts thinner, it works but flow is not good and clogs come quickly. Now with Tamiya acrylics I commonly spray at 60 or 70% thinner and the flow out leaves a nice even finish, (smooth, not pebbly,) and the clogs are MUCH less frequent.

If you spray with a regulator, try dialing the pressure up to 30psi or so and spray out a bit of paint, then dial back to your usual psi, that usually clears any clogs I might experience. And a drop of lacquer thinner on a Q-tip wiped gently over the needle tip, does a great job of clearing a bit of build up at the tip.

There is a good bit of experience needed to get comfortable with camo, and airbrushing in general. Your work looks very good, with practice you'll get even better, then you will really enjoy airbrushing.

Patrick

So I finished up for now.  Added a little wash, but have laid it aside for a new build.  Will add more later....  1st real attempt at camo.  Comments?  Tks!!

Hi Mrchntmarine,

From my experience, not with just the Paasche H, but all airbrushes, i've never found any "ready to airbrush" paints thin enought to spray straight from the bottle. I always thin all paints.

I mainly use Gunze Sangyo and Tamiya Acrylic - both will flow through the H tip easily when thinned.

The H tip is actually not that fine, particulary when comparing to the tips of some double action airbrushes - any paint properly thinned will flow through it.

I'd suggest to thin the flat clear, despite what the bottle says. You may need to do a few coats to get the matte effect, but at least it won't clog up the brush.

I too had the same issues with my H that you are having.  After several session of issues I decided to move away from MM acryl. 

I get great results shooting Tamiya acrylic, Mr hobby aqueous and Mr paint/Color acrylic thinned with Mr hobby/color self leveling thinner.  I thin 60-70% thinner to paint and shoot 15-25 psi with my H depending on the job.

Always lays down a great finish and I can spray for over an hour at 60-75 degree room temp without clogs.

so there are a few people here with H type paasche experience and wanted to ask this---  yesterday i used the H-1 tip to spray MM acryl flat clear at about 15psi to start and it kept clogging.  Went up and down with the pressure, checked the needle (was blocked) and kept trying with the no. 1 needle and bumped the pressure to 20.  after a long trial and error i just had to keep ungunking the tip but got it done - learning in the process that i need to do a better job masking the windshield... I later read in the instructions that paasche recommends the H5 for heavier fluids.  So, question.....

is MM acryl flat clear considered a heavier fluid?  I did not dilute as I remember reading it can be shot w/o being diluted.

it may have been a little thicker than milk, hard to tell.  should i have dilluted and used the no. 5 tip?

the instructions recommend 30 psi or more for acrylics.  any recommendations for tip and pressure for acrly flat please?  tks!!

1st of all, Tks to everyone for the tips and suggestions. IMO the Spit looks real good. I guess practice, practice practice. Nice to see a real life masking job. 

I agree with the thinning - skim milk is the best metaphor. I do most of my work with a Paasche H.  I have done freehand work with the airbrush thinning and adjusting pressure as well as using diffrent masking techniques.  I did this little Tamiya spit with the Paasche H using 'sausages' for masking -

I do have an iwata double action for certain applications but I'm a huge fan of the Paasche.

I must disagree with a number of other responses, save for Route62.

My first airbrush was also a Paasche H, so i know the feeling of learning with that airbrush.

First off, i agree with Route62 with regard to air pressure. I would up it well above 15psi. Personally, i now use a double action gravity fed brush, and i spray around 30psi. I use mainly Tamiya or Gunze thinned with their thinners though, which is an alcohol base, so it flashes off pretty quickly.

If you're using the MM enamels, i find you need to really thin them down to flow, and even more so if you are shooting with a Paasche H.

For the type of painting you are doing here, stick with the fine tip (single line indicator).

When you place the needle (that the part that is screwed in place with the set screw) into the holder, try and adjust the tip (that's the other part that screws up and down) so that the opening between the two is in line with the air flow.

This was something i found to be PITA with single actions - you have to wriggle around and adjust the tip until you get the lines you want, then screw it into place.

I started off with this a/b doing free-hand camo on 1/72 aircraft - so you can certainly achieve that on 1/35 armour.  It just takes practice.

Keep at it, you'll get there over time.

Best of luck, hope to see some future builds from you.

My first airbrush was a passche h and I still have it.  It's a great airbrush to start with for simple color schemes and camo that you plan to mask off. You are hitting the limitations of this great starter airbrush when you get into psi under 15 and free hand work.

Due to the nature of a siphon feed airbrush and being single action no matter if you us the smallest needle, you will get splatter and runs and all the other issues you are getting as a passche h needs more air then the kind of close up work you are trying.

When you get into double action brushes you can then thin your paint down like 70/30 thinner to paint and lower the psi to 8-10 and get in close with fine lines.  There is a larger learning curve but once you get it there is no going back.  Keep your H as well, it's great for primer jobs and gloss coats, anywhere you need to move a larger volume of paint.

Spend the money on name brand double action, $50-100 will get you a high quality brush.  Stick with .2 and/or .3 needle tip combo size.  The passche h will handle your larger jobs and your double action will do the fine details.

That’d be the consistency of skim milk (although my eyes have never been quite that discerning)

Ok the rule is to thin the paint to the constantly of skim milk just enough to coat with color close the needle and slowly open enough to start paint to flow pratice on  card broad with lines etc now I have been airbrushing for 40 years practice with the other needles  see what happens I still have my 1st airbrushed model a monogram hell cat with time don’t get bummed I still make bobo’s

crown r n7

The badger tc910 is a compresser did it come with an airbrush?

 

My bad. Sorry.  Paasche H-Set

The badger tc910 is a compresser did it come with an airbrush?

crown r n7

been there In my humble appinion what I see is your spraying too thick a paint too much through the airbrush at a high psi. You need to reduce thickness of paint with that you can adjust paint and air flow. what type of airbrush are you using?

 

Badger TC910 Aspire Pro.  It came with the std 3 nozzles - dont remember the sizes, but have 1 circle, 2 circles and 3 circles marking the difference.  as mentioned this is my 1st attempt at camo and i dont have a lot of spraying experience.  so i figure i just need to practice more.  having said that, i have found it confusing trying to sort ratios of thinners, solvents etc when trying to spray.  there is too much info(right and wrong, good and bad out there!)  ive tried to make a little list of do's and donts but have trouble trying to remember acrylics vs enamels and how much of what to use for the desired outcome.  I know there is no one size fits all, but id like to find a good reference book for starters.

been there In my humble appinion what I see is your spraying too thick a paint too much through the airbrush at a high psi. You need to reduce thickness of paint with that you can adjust paint and air flow. what type of airbrush are you using?

okay, somehow i missed the replies.  i know its been a bit too.  but now trying to clean it up free hand.  thanks for all the suggestions - practice and more practice!  heres now - still in progress but getting close to capping it off so i can start a new one!

First, very nice kit. Now, with the photos you posted I can tell that you held it to close at such high pressure. If you look at all of your starting points you will see "puddling" and "runs". You want to have the air engaged on your airbrush and have your hand slowly moving when you engage the paint. Don't hold it in one spot when you start the paint flow. Also, what size needle are you useing? For fine line detail I tend to use a .25 or .35 at a lower pressure. A trick to help reduce splatter is to remove the tip cap of the airbrush and every so often clean the needle tip.

For your first camo it looks fine...like anything it takes trial and error. Practice, practice and practice some more. LOL. When I am playing with my airbrush...I'll take a piece of paper or cardboard and practice camo patterns on that.

I usually free hand my soft edge 35th camo, but if your not confidant doing that i would opt for putty.

As for your splatter, others will have more idea than me, but initial guess would be thinner ratios or airbrush needs cleaning.