What am I doing wrong with my airbrush?

Well I know when I freehand camo patterns,20 psi is too much,I'm down to about 8 psi and very close to model and very thin mix

I think Tojo is spot on, even though I do use a spray booth with positive air flow, I can attest that dusty overspray is better controlled by lower pressures and highly thinned paint.

I use Tamiya acrylics and gravity feed airbrushes, pretty much always I thin the paint with either X-20A or 71% alcohol, reduced at 60-80 %, alcohol to paint ratio. My working pressure is usually 12-15psi, but often as low as 8-10psi, when doing finer applications such as camo borders.

And the closer you can stay to the surface, the less opportunity for stray paint particles.

I'm painting car models and want wide coverage to help with glossiness. Would the lower pressure and closer distance be ok with car models? 

JimLo

I notice on videos when modelers airbrush there is barely any overspray. Some people even airbrush on the bench over a pice of paper towel. When I airbrush with Mr Color 1:1 or 1:2 paint to thinner at 20 psi it creates a cloud of overspray which is enough to land back on the model. I replaced my spray booth filter which improve it but it is still a lot. Is my paint too thick? Thanks 

 

What kind of airbrush is it?  If it's a single action siphon feed (like paasche h), then most of those are not much better than rattle cans as far as overspray.

I have a dual action gravity feed ( iwata revolution cs) and there is very little overspray, even at 20 psi.  I spray at my desk with a piece of paper underneath, and it's fantastic!

I think it's more the airbrush than the paint

Hi have an Iwata HP-CS. Would Thinning the paint more help? Do you pull back on the trigger all the way each pass ?

thanks 

You are simply pulling the trigger too far back and letting too much paint out at once. Thinner paint, lower psi, closer to the model, less pull on the trigger and lots of practice is the answer. Buy a spray booth too.

Thanks. Will definitely try those soon on my next model. I guess I also haven't thinned enough since I had to do three passes before the paint was "smooth". That's probably also why I pulled all the way back on trigger and tried to spray farther back to get a wider spray pattern. Thanks again. 

modelmaker66

You are simply pulling the trigger too far back and letting too much paint out at once. Thinner paint, lower psi, closer to the model, less pull on the trigger and lots of practice is the answer. Buy a spray booth too.

 

He already has a spray booth,see 1st post

JimLo

Thanks. Will definitely try those soon on my next model. I guess I also haven't thinned enough since I had to do three passes before the paint was "smooth". That's probably also why I pulled all the way back on trigger and tried to spray farther back to get a wider spray pattern. Thanks again. 

 

In your shoes or even now in mine after 60 years of model painting, I would test it all out before my next model build, not during it or on the model itself at least. Many here use plastic spoons, I use prescription bottles. Prime a bunch up and have at it. You can learn a lot then apply that to your next model. But I'll tell you outright that spraying gloss finishes on cars is different from other categories with flat finishes, especially if you don't want a ton of post spray polishing to do.

I'm working on a 1/16 scale Model A and have done up at least three bottles so far to match the finish of the Washington blue for the body ( nobody makes that blue it's my own custom blend, well Scale Finishes might make it). And two for the black fenders. The fenders I have two options in paint nailed down, the easiest being use up the last of my Model Master Classic Black enamel. I thought I had the blue nailed then did another test I'm liking better but it's a more difficult path to a good finish. I still have one more test but I need a bottle of Tamiya red to mix it. Two tests for cream wheels. So far on the car, the wheels are painted. I don't rush, no need to rush. Next up to test is the green for the engine, that should be pretty easy using craft paint. Once all these are nailed I can start my paint project, actually I may prime the fenders today. No rush.

Thanks for the tips. Even when I build extremely slow ( 30 minutes a week when I do get a chance to build) I do rush the painting process more than I should. I'll practice more and test on spoons before my next paint job. I do have tons of spoons now from take-out meals too. Thanks for the tips. 

Tojo72

 

 

modelmaker66

You are simply pulling the trigger too far back and letting too much paint out at once. Thinner paint, lower psi, closer to the model, less pull on the trigger and lots of practice is the answer. Buy a spray booth too.

 

 

 

 

He already has a spray booth,see 1st post