couple airbrush questions..

glock232

Member since
February 2004

couple airbrush questions..

Posted by glock232 on Sunday, November 14, 2004 8:58 PM

Hi,
Currently I use a Badger 150, and 360. I try not to use the airbrush too much only because i spend 2 minutes painting and 20 cleaning. Whats the best way to clean the airbrushes? I just usually spray Tamiya Acrylic paints so i usually spray the brush till it's almost nothing coming out, then i run a cup of thinner through it, then i clean the well out and run a bit of water through somtimes another cup of thinner. Is there some other cleaner i could use to get better results as well as being a bit chaper than Tamiya thinner bottles. Also i am thinking about brushing enamel paints. I cant ever remember using enamel paints in an airbrush and im kind of nervous to do it, because im not sure the best way to clean the enamel out afterwards. Any suggestions on cleaning out Acrylic and enamel paints?? I was considering buying an Aztec airbrush for about 30 dollars at my local craft store just to use with enamel paints figuring i can change out the tip if i need to and the first brush I had was Azetc so i know they come with a little cleaning tool.. Im just afraid to ruin the brush by getting enamel stuck in there somewhere.. also i have not broken the brush down and cleaned it is this something that should be done every so-often? and is there a chart on the net that i can use for refrence?

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saltydog

Member since
July 2003
From: Lower Alabama

Posted by saltydog on Sunday, November 14, 2004 9:43 PM

I'm an iwata junkie so i'm not of much use to you as far as the badger models you speak of. but generally speaking, cleaning is as you say, just spray the excess paint from the cup, spray the appropriate thinner through until it comes out clear. there are "micro brushes" sold by online airbrush vendors such as dixieart.com that i highly recommend for cleaning an airbrush. you should only break down and do a major clean maybe once every 2 months or so, depending on the amount of usage. don't be afraid to spray paint through your brushes man, relax, thats what they're designed for. enamels will not ruin your airbrush my friend, go for it. lacquer thinner is a great cleaner for enamels, and i used to use a product called Model Master Acryl Solvent. this stuff will remove any acrylic that may get clingy. good luck. later.

Chris

The Origins of Murphy's Law: "In the begginning there was nothing, and it exploded."!!! _________ chris

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, November 14, 2004 10:04 PM

I break my Airbrush down after every few uses and clean them using Micro brushes and if things are really bad I got a set of fine files(Airbrush cleaning tool) to get rid of the tough stuff(only needed to use this tool once so far).

Sorry, can't really help with the badger ones, all my airbrushes(BB Rich - makers of Iwata) came with a small spanner to remove the nozzle and a short guide on how to take care of them(stripping & cleaning).

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MusicCity

Member since
January 2004
From: USA

Posted by MusicCity on Monday, November 15, 2004 7:08 AM

I don't have a 150 or 360, but I do have a 200 and a couple of Omnis.

I keep a big bucket of water by my bench. When I finish spraying, or when I change colors, I dunk the whole airbrush down in the bucket to rinse it out. Then I blow a cup of thinner through, and rinse it out in the bucket again. Blow it off with compressor air and it's ready for the next color. About 2 minutes to clean it out.

I used to completely break mine down after a day's painting, but I've been getting away from that lately. When it starts to spray ugly or when it feels stiff I'll completely tear it down and clean it, but even so that only takes about 10 minutes or so. When I do a thorough cleaning I usually use laquer thinner and pipe cleaners to get down in the tight areas. The might leave a little fuzz from time to time but a shot of compressor air takes care of it.

Badger has parts lists of all their airbrushes on their website at www.badgerairbrush.com That show all the parts, but not necessarily how to take them apart.

Scott Craig -- Nashville, TN -- My Website -- My Models Page

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glock232

Member since
February 2004

Posted by glock232 on Monday, November 15, 2004 11:26 AM

so you put the whole brush in the water and spray it? well i guess this dosent hurt the brush or leave any water pooled inside it anywhere?

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MusicCity

Member since
January 2004
From: USA

Posted by MusicCity on Monday, November 15, 2004 12:02 PM

QUOTE: so you put the whole brush in the water and spray it? well i guess this dosent hurt the brush or leave any water pooled inside it anywhere?

Correct ... the water doesn't hurt anything. The first dunk gets the worst of the paint out of the cup, the thinner gets the rest, the second water bath gets the thinner out and anything else that got loosened up.

My compressor hookup is weird, but in general it is connected to a tee. One side of the tee has a regulator that I use for my airbrush. The other side of the tee has an air gun with about 70 psi on it. I use the air gun to blow any water out of my airbrush after it gets a bath. Like I mentioned, the whole cleaning process only takes a couple of minutes for acrylic, and the airbrush is clean as can be.

Scott Craig -- Nashville, TN -- My Website -- My Models Page

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Virago

Member since
July 2004

Posted by Virago on Monday, November 15, 2004 1:43 PM

A nice little tool for cleaning you AB is the small dental brushes available at your local drug store. I don't mean a tooth brush, but the small spiral "dental work" cleaners. These reach right inside the nozel and do a great job of clearing out built up paint.

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Delbert

Member since
December 2002

Posted by Delbert on Monday, November 15, 2004 2:52 PM

I have the Badger 360 and its great.. I spray almost only Model Master Enamals but I also use Tamiya acrylic paints and some others i have for testing.

Cleaning is easy..

Between colors I run a color cup of the applicable thinner through then change colors.. unless i'm going to change from enamals to acrylic paints then you have to clean the brush first...

Cleaning is a breeze..

Step 1 empy remove the paint bottle./ or clean out the paint cup and wipe out all the excess paint you can..

Step 2 I run about 2 or 3 color cups of the applicable thinner through the airbrush into my cleaning station.

Step 3. I remove the needle and clean with a thinner dampened paper towel.

Step 4. I use a pipette (plastic eyedropper) and get some thinner in it and squirt it in thought the color cup and it comes out the tip. (cleans out any larger paint particals)

Step 5. I unscrew the tip. and inspect the parts.. and use a microbrush with thiner to clean out the tip and remove any visible paint.

Step 6. using q-tips and mircobrushs with thinner clean out the body untill clean.

Step 7 reassemble..

takes me about 5 minutes or less to do and I havn't had any problems with my 360 yet... or my 175.

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