Paasche VL help

I think you got the jist of it. I shoot acrylics all the time through my VL #1 with no problems and good results. I put a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the needle. Also a retarder in the acrylic helps. I do like enamels but am limited to painting inside with limited ventilation and just adapted to acrylics.

Thanks for the advice so far everyone. I think I'm going to grab a sheet of my sheet styrene and some different types of paint and just mess around until I think I've gotten the hang of things. I'm so cheap I didn't want to "waste" materials through experimentation, but something tells me I'm wasting more materials by not using the brush correctly. So, I need to:

- Lower the PSI
- Thin the paint a bit more
- Get in closer
- Practice on some sacraficial styrene
- Learn some fine control skills

Your VL can use tips 1, 3 or 5. 3 would be the usual model paint size. #1 will probably only spray something really thin like ink or tinted thinner. I have a VJR, which is of the smaller breed of V's. Its head options are 1 (tiny) and 2 (not as tiny). Not only can it do very fine lines with the 2 head assembly, it can even shoot quite a tiny little area from a few inches away.

I can't really get anything done with acrylic through that airbrush. Too much tip dry. Excellent enamel results every time though.

What I've noticed about my Paasche stuff is that the air hoses inhibit the airflow some compared to Badger or Iwata air hoses. Maybe your VL will do what you're wanting to do at higher pressures. You've gotta experiment with the whole range.

Have you tried any gravity feed airbrushes? Since they work at lower pressures, I feel that it is much easier to control where the tiny paint spray is going.

Yes you have to do all that. Use a #1 or even better a polished #1, thin your paint down. I use Tam thinned 70/30 or so. Turn your pressure down to about 10/15 and slowly work the air and paint to the side of the target till you get the line you want. You will need to get very close to the target so I suggest practicing on some scrap. I've been able to get 1/64 lines with my VL but it took alot of off kit practice. I practiced with windex at first just to get the feel for the brush and settings and then played with the paint mixture. The windex is alot cheaper to get a feel for the brush plus a clean brush is a happy brush!!! Here is the paasche link.http://www.paascheairbrush.com/main.html you can get the finer needles here plus it's always handy to have extra in case you're as clumsy as me and drop them on the tip!!!!