AB Setup Hindering Me?

How far from the surface are you spraying? Your pressure and mixture sound about right. You should be spraying from around 1/2" or so from the surface. I'm not familiar with the airbrush so I don't know which tip you should be using, but it should work fine.

A few things to try:
1) Angle your airbrush so that the color you are spraying oversprays into the area of the same color. That's hard to explain, but for example if you are spraying green angle your airbrush so that any overspray goes into the green area. That will make the line on the other side a little sharper.

2) Try using either Tamiya thinner with Tamiya paint or get some acrylic retarder from your local art supply store. Either one will dramatically slow down the drying time of the acrylic paint which makes it less likely to dry on the tip of the airbrush and cause splatter.

3) FREQUENTLY clean off the tip of your airbrush. I keep a Q-Tip soaked in thinner handy and each time I put the airbrush down I clean the tip off. Acrylics cause a lot of buildup on the tip and that causes splatter.

4) Get some needle lube. Badger or Medea make some that is very good, and it also will help eliminate buildup on the tip.

You don't mention what pressure you are operating at. I recommend you spray at 20-25psi since you have a double action brush. The Tamiya acrylic paint should have the same consitency as 2% milk. I had issues with my Paasche H just like you. I have since switched to a Badger 360 (double action).

To sum up, lube your needle with petroleum jelly, spray at high pressure with properly thinned paint, and she should work. Iwould recommend a couple of drops of dish soap in your thinned mix as well. The Badger 360 only has one size needle, and I can get micro lines and results like this, completely freehans with no masks:


The turning point for me was turning up the regulator to the max, which immediately eliminated overspray and splatter.

Good luck,

Steve

The little bit of edge overspray spatter can not be eliminated completely but it does get worse at lower pressures. I'm from the "higher pressure is better" school. I use at least 12psi or greater. It does take practice though because higher pressure is more prone to spiders or puddleing. Practice writing your name in cursive. Increase the pressure each time and try to make your writing smaller and smaller. When you get to the point that you can sign a check with your airbrush then you will have achieved airbrush nirvana BTW: I haven't gotten there yet but I have seen people that can do it and it doesn't take a fancy illustrator airbrush to do it.

Thank you everyone.

it seems it is more likely to be me rather than the set-up!

I will get some AB lube, increase the pressure to about 20psi (I don't think the Testor's mini can go much beyond that) and try spraying inwards to avoid splatter. I do use retarder (forgot to mention that), but I will try all the advice out on my current build - a Dragon Tiger P.

Thanks again.

QUOTE: I'm from the "higher pressure is better" school. I use at least 12psi or greater.

There is validity for that argument. Airbrushes tend to atomize better at higher pressures. My personal experience has been that I get better lines at lower pressure. For fine lines I spray at around 7-8 psi. For general-purpose spraying I'll bump it up to around 12-15 psi. Spraying at pressures higher than that just doesn't work well for me. The important thing is to experiment and find what works best for you, which you are obviously trying to do.

When I try to airbrush at higher pressures I just get spidering. Do I need to move the airbrush a lot faster? if so, I tend to lose some control over the area sprayed

I've got a Badger 155 and tend to airbrush at 10 - 15psi, should I try it at 20-25psi?

thanks

I usually spray at 15-17 PSI. Not fond of any pressures higher than that.

QUOTE: Originally posted by james111 When I try to airbrush at higher pressures I just get spidering. Do I need to move the airbrush a lot faster? if so, I tend to lose some control over the area sprayed I've got a Badger 155 and tend to airbrush at 10 - 15psi, should I try it at 20-25psi? thanks

Two things that will help reduce spidering is increasing the distance from the model when painting and reducing the quantity of paint applied. Build paint in thin coats rather than one heavy one. Obviously keeping the brush moving is important. For detail work I would side with Music city - low pressure close in.