airbrush splatter

When you say "Splatter" do you mean that paint blasts out and goes everywhere? If so try reducing the pressure some or moving a little farther back from the surface.

If you are having to pull the trigger so far back just to get paint to flow that it splatters, try thinning the paint some more.

If you just mean overspray that makes the lines wider than you want, that's what you have to experiment with. Find a thinning ratio, pressure, and distance from the surface that will give you the optimum line width.

There's no magic recipe, but what you are using sounds pretty close (although I'd probably thin the paint some more).

Try holding your model at a 45 degree angle to your airbrush in addition to MusicCity's suggestions. That may help reduce the overspray that you are experiencing.

I would also suggest practicing on an old junker model. What you trying to do requires practice to find the right combination of distance, pressure and thinner. If you don't have an old junker, buy some pieces of sheet styrene. I always use a piece of styrene to check my pressure and thinning before painting a model. I do this all the way through the final gloss or flat coat to make sure that the airbrush is working properly. I use the reverse side then sand off all of the paint on both sides before using the sheet on my next project. It has saved me a lot of frustration for a small cost.

Good luck.

thanks guys,
in reply to music city, the splatter I don't think is from too much pressure. the best way to describe it is it looks like paint that has water in it. It's not a lot of slatter. I do mostly 1/72 scale airplanes. Do you think the badger 155 is just not able to do that fine of lines or is it user error?

given the popularity of the 155, I'd have to go with operator error, no one likes hearing that, but sometimes it's just practice makes perfect, it is possible your AB is at fault, but it's pretty unlikely.

i have an iwata HP-CS, and it likes really thin paint, especially when doing demarcation lines. i also build 1/48, so 1/72 is definetly gonna be tougher to get down right.

the way i do my camo is as follows. i always spray a 50/50 thinning ratio and build up the coats of paint to my liking, and use MM enamels for the most part. when i get the base coat of the camo down(and this being the lightest color in the scheme), i then pencil in very lightly the pattern of the 2nd lightest color of the scheme. when this is to my liking, i again use the 50/50 thinning ratio and spray this on trying to stay with in the pencil lines (i KNEW that kindergarden education would come in handy one day), not paying a whole lot of attention to the quality of the demarcation lines. the idea is to just get all of the participating colors onto the model and really close to the desired color pattern. i do all of this with a 50/50 thinning ratio and using 12-15 psi.
when all this has been done, i then thin the paint even more, drop the pressure to around 8-10psi, and get in really close to the surface of the subject, and begin the long and arduous task of "cleaning" up the demarcation lines. this usually takes about 2-4 good hours, depending on how many colors are in the camo scheme, and how steady the hand is. you'll be in and out of all shceme colors 2 or 3 times during this process too, so thats normal.

with all that said, the people above me hit the nail on the head with the pressure, thinning ratio, and distance from the subject bit. it is a trial and era type deal between a man (or woman) and his airbrush/compressor/paint. hang in there, you'll find the right combo soon enough. the 3:1 ratio at 10psi is not gonna be too preductive, you'll need to thin the paint down some more. good luck friend. later.

PS. i hold my tongue with a slight protrusion out the left corner of my mouth too, kinda like Michael Jordan when he dunkin'.

SALTYDOG that was truly inspiring. after reading this I was able to figure out some of my problems that I was havig. now if you have any suggestions on getting my wife to let me buy that new trumpeter kit I have been eyeing, I'M ALL EARS. LOL

Kevin

Kevin..............................................sorry, you're on your own getting the trumpeter kit friend!!LOL good luck. later.

With practice; you can make your air brush 'whisper'.

Saltydog, are you left or right handed? I only ask because I'm right and protrude the tounge straight ahead slightly, just wondering if lefties poke to the left ..as it were

Rats and here I thought I had a shot at getting that sweet battleship

vapochilled, that too is something that will need experimentation. i had to vary the placement of my tongue during painting sessions to gain optimum position. the sweet position will certianly vary from person to person. later.

hmmm my brother in law who is also my dentist has his tongue going in all different directions when he is working on my mouth... I thought he did it for balance but maybe he's still looking for that spot..

now that sounded a little FREAKY Tom!!! you can't use the words "my brother-in-law", "his tongue goin' in all directions", "my mouth", and "looking for that spot", all in one sentence friend!! LOL thats a little too much information for me!! later.

QUOTE: Originally posted by saltydog now that sounded a little FREAKY Tom!!! you can't use the words "my brother-in-law", "his tongue goin' in all directions", "my mouth", and "looking for that spot", all in one sentence friend!! LOL thats a little too much information for me!! later.

Exactly!! like going to the dentist wasn't bad enough