cleaning airbrushes

QUOTE: Originally posted by MikeV QUOTE: Originally posted by DewaPerang Hello MikeV, To answer your question frankly i dont know why .. Hehe. I would just make sure that you sprayed water through it after the detergent or you may end up with some paint that won't stick due to the detergent contaminating the paint. Mike

HEhehe Mike...sure..spray with adequate water..a few pass wont work...

QUOTE: Originally posted by DewaPerang Hello MikeV, To answer your question frankly i dont know why ..

Hehe.

I would just make sure that you sprayed water through it after the detergent or you may end up with some paint that won't stick due to the detergent contaminating the paint.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by MikeV Why do you spray detergent through the airbrush after using Windex and water? What is it supposed to do? Mike

Hello MikeV,
To answer your question frankly i dont know why ..
I accidentally found it. The story goes like this:( this happened 5 yrs ago)
I try to removed dust and cat hair from my models..after wiping with brush then i soak it in water+liquid detergent. after a few minutes i noticed the color started to came off the model... at last the model was completely back to its original plastic color. The model have been painted years back then and i'm sure that the acrylic color have fully 'dry'. then i started to think that this can be used for my Aztek A4709 since it's plastic....after some times i started to like this method and it's cheap too....

Thank you very much mikeV and Bnsfco!, good advises!

QUOTE: Originally posted by DewaPerang Hello mandrake The liquid detergent i used was the normal household detergent..there're many of them u can found on your mart...i used local make the brand is Dynamo... I dont mix detergent with windex..i shot with windex forst..and then water..and then detergent

Why do you spray detergent through the airbrush after using Windex and water? What is it supposed to do?

Mike

Mandrake, I think Pinol is a bit too strong. I would suggest you use alcohol.

I also like acrylics. I normally use alcohol or windex right out fo the bottle.

QUOTE: Originally posted by mandrake Hello DewaPerang! that is pretty weird!, does it really works??? Windex and Liquid Detergent??? what kind of liquid detergent?? would that work for any airbrush?? i have a Badger 150 and some times is a pain to clean it, but your suggestion looks pretty simple and easy!, and what would be your suggestion if i use a testors enmel or any other enmel??

Hello mandrake
The liquid detergent i used was the normal household detergent..there're many of them u can found on your mart...i used local make the brand is Dynamo... I dont mix detergent with windex..i shot with windex forst..and then water..and then detergent
I use Tamiya Superfine ab and Aztek A4709... for aztek , since they're plastic i normally leave the cup in the detergent overnight...
for enamels, first i shot with the expensive Humbroll thinner and then with mineral spirits....
Lacquer based is cleaned with lacquer thinner....i use the ordinary house paint thinner Tiger Brand....i heard this will damage the ab but since i seldomly paint with lacquer i think this may be OK for me...well ..glad i can help

Are Tamiya Acrylics easy to clean? Is there another brand thats better? Of course Tamiya Acrylics are supposed to be good all around, so I'll probably stick with those.

Merlin,

I feel the same way about Coast Airbrush. There are places a little cheaper in price on some items, but the service and helpfulness of the folks at Coast make it worth shopping through them.

Thanks for the kind compliments on my airbrush work my friend. I appreciate it. I am still a long way from where I want to be though.
You are very welcome for any help I may have gave you.

God Bless

Mike

Good advice Ed.

Mike

thanks, Ed
Which brush(es) are you using?

MikeV is right. Never soak the airbrush body. I usually just run lacquer thinner through the brush until it runs clear, then remove and clean the cap, let it dry and reattach. The cups I clean immediately with lacquer thinner and let air dry. Used spairngly after painting with enamels, you won't cause any damage to your airbrush. For acrylics, I just run either isopropryl alcohol or distilled water through the brush until clean, then follow the same dissambly routine for enamels, except I use hot soapy water followed by a clean water rinse. Use that for both the airbrush components and the color cup.. I've been using this technique for years with good results (and no parts replacement !) Hope this helps. - Ed :)

QUOTE: Originally posted by MikeV , You could just use that Eclipse like it is for now and down the road if you suspect the needle bearing going out then send it in for a replacement Teflon needle bearing that is solvent proof.

Yeah,Mike, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do.
It'll give me an excuse to send some business that way as I ended up getting the Eclipse thru DixieArt.
Awfully hard to beat their prices especially when you throw in the free shipping but I want to give some patronage to Coast since they were so helpful during my "research". Maybe I'll order a couple of needles from them so that I'll be all ready as soon as I drop this one on the floor. (I better call them right now)

checked out your website......Nice, very nice. wish i could do that.

thanks for your input as always.

merlin

QUOTE: [i] Stangfanatic i will be glad to do so, could you give me your e-mail address??

oops I guess i forgot... taralhoco15@aol.com once again, thank you.

QUOTE: Originally posted by stangfanatic QUOTE: Originally posted by mandrake QUOTE: Originally posted by stangfanatic From reading this, it seems that acrylics are easier to clean than enamels... I wouldn't mind using acrylics but all the hobby shops I go to don't have the acrylic paints with the FS numbers. I've been stocking up on enamels but if I can find acrylics with the federal designations, I'll dump enamels. Hey Stangfanatic i dont like to use enmels either, thats why i got a table where there are the equivalent tones from for example a Federal Standard into a Gunze Sangyo, some shades may need a little "adjustment",(like adding a drop of white or things like that...) its been helpful for me, if you want i can send it to you via e-mail... My best regards Hector Reymundo that would be excelent if you could. Really appreciate it.

Stangfanatic i will be glad to do so, could you give me your e-mail address??

QUOTE: Where are you located? They sell Formula 409 and Simple Green all over the country I think, unless you are in a foreign country where they do not have it. If you can't find these products then just use some Windex if you have that. You could use Windex and rubbing alcohol if you want as they both clean fairly well.

Hi Mike V, i live in Mexico City, and here i havent seen those products, yesterday i went to Sam´s and Walmart but they only have something called Pinol ( that is from what i read made with lemon..), Orange Glo and stuff like that, there´s a lot of products but nothing like Simple Green or Formula 409 so i dont want to use any kind of product cos i am affraid do damage my airbrush... as you may understand those products are kindda new here, almost nobody knows them.... I will try the rubbing alcohol and windex, thanks for the tip!

Take care and thanks a lot!!
My best regards
Hector Reymundo

Merlin,

Actually the Vega and the Omni do not have solvent proof needle bearings so I try not to let any lacquer thinner get in there if possible. Actually I have never sprayed anything but acrylics through the Omni as it is one of my T-shirt airbrushes.
I use my Vega 1000 for models and it has only had Model Master enamels sprayed through it, although it hasn't been used that much in the past few years.

I would take the advice of Dave at Coast Airbrush over my advice as he is far more knowledgable about airbrushes than I am, and a great deal of what I have learned I have learned from him.
You could just use that Eclipse like it is for now and down the road if you suspect the needle bearing going out then send it in for a replacement Teflon needle bearing that is solvent proof.

Did you buy the Eclipse from Coast or somewhere else?

Mike

Hey there MikeV

I finally broke down and got an Iwata Eclipse HP-BS although I have not used it yet.

After talking to one of the helpful guys at Coast Airbrush I was kind of thinking of switching over to acrylics although I really never liked the way they airbrushed. Reason being is he said both laquer thinner and mineral spirits would eat away at the needle bearing. I could send the brush in to them and they would replace the bearing with a solvent proof one for around $15.00 plus return shipping but I don't know if I want to do that.

But I just read your post about cleaning with laquer thinner and figured if you haven't had any problems I'd just clean it the way you described and continue with enamels. Either that or I may just use the Iwata for acrylics and when I have to shoot something non-acrylic like Alclad II or something I would just use my old Paasche H or (egads) --Aztek

What do you normally use, enamels or acrylics?

I'll bet those Omnis and Vegas have solvent- proof bearings in em, don't they?

Merlin

QUOTE: Originally posted by mandrake QUOTE: Windex, Formula 409 and Simple Green are all pretty good cleaners for acrylic paints. Here is a recipe for a good cleaner that a friend gave me: hey MikeV i have never seen Formula 409 neither Simple Green, doy you think something like Orange Glo would work the same? do you know any substitute for simple green or formula 409?? Thanks! Hector.

Hector,

Where are you located? They sell Formula 409 and Simple Green all over the country I think, unless you are in a foreign country where they do not have it. If you can't find these products then just use some Windex if you have that. You could use Windex and rubbing alcohol if you want as they both clean fairly well.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by T-34 Hi guys, I've asked the question and I could see tht there are a lot of different ways to clean the airbrush. I don't know about windex or detergents, but I know that I won't use laquer thiner. I tried it before and I didn't mind the smells or any other features that it has, but what laquer thiner does to your airbrush is ruin it. In an airbrush or spesificly in the needle there is a nilon thing that keeps the paint flow stabelized. Laquer thiner weirs away the little thing and your airbrush might splatter paint all over the model unevenly.

The "thing" you are talking about is the needle bearing.
Some airbrushes have solvent proof needle bearings in them and some don't. The thing to remember is NEVER soak your airbrush body in lacquer thinner!!!!
It will indeed eat the needle bearing up.
What you do is spray lacquer thinner through the airbrush until it comes out fairly clean. Remove the cup and clean it, run a lacquer soaked Q-tip (airbrush brushes are better) into the siphon feed tube and clean it. Pull off the air cap of the airbrush and remove the tip and clean it along with the air cap. Pull the needle out and wipe it with a paper towel soaked with lacquer thinner until clean. Then put the tip and air cap back on, put some Superlube on the front-half of the needle and insert it into the airbrush. Put the handle back on the airbrush and you are done. It's not really that difficult

Mike

and me too mandrake...bobilo223@hotmail.com

Hi mandrake can you send me the table too. thanks. I will appreciate it. My address is alexdenisenko@hotmail.com

QUOTE: Originally posted by mandrake QUOTE: Originally posted by stangfanatic From reading this, it seems that acrylics are easier to clean than enamels... I wouldn't mind using acrylics but all the hobby shops I go to don't have the acrylic paints with the FS numbers. I've been stocking up on enamels but if I can find acrylics with the federal designations, I'll dump enamels. Hey Stangfanatic i dont like to use enmels either, thats why i got a table where there are the equivalent tones from for example a Federal Standard into a Gunze Sangyo, some shades may need a little "adjustment",(like adding a drop of white or things like that...) its been helpful for me, if you want i can send it to you via e-mail... My best regards Hector Reymundo

that would be excelent if you could. Really appreciate it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by stangfanatic From reading this, it seems that acrylics are easier to clean than enamels... I wouldn't mind using acrylics but all the hobby shops I go to don't have the acrylic paints with the FS numbers. I've been stocking up on enamels but if I can find acrylics with the federal designations, I'll dump enamels.

Hey Stangfanatic i dont like to use enmels either, thats why i got a table where there are the equivalent tones from for example a Federal Standard into a Gunze Sangyo, some shades may need a little "adjustment",(like adding a drop of white or things like that...) its been helpful for me, if you want i can send it to you via e-mail...



My best regards
Hector Reymundo

Hi guys,
I've asked the question and I could see tht there are a lot of different ways to clean the airbrush. I don't know about windex or detergents, but I know that I won't use laquer thiner. I tried it before and I didn't mind the smells or any other features that it has, but what laquer thiner does to your airbrush is ruin it. In an airbrush or spesificly in the needle there is a nilon thing that keeps the paint flow stabelized. Laquer thiner weirs away the little thing and your airbrush might splatter paint all over the model unevenly. I use Mineral Spirits (paint thinner). You can thin the paint with it , you can wash the brush with it. You can wash your hands with it if you have enamel paint on your hands. I don't really like acrylics because they come off really easyly just buy putting a little bit of water on them. I've asked this question because I wanted to know what other people use to clean their airbrush. One more thing in United States the enamel paint will dissapear off the market, so I would sugest to get as much enamel paint as you can. They will dissapear because the government says that the fumes that enamels release are not safe.
Thaks Guys
Good luck in modeling.

I hate cleaning the airbrush, it's the biggest hassel of the hobby. How do you guys clean it after each brushing session? Do you guys just flush it with tons of thinner until it comes out clear? Or do you guys take it apart and soak it....whatever your method is, tell me an efficient way.

We should trade
Because I've stocked tons of Tamiya's acrylics but now I want enamels. Acrylics aren't as durable for my taste. Maybe I'll use acrylics and paint the same details, but for large body finishes, I'll never use acrylics. It comes off too easily.

From reading this, it seems that acrylics are easier to clean than enamels... I wouldn't mind using acrylics but all the hobby shops I go to don't have the acrylic paints with the FS numbers. I've been stocking up on enamels but if I can find acrylics with the federal designations, I'll dump enamels.