Clogging Aztek

don't use Tamiya thinner with Vallejo paints... they tend to clump kind of like cottage cheese or milk gone bad with it.. The Vallejo acrylics are water versus solvent based.. they recommend water to thin with BUT sell a wonderful thinner of their own with an adhesion aid and retarder. It looks a lot like the Liquitex airbrush medium retarder I bought from the art store so I imagine it is similar enough that you could use that instead. (one day I'm going to add a touch of white glue to the liquitex and see if it reacts the same as spraying with the real Vallejo thinner)

the Qtip soaked in thinner or windex works wonders as was stated above... also every once in awhile giving a heavier than normal blast of paint onto a paper towel while spraying keeps you from having to use the swab so much... it clears the channel the paint goes through...

Nozzles - go to the Testors web site on airbrushing and look at page 15:

http://www.testors.com/tes_cds/hobby_guides/06%20Airbrushing.pdf

QUOTE: Originally posted by goatmonkey thanks a lot, very good info. i remember now that the beige tip is for enamels. anyone know a good chart/table/list of which color nozzle is what? i've gathered bits and pieces but nothing detailed. all i know for sure (i THINK ) is that the red tip is the medium acrylic.

red tip is medium anything. It works fro enamels and acrylics.

And take care of the sense of the spring on the needle : one way is right, the other way leaves the needle fall off the nozzle.
You can get all details on what nozzle is for what use on the Testors site in the spare parts section.

thanks a lot, very good info. i remember now that the beige tip is for enamels. anyone know a good chart/table/list of which color nozzle is what? i've gathered bits and pieces but nothing detailed. all i know for sure (i THINK ) is that the red tip is the medium acrylic.

QUOTE: Originally posted by usmc1371 Try thinning with an acrylic retarder. The retarder slows down the drying time of acrylics. Tamiya's thinner has a retarder in it. You can also get acrylic retarder from hardware stores. Also, try using a cotton swab moisten with rubbing alcohol to clean the nozzle tip regularly while painting to avoid build up and clogging. Jesse

Also, remember to RETRACT the needle when swabbing...

Have you given your tipa good thourough cleaning? It may need it. Just take the thing apart.

I found out that the Aztec nozzles can come apart into 4 parts: the tan body, the white-ish inner section, the needle itself, and the spring.

To take it apart, pull the white inner piece out of the tan body. Next, pull the end of the needle out. This is NOT the pointy end, it's the plastic end. The end of the needle that I'm talking about is a tan colored plastic that pushes towards the tip. It should come out fairly easily, but don't worry you shouldn't be able to break it. I haven't yet. When you get that out, you'll notice the spring. This simply slides off the needle.

The first time I cleaned mine really good, there was a lot of paint built up in the inside of the white piece and also in the spring and on the needle. I use 91% alcohol and Q-tips to clean it. If the build up is really bad, you can soak it for a while in the alcohol.

I had a similar problem before I did this the first time, now It has gotten better. I clean this way now after every long session, when I'm ready to stop using the brush for more than a few hours. Shooting some solvent through works well for quick color changes, but this routine I use is for the deep cleaning.
Hope this helps.

The retarder is a good tip, I do that and it helps eliminate the problem

The beige tip by the way is not an acrylic paint tip, thus its tendency to clog more. The black tip is the smallest Acrylic tip aztek makes, That will not clog as easily with acrylic. Unless you need really fine lines, the black tip will work.

Try thinning with an acrylic retarder. The retarder slows down the drying time of acrylics. Tamiya's thinner has a retarder in it. You can also get acrylic retarder from hardware stores.

Also, try using a cotton swab moisten with rubbing alcohol to clean the nozzle tip regularly while painting to avoid build up and clogging.

Jesse