Aztek Experience

There's been other talk on the forum about MM acrylics.  When they dry, they're tough as nails to remove.  After using MM Acryl paints, I have clean up my color cups with lacquer thinner or MM Dried Acrylic Cleaner.  Water won't budge them.

Jesse

I used a Badger 150 for yrs , then started using the Aztex 470 , both are double action as you probably know  and both good AB's . Anyway i went back to my Badger 150 to see if it would solve my problem with MM acrylics ,it didnt . One thing i noticed was that holding and operating the trigger on the Badger is not as comfortable to use as the Aztex . The overall design of the Aztex is easy to use IMHO.

Shell

I got rid of a Badger 175 Cresendo.  I have two Aztek airbrushes, A320 and A470. 

I love my Aztek.

i am so glad i threw away my stainless Paasche H and got my aztec no more worries execpt for maybe a little tip dry

gotta love your aztec

k

Waikong , you may have solved my problem . Ive been using the gray nozzle (9305 ) with my acrylics .I see there are 2 nozzles for acrylics .

Jesse , thanks for the answer about the thinner , i'll look for it .

Shell

There are two types of acrylic thinner made by Testors.  The first is Model Master Acryl Thinner.  The second is Model Master Acryl Detail and Fine Line Thinner.  This first is used for general thinning and cleaning.  The second is more aggresive and is used for fine line detailing.  Testors states that all of their Model Master Acryl paints (excluding the skin tones) are designed for airbrushing straight from the jar.  Unless, of course, you're doing detail work.  There is also Model Master Dried Acryl Cleaner which is great for final cleanup work.  If you're having excessive tip-dry, try reducing you air pressure.  Before I begin airbrushing with Acryl paints, I kept a Q-Tip moisten with Acryl Cleaner near by.  If the tip starts to dry, I rub the tip gently with the Q-Tip, shoot a blast of air into rag, and then go back to painting.

Jesse

Thanks Tho and k , sounds like im using the same thinner and pressure , only my reults w/MM are different . I'm gong to look for MM acrylic thinner ,if there is such a thinner , and if so use it . If that dont solve my clogging prob then its time to switch paint brands . 

Shell

most times i spray at 15 psi and really dont have any probs

k

I've used MM acryl in the past and now I am an avid believer in Vallejo... With MM use Tamiya acrylic thinner, maybe add some retarder to it (you can get it in the paint section at Hobby Lobby or Michaels)

With Vallejo, using their own brand of thinner seems to do the trick although the retarder can help if you still have problems....

Good luck!!!!

ssgkopp wrote:

I use Vallejo Acrylics model air line through my 470  I started getting cloged tips also and finally took them apart like it has been discussed and have had zero problems yet   i use both alcohol and windex to clean up everything after use   and then i continue to soak the tips in the windex till the next use and leave a little alchol in the paint cup of the ab to keep it alrdy to go   k

I havent tried the windex yet . I'm still getting some clogging using Tamiya acrylic thinner in MM acrylics . What air presure are you spaying at "k"?

Shell

I use Vallejo Acrylics model air line through my 470  I started getting cloged tips also and finally took them apart like it has been discussed and have had zero problems yet   i use both alcohol and windex to clean up everything after use   and then i continue to soak the tips in the windex till the next use and leave a little alchol in the paint cup of the ab to keep it alrdy to go

k

Thanks Shell - I was using water/isopropyl solution for the MM acrylics, which is what the fellow at the hobby shop suggested.  I may try some other solvents to blend with the water to experiment with.  Has anyone tried using white wine/water mixture?  The ethyl alcohol in the wine maybe could produce a different characteristic than the isopropyl.  I probably won't pursue alternatives too vigorously since I'm fairly content using the Tamiya acrylics.

Zoloft seems to be working OK for me.  Helped me break out of the deep depression I was in for 2 years.  My new modeling hobby (just started a couple months ago) is also adding some zip to my life as well.

Best Regards,

Larry

Larry hi . Ive been airbruhing for a few years and have primarily used MM enamels with few problems . However  my bad experience with MM acrylics has me stumped . I dont know if there is a acrylic thinner by MM but i have not found it locally , maybe using it could help .Have you used it ? I did have Tamiya's acrylic thinner and used it ,which did slow  the clogging problem some . I used it along with a acrylic paint floating medium which retards the drying time . Ive tried using isopropyl alcohol as a thinner with no success , it causes the paint to clog even faster in my experience .

So far my besrt results airbrushing MM flat acrylics are :

Thin with Tamiya X-20A acrylic thinner  

Add a few drops of acrylic paint Floating medium

Air pressure at 15 psi

Take a Prozac

Shell                                                                                                                            

Shellback wrote:

Ive tried spraying MM flat acrylics for the first time and have had a problem with the paint drying and clogging the head/needle assembly on my Aztec A470 and also on my Badger 150 . Never had this much trouble spraying Tamiya flat acrylics , although it also would clog the head eventually . It seems that MM acrylic has a more coarse pigment than Tamiya .

I'm a very new airbrush user, so I thought it might just be me - but I have had a similar experience with MM flat acrylic paint.  I have a Paasche VLS airbrush and find that the Tamiya flat acrylic paint flows flows better, clogs less often and gives better results.  But I still don't rule out the fact that I am a novice and it could be me that's doing something wrong to cause this.  I also notice that the MM paint has a very clear phase separation and requires a lot more mixing to get it homogenized than the Tamiya.  It's possible that I just didn't spend enough time mixing.

Larry

Ive tried spraying MM flat acrylics for the first time and have had a problem with the paint drying and clogging the head/needle assembly on my Aztec A470 and also on my Badger 150 . Never had this much trouble spraying Tamiya flat acrylics , although it also would clog the head eventually . It seems that MM acrylic has a more coarse pigment than Tamiya .

I use lacquere thinner to clean my Aztec and so far (knock on wood ) havent had to disassemble the head assembly.

Ive unclogged my airbrush while spraying MM flat acrlics by dripping a few drops of lacquer thinner into the head assembly ( while airbrush is still assembled and hooked up to air hose )then blowing air only through it . Seems to clean it out for awhile but eventually it will clog the head / needle assembly again . This process slows up the paint job quite a bit .

Buy the way i'm spraying camoflauge with a soft over spray edge but get to much overspray with the MM flat acrylic . My results were much more satisfying with Tamiya flat acrylics .

I'm about ready to give up on the MM flat acrylics .

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

Shell

Steve,

You're right about that... They say not to do it, but on my Aztek 4704 I usually disassembled it after each session before storing it again.  I just put the entire disassembled nozzle assembly in a small 1/2 oz glass jar with acrylic thinner and then let it sit for a few minutes.  After that it was usually pretty clean.  Still didn't dissuade me from buying a Badger Crescendo 175 though....