Air pressure - what's "normal"?

I'm sure there are lots of answers, but I do like you're talking about, sticking to 12-20. Never tried it at 40...... I do go to 25 to blow solvent through, and the few times I've forgotten to drop it down for painting, I didn't like the results. Still, I'm pretty new to the game. Be interesting to know how that high of a psi effects things.

Airbrushing is art. Do what works for you. Personally, I think that 40psi must be an "oops" that didn't get fixed, but who knows?

I generally stick to the 8 to 15 psi range myself.

It all depends on the type of paint you use, how much you thin it and the type of airbrush you use. A quick perusal through FSM's own; How to Build Scale Models chapter on Airbrush tips from the experts, will find folks using air pressures anywhere from 10 psi all the way up to 50 psi. I myself generally shoot at between 10-15 psi. There are too many variables for there to be just one "normal" setting.

I stay around the 6 to 15 range. Sometimes clean at 30. Lower pressure and closer for thinner, smaller areas and higher for wider coverage.

I have a friend that braggs about shooting everything at 20 psi, never adjusts his regulator, he says.

like the others mentioned, I stick to 8-20 psi, and crank it up to 30-40 when I'm cleaning the AB.

hkshooter wrote:

I have a friend that braggs about shooting everything at 20 psi, never adjusts his regulator, he says.

I have a DA gravity fed AB and I I do the same unless Im spraying lacquer based metallics then Ill lower the pressure.  But for everday use I set at 18 psi and adjust thinner/paint ratios and volume of paint with the trigger.  Maybe its just me but sometimes too many variables arent a good thing.  My results were less the stellar and I was getting frustrated with my lack of progress even though I was practicing alot.  I seemed to reach a stand still in skill.   I couldnt seem to spray a fine line or broad coverage.  I needed to find something to set everything else to and after playing with the trigger, thinning ratios and adjusting psi up and down I raised the psi and set out to match the paint and trigger to the psi.  Ive been very happy with this method and I am back to improving again.