Fine Lines and Small Dots

I use the Paasche-H as well and it is possible to spray fine lines, heres how I did it recently for a 1/72nd scale Saab Grippen. Making sure the airbrush was very clean I thinned MM paint 2:1 paint to thinner and added 5 drops of Paint Medium available from Winsor & Newton into the mix. With the Paasche-H, use need to increase the air pressure a bit so I set it at 30 psi. I then swiched the nozzle/ needle tip from #3 to the #1 for a finer pattern. Next I turned the knurled knob to release just a tiny dot and checking it's size on a piece of sheet styrene....great, ready to spray! Practice on the scrap styrene and spray a few test lines and adjust how thin or wide you need. The paint/ thinner/ medium mix will improve the fow of enamels, prevent clogs and help the tip re-wet itself during spraying. After you've sprayed some tests lines and made the line adjustments ..spray away! I was able to get a very nice consistant, non-clogging, fine atomized line of approx 1/32in with this method. The results I got were unappreciably different from using my Iwatas and I just had to spray minor touch-ups.
When spraying Future I use the #3 tip and spray it un-thinned with my compressor set at around 20 psi. I increase the preasure to boost atomization (finner droplets). I use the #3 because it builds up the layers faster due to it's larger nozzle size. The #3 tip is larger and if you don't increase the psi setting...you'll get larger droplets reaching the surface or (poor atomization). Future is relatively thin out-of-the bottle and the number#1 tip for the Paasche-H is made for these thinner viscosity fluids so you may want to try it instead of the #3 tip. The Paasche-H is a very capable and reliable airbrush for beginners and experienced experts alike. Just practice with different compressor settings and experiment with the #1 tip/nozzle. Send my a pic of your results if you can.
Happy modeling!
email:
ggwilliamsindy@aol.com

QUOTE: Originally posted by simon waite Hello Folks, If I use a different tip could I get better performance. Or are the various tips just good for different paints or inks?

The different needle and tip sizes are made just for the reason you alluded to, different medium viscosities sprayed through the airbrush. If the paint you are using is fairly thin then the #1 tip and needle may produce slightly thinner lines than the #3 tip.
I would recommend the #1 tip and needle for enamels and thin acrylics, but experiment as Greg said above.
Greg has some good advice there I might add.
If spraying larger areas the #3 tip and needle may be a better bet. Try spraying a solid color on a car body for example and you will be making multiple passes and not getting a smooth overlap in your passes. It's kind of like trying to spray paint a real car with a small touch-up gun, it just doesn't work very well.

Mike

Thanks for the tips.

Looks like I have got to get me a No. 1 tip. I am about to attempt a bit of 'dotty' camoflage and will send a photo of the results.

Cheers

Simon