Paasche airbrush

What do you need to know.

 

E

Well I'll pick up where he left off...

I just bought a Paasche H (my first airbrush) and tried it out for the first time today. A few questions:

1. I can't get the last of the paint residue out of the color cup, at the bottom where it goes from a smooth to a rough surface. How big a problem is that? Should I just soak it in solvent overnight?

2. What kind of care is normal? Do you need to strip it down and soak the parts in solvent every time, or just shoot some solvent through it and wipe off anything on the outside? Do you only need to shoot solvent when you're just changing colors?

3. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the cup vs. the jar?

4. Does lower paint flow= thinner lines?

I'm using Testor's Acryl, thinned with rubbing alcohol and Windex as a cleaning solvent. I like the results so far but I haven't tried anything serious yet.

Great brush!  When you are finished spraying, pour the remaning paint out and flush with thinner.  Some people do a complete strip down after every session while others do a thinner flush, or in your case, Windex.  I am some where in between on my cleaning regimen.  But at any rate, make sure the tip and needle are paint free.  As for fine lines, single actions are difficult ,but not impossible.  Try thinning your paint somewhere between 30% to 50% thinner to paint ratio.  Slightly open your tip and start your pressure slighty below 20 psi.  Adjust paint flow and air pressure as necessary for the line width desired and practice, practice, practice.  Let us know how this works for you.  Since you're using Acryl, watch out for tip dry, so keep a Windex soaked Q-tip nearby.  Actually, most would suggest Tamiya paint with Tamiya thinner for better performance. HTH

 

E

After you're finished with a color, empty cup, pour in thinnner, blow through a bit then put your finger on tip(lightly with maybe a tissue) and backflush into cup(or jar). Do this a few times using cleaner thinner each time. Keeps the innards clean.

Madroc wrote:

Well I'll pick up where he left off... I just bought a Paasche H (my first airbrush) and tried it out for the first time today. A few questions: 1. I can't get the last of the paint residue out of the color cup, at the bottom where it goes from a smooth to a rough surface. How big a problem is that? Should I just soak it in solvent overnight? 2. What kind of care is normal? Do you need to strip it down and soak the parts in solvent every time, or just shoot some solvent through it and wipe off anything on the outside? Do you only need to shoot solvent when you're just changing colors? 3. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the cup vs. the jar? 4. Does lower paint flow= thinner lines? I'm using Testor's Acryl, thinned with rubbing alcohol and Windex as a cleaning solvent. I like the results so far but I haven't tried anything serious yet.

The Paashe H SA/AB needs to be throughly cleaned after every use, this does mean breaking it down and soaking all pertinent parts in a cleaning solvent of your choice and scrubbing them clean with a stiff paint brush and let them air dry before reassembling it. Always shoot thinner or paint cleaner through it when your between painting coats and changing colors.

You can clean paint cup feed tube with pipe cleaner wire soaked in amonia or Windex. Let paint cup soak over night to loosen paint build up then with an old clean tooth brush and pipe cleaner wire clean inside cup and feed tube. Towel dry and put away.

I prefer to use the jar only because I always apply more than one coat of paint. Cup is good if you doing spot painting or touch up and dont need alot of paint for the task at hand. Also the jar and siphen caps are easier to clean.

Your air flow only dictates how much paint will actully flow through the tip. Only by rotating the tip you regulate the width of your spray pattern. The medium tip and needle has a 1/4" and opens to  1 and 1/2" width spray pattern wide open. The tip and needle you use will each have a different pattern spray width. The smallest needle startng with a 1/32" opens to 1" and largest needle starts at 1/2 opens to 2". So thinness of your lines depends on what size needle and tip your using, you only need to rotate the tip to regulate your spray pattern.

I've used the Paashe H for years and next to the Badger 350 I prefer the Paashe H for it's versatility, quality and over all proformance. It's a great airbrush and all it needs is some TLC and it will last for years.

Hope this answers all your questions.

Air Master

Madroc wrote:

1. I can't get the last of the paint residue out of the color cup, at the bottom where it goes from a smooth to a rough surface. How big a problem is that? Should I just soak it in solvent overnight? 2. What kind of care is normal? Do you need to strip it down and soak the parts in solvent every time, or just shoot some solvent through it and wipe off anything on the outside? Do you only need to shoot solvent when you're just changing colors?

I've been using a Paashe H for a few years, and I haven't found it necessary to fully break it down after every use.  My normal cleaning regimen is to spray solevent through it, wipe it down, and call it good.  Every now and again, I do perform a full breakdown, just to say I did more than due to any real necessity.  When I do fully break it down, I don't see much if any in the way of left over paint residue.  Any that is present has never affected my painting, either in terms of spray pattern or in dissolving into the the current paint color. 

About your color cup, I've never had that problem.  The cleaning regimen I use for the color cup is to first dump the excess paint.  I then fill the cup about half way with cleaner, and brush the inside with a cheap paint brush that I keep for cleaning.  I dump out the thinner and fill it again halfway with thinner, again brushing the the inside.  To clean the tube, I put the tip of a plastic pipette into the end of the siphon tube and gently squeeze and release the bulb which pumps the thinner back and forth through the tube.

With the color cup cleaned, I dump out the cleaner and again re-fill it about half way with cleaner, and put back on the airbrush.  I then spray cleaner through the airbrush to clean the tip.  Two or three times while emptying the color cup, I will backflush be placing my finger over the nozzle which forces air back through the tip and into the color cup.  When you do it right, you'll see bubbles in the color cup.  This backflushing helps stir things up inside the tip to help get out all the paint residue.  I'll also use my cleaning paint brush to clean the tip and nozzle.  After the color cup is drained of cleaner, I'll usually repeat the process and spray out another half color cup worth of cleaner.

Madroc wrote:

3. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the cup vs. the jar?

Depends how much paint you are spraying.  Most often, I don't need to paint much so the color cup is ideal.  It's surprising how much even ten or twelve drops of paint will cover, and you can use that sort of a paint quantity in the color cup whereas with a siphon bottle you need to have a much larger minimum paint quantity. 

I'm the opposite of Air Master in terms of cleaning preference and find the color cup faster to clean and using less solvent to do so.  Another consideration is the color cup is a smaller and more out of the way, so it is easier to maneuver the air brush close to your work.  It, of course, has the disadvantage of an open top with the risk of paint spillage.         

Madroc wrote:

4. Does lower paint flow= thinner lines?

Basically right, although the painting distance is of course a factor.  tighten down the tip and and move close to the surface, and you can get some very fine lines with the No.1 tip.  Freehand camo in 1/72 scale is quite feasible.

Madroc wrote:

I like the results so far but I haven't tried anything serious yet.

The Paasche H is an old design (original patent 1908), but gets the job done with a minimum of fuss and is as rugged as anvil.  The more you use it and the mosre experenced you get, the more you'll like it.

I have used the Paashe H model for about 40 years.  I'm on my third, they do wear out eventually with heavy use .  I find the no.3 needle/tip combo best for most braod coverage work & the no.1 combo best for finer work such as lines or mottle.  I reserve the no.5 combo for Furure application.  By thinning the paint, lowering the psi on your compressor & spraying close to the model, you can get decent thin lines & mottle.  How thin & what psi is best determined by experimenting & practice with your set-up.  I usually thin paint about 50/50 & spray around 10-15 psi, which works for me.  A good double action AB will give superior results for very fine work, but takes considerably more skill & practice to do successfully.

As far as cleaning, I'm in the break it down & thuroughly clean after every painting session camp.  If only changing colors during a painting session, I just run thinner through the AB with back flushing & clean the cup before using the next color.  I only use the cup & clean it as described in other posts.

Regards,  Rick

Been using the same single action H for over 35 years.  (Rick, you must have been really abusive to go through so many in the same amount of time! ).  I use the color cup exclusively because of the ease in cleanup, and the fact that I can paint an entire 1/35 kit with the volume of one cup.  You can get by without breaking down the airbrush after every session.  Buy some pipe cleaners and cut 'em in half.  Use the first half, soak it with a little thinner, and run it through the feed tube of the color cup a few times and rinse with thinner.  You might want to turn the pipe cleaner around and use the other side as a "final clean".  Swipe out the inside with a little thinner soaked on a paper towel.  You're done.  Now take the second half of that pipe cleaner, soak it with thinner, and run it into the airbrush, twisting the pipe cleaner as it advances.  Repeat with the back half of the pipe cleaner.  Now turn your airbrush on end, fill it with thinner, open it up all the way and blow out the remaining thinner.  Repeat a couple times until the thinner comes out clear.  You're done.

Enjoy that H.  It'll give you a lifetime of good service.

Gip Winecoff

Thank you all for your replies! I completely forgot I posted this question. I forget a lot of things!