Thread: Aztek nozzle / acrylic paint problems

I am new to airbrushing and use an Aztek 4709 airbrush that has a variety of some kind of plastic interchangeable nozzles.

I used my airbrush for the first time using acrylic paint and it worked great. When I finished I washed all of the components immediately using soap and water. I probably didn’t give enough care to the nozzles because next time I airbrushed, everything else being equal, the normal amount of air and paint was not getting through.

The Createx paint I’m using is a couple of years old and has separated a bit showing little chunks of pigment.

? How do I properly clean my plastic nozzles? What should I soak them in to remove the dried acrylic without dissolving the plastic nozzles? Can I use an airbrushing tip cleaner (log rod) to put all the way through the nozzle?

? According to what I have read acrylic paint is one of the most widely used mediums for airbrushing. I’m using 2-3 year old partially separated Createx. I read I should shake the paint up well as well as put it through a tea strainer. Also I find adding the right amount of water to dilute the acrylic inconsistent. There must be an easier way to use this type of paint?

I would appreciate some help from a person that has used an Aztek airbrush to answer these questions.

Thanks, Atomized

You can let the tips soak overnight in airbrush cleaner(Media, Createx, EZ, BrushFlush, etc.) it's when you get to the harsher solvent based cleaners you really need to be careful. If you have an ultrasonic cleaner, you may find that letting the tip soak for a while then let it ride in the ultrasonic for a while will help get things loose. If you have the super fine brushes, or tip cleaner, remove the nozzle from the brush, try the soaking and shaking, and then use the brush or tip cleaner as the last resort, push the junk out the back of the nozzle rather than trying o force it through the tiny front opeining.

For straining your paint once you have it mixed, I found using a combination of a tea strainer and the panty hose works wonders. The tea strainer gives me a fine mesh screen to get the big rocks out, and with the section of panty hose stretched over the bottom of the tea strainer, I get an easy to handle setup. I use a medium-small funnel to catch the strained paint, and put it into a smaller, closeable squeeze bottle.

Do all your reducing, mixing and straining into a second container, not into the brush itself.

Don't try to do the whole bottle of paint all at once, only do up what you need for this job or project.

For the reducing, There is no magic set of numbers anybody can hand you, there are too may variables involved; the brush and nozzle size, the type of paint, the age of the paint, the brand, the color, the working temperature and atmosphere, and the air pressure you are working with or have available.

Creates make some nice paints, but they have a history of making paints that vary from bottle to bottle, color to color, batch to batch, add into that age and storage conditions, and the environment and work setup you have, and you will understand why nobody can give you accurate numbers that will work for everything.

Mix it really well, strain it, then reduce it to about the thickness of whole milk or light cream. You could make it like water, but you would lose the adhesive quality and the color intensity you probably desire. Once you have reduced it, mix it really well again, then put a little in your clean and working brush, and try it out. You may need to alter the air pressure to get it to work. Most people seem to shoot Createx at 45-65psi, that can be tough if you have a small compressor.
If it sprays okay for you, then you are good to go, if not, then you don't have a ton of paint to clear out. It all comes down to finding the right balance between the nozzle size, paint viscosity, and air pressure.

Good luck!

Thanks for your insightful replies.

Atomized