Thread: NOOB with Tip Dry woes

Hi from New Zealand, I have had my Badger 150 (Kit 7, I think it is over there with the 3 tips) for about 2 years and decided to get serious. I have been doing the lessons and practicing every oportunity my wife gives me (I even got the airbrush out at work once) the brush seems to work fine and I have invested in some brush cleaner and some acrylic dyes (No one here sells airbrush ready paints, I'll have to import) but to practice I got some FAS India Ink, cheaper than the dyes and from what Ive read great for practice. The Ink sprays great (better than the thinned down student acrylics I tried and got frustrated with) but after 1 page of lines and dagger strokes (and dots and curls ) the ink starts drying real freakin' quick!!! then i have to start cleaning the needle between about every 3 lines! (not easy on the badger) and i usually end up having to flush it with water which doesn't last much longer, and usually ends with me flushing the brush with cleaner, pulling the needle out cleaning it, and by that stage calling it a night. And cos' the brush has had a decent clean next time I go to use it, its fine again for that one page, Very frustrating. Any help at all would be much appriciated.

Thanks Don, I got in touch with the manufacturer who admitted that it wasn't the best to run through the airbrush (Even though the bottle said suitable for airbrush) I might switch to the acrylic inks I have and use some retarder. Speaking of mediums, I tried running a clear painting medium through the brush the other day with much success, customer transparent colours

Yay! the Art Spectrum acrylic inks work great. However the Airbrush didn't get a look-in tonight as WII sports resort was released here in NZ My next problem would be getting my hands on some real Airbrush acrylics, very rear over here. I am going to import some which has caused some dilema, I've read reviews and can't decide which to get there is only one review for the createx (which is available in some killer bulk deals) and its not a good one. I'm also looking at Golden or ComArt. Some more opinions would help. A quick search on reviews points to Airbrush Technique, and I've read the reviews and am still none the wiser. While I'm at it I am going to import another brush (also hard to get here) The Iwata HP-BCS seems to favour well, but does it do what Iwata/Medias spec sheet says it can do, it has a .5mm neadle and head but can produce a hairline! to 2" is this true as they seem to say that of all there brushes, I would prefer my second brush to be able to do some fine detail. Sorry its another long post but I want to make sure before I make the purchase. Thanks in advance for any help or opinions

Illustartion mainly, and maybe custom auto painting. I've used acrylics and paintbrushes for years, and I do portraits in pencil and always wanted to try an airbrush

Sweet as! so basically with practice I could probably get some fine results from my Badger, The CS is probably the way to go and that would give me an AB for larger coverage as well as a detail AB I put the Fine needle and head in my Badger today but didn't get to try it (caution Nintendo contains adictive addatives) So Airbrushes sorted, thanks for the help, I hope you don't mind me asking alot of questions. And Paint-wise what would be a good option for illustration, some probably on the larger side (if somethings worth doing its worth doing on mass scale) Thanks again.

Gav.

Hey gazza try theese guys they are in NZ I know they do house of Kolor Welcome to the Smits Group

Cheers for the tip dude. I checked them out on the net today, Im bit inexperienced for HOK yet and importing from the States is cheaper even with our import taxes

The HOK are fine paints, but for illustration, they are more trouble and cost than they are worth. You need to work in a very controlled envoronment, and wear protecive gear and respirator when using them. The basic urethane paint is not the most durable paint on it's own, it requires the clear over coat to have the durability and stability.

I would strongly reccomend the Golden Airbrush Colors for doing illustration work. They're ready to go straight from the bottle.

As far as a new brush goes, you need to look at your needs, work environment, and funds.
For big coverage you will probably want a brush with a larger needle and nozzle size, and with a good sized reservoir capability.
Siphon feed brushes such as the Iwata BC models, the Paasche VL, the Grex XB, etc. let you have the large holding capacity, the downside to the siphon feed brushes is that they require more air pressure for spraying the same paint through the same nozzle and needle size than their gravity feed versions. They also tend to create more overspray because of the elevated air pressure levels. They, the siphon feed brushes, are much touchier on the spray angle/ the angle you hold your brush at, when you work with smaller amounts of paint or get down towards the bottom of the reservoir.

Top gravity feed brushes take less air pressure because they use gravity to feed the paint into the path of the airflow rather than the vacuum or siphon action required by siphon feed brushes. They also let you use less paint and less air pressure, and because they use less air pressure, they create less overspray. The down side for most of them is the limitation on the volume of paint your brush can hold at one time, though you should keep in mind that a little paint goes a long long way in an airbrush.

Another alternative is a side feed brush, it can typically work as either a siphon feed or a gravity feed brush, it lets you have much bigger reservoir sizes, and it lets you paint with out the large reservoir sittin in your line of sight while painting. The side feed brushes also let you paint at any angle, something the typical siphon or top gravity feed brushes will not allow you to do. This is important for doing murals, automotive painting, body painting, makeup, fingernails, etc.

Yeah my Badger is syphone fed, its not too bad for the overspray (definatly has the AB 'Fuzz' look ) but is great for 'mass' coverage and practice (two hours of practice and I still have paint left in the bottle) so I was looking at the Iwata HP-CS as my second brush. Any idea where I would get the Golden colours in bulk, larger than 1oz bottles. No one in NZ have them so I will have to import and while im still learning I'm gonna need alot TCP Global do the createx in bulk 2oz bottles, but so far I haven't heard anything about the brand.