AIRBRUSH TECHNIQUE - LEARN TO AIRBRUSH - View Single Post

fontgeek · 06-15-2008

First, welcome to the world of airbrushing, your life's new addiction.
Now for your problem.
It sounds like you have a combination of two or three problems.
For the bent needle? You can try straightening it out, but I would plan on getting a replacement anyway.
Be gentle with the needles, that's a nice brush you have, and it is extremely capable.
Your paint not spraying as you go up sounds like your feed tube in your paint bottle/jar is no longer submerged in paint, so it is sucking air for the most part. Keeping your bottle full, or working on a platform that will keep you from having to spray up at such a severe angle will help this problem end.

The high pressure with the water based paints will cause the tip dry, the air passing in high volume over a tiny tip of a needle will speed that drying up quite a bit.
You might start keeping a cup with water, and a denture or toothbrush with or near you when you paint, giving the tip of your brush a scrub fairly often will help you avoid the buildup, and it will keep you from bending your needle or stabbing your fingers.

Keeping your airbrush and equipment clean and maintaned is a no brainer.
You take care of it, and it will take care of you.

While you can mix nozzles, needles, and nozzle caps, the results can be a headache.
Your brush is limited in it's ability to do super fine lines by the opening size of the nozzle and the diameter of the needle that fills it. The nozzles and needles for all airbrushes are made to match in diameter and taper. While a smaller needle may plug the hole on a larger nozzle, you have to push it in a lot further to do that, that's great if you want to risk your needle, your paint project, and your hands to stop the paint from coming out, but the actual control on the paint volume and pattern size comes when you pull that needle back from the nozzle opening, when you do that, the hole is no longer plugged, so that the taper of the needle, no longer matching the interior taper or slope of the nozzle, goes from stopping up the hole completely, to a huge gap or opening in a real hurry. That means a loss of control by you, the artist.

A suggestion from the cheap seats, keep your needles, nozzles, and nozzle caps segragated, keep backup needles and nozzles for the sizes you use most often, in your case, probably the #1 and #3 sizes. Keep your brush clean, and get a platform to stand on while working on high areas.
Good luck.

06-15-2008	#14 (permalink)
fontgeek magazine subscriber Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 449	Re: New at this First, welcome to the world of airbrushing, your life's new addiction. Now for your problem. It sounds like you have a combination of two or three problems. For the bent needle? You can try straightening it out, but I would plan on getting a replacement anyway. Be gentle with the needles, that's a nice brush you have, and it is extremely capable. Your paint not spraying as you go up sounds like your feed tube in your paint bottle/jar is no longer submerged in paint, so it is sucking air for the most part. Keeping your bottle full, or working on a platform that will keep you from having to spray up at such a severe angle will help this problem end. The high pressure with the water based paints will cause the tip dry, the air passing in high volume over a tiny tip of a needle will speed that drying up quite a bit. You might start keeping a cup with water, and a denture or toothbrush with or near you when you paint, giving the tip of your brush a scrub fairly often will help you avoid the buildup, and it will keep you from bending your needle or stabbing your fingers. Keeping your airbrush and equipment clean and maintaned is a no brainer. You take care of it, and it will take care of you. While you can mix nozzles, needles, and nozzle caps, the results can be a headache. Your brush is limited in it's ability to do super fine lines by the opening size of the nozzle and the diameter of the needle that fills it. The nozzles and needles for all airbrushes are made to match in diameter and taper. While a smaller needle may plug the hole on a larger nozzle, you have to push it in a lot further to do that, that's great if you want to risk your needle, your paint project, and your hands to stop the paint from coming out, but the actual control on the paint volume and pattern size comes when you pull that needle back from the nozzle opening, when you do that, the hole is no longer plugged, so that the taper of the needle, no longer matching the interior taper or slope of the nozzle, goes from stopping up the hole completely, to a huge gap or opening in a real hurry. That means a loss of control by you, the artist. A suggestion from the cheap seats, keep your needles, nozzles, and nozzle caps segragated, keep backup needles and nozzles for the sizes you use most often, in your case, probably the #1 and #3 sizes. Keep your brush clean, and get a platform to stand on while working on high areas. Good luck.