Airbrush Blockages

[Stevekir]

From time to time when airbrushing I have suffered from these when I had thoroughly cleaned the airbrush and I thought I had shaken the Vallejo Model Air bottle very thoroughly, even when the bottle has an M4 stainless steel nut as a rattle mixer. Not having used any paint for a few months I went to brush-paint something. I gave the Model Air bottle (I don't have a stock of Model Colour) a good shake and started squirting some on to a small container. All went well until a gloop of thick paint came out of the nozzle. No problem when brush painting. Had I been going to airbrush, a blockage would have occurred. So this taught me a lesson about airbrushing: when paint has not been used for some time (a few months) vigorous shaking might not be enough. In those circumstances I will in future remove the nozzle, wash it out and use a rod to stir the paint in the bottle, then shake well.

I really hate airbrush blockages. They are so disruptive.

 

[noble]

I hear you there Steve, just when you sit down with everything ready the damn brush doesn't work so more time spent figuring out what has blocked it up then more trying to fix it and before you know it any time you had to paint has gone.

scott

 

[Laurie]

Actually Steve I watch very carefully when decanting any paint or varnish.

To help I always put in the thinner first. Then the paint then I give it a good slosh about with a paint brush. May not always do the job but I have not really had any problems in this respect.

After decanting paint I always wipe the spout with kitchen tissue. Also look in the bottle top as sometimes you get a build up in the cap which does not help.

Laurie

 

[Stevekir]

Actually Steve I watch very carefully when decanting any paint or varnish.To help I always put in the thinner first. Then the paint then I give it a good slosh about with a paint brush. May not always do the job but I have not really had any problems in this respect.

After decanting paint I always wipe the spout with kitchen tissue. Also look in the bottle top as sometimes you get a build up in the cap which does not help.

Laurie

Yes, I also wipe the spout, and will now have a look at the bottle top. Thanks.

 

[Tibbs]

A mate gave me a couple of paints he no longer needed to practice with my airbrush..... So i decanted them into a larger jar, thinned them and then cut up a pair of my wifes tights ( not the fishnet ones) , put a piece over the top of a new jar and sieved my thinned paint through em, worked a treat.

 

[Ian M]

A simple way of avoiding this kind of thing is not mix the paint directly in the airbrush cup. I mix and thin in disposable shot glasses of coffee pod trays. Any gunge gets well mixed and any hard clumps of dried paint can be filtered out.

Ian M

 

[Stevekir]

A simple way of avoiding this kind of thing is not mix the paint directly in the airbrush cup. I mix and thin in disposable shot glasses of coffee pod trays. Any gunge gets well mixed and any hard clumps of dried paint can be filtered out.Ian M

Yes. That seems sensible. Thanks.