Airbrush issues

Cheers! Really good information about these brushes! My kit did come with the 1/4 oz side cup thankfully as well as three needle and nozzle sizes

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Agreed the Paasche VL was one of the go to hobby airbrush back in the day. There are a lot of little tricks to wring better performance out of the VL once the basics are mastered. After the tweaks the VL steps up another notch in my experience.

  1. Metal color cup - one of the best improvements. Mix less paint and easier to clean up than the bottle fed attachment. Be careful with the open top as paint can be spilled if the cup is full etc.

  2. Cut away handle - handy as mentioned above. Also nice to be able to pull back needle and blow air through to clear minor obstacles on occasion.

  3. Custom trigger button - couple of variations depending on what feels best to use

  4. Crown tip - to get closer and better control etc

  5. Hand polished needle - better feel and slightly smooher flow

I still like and use the VL with the mods above. My VL for the model hobby work can do 95 to 98% of what my Iwata Micron Photo-retouch airbrush can do. Parts are easier and faster to get for the VL and much less expensive. I’m always more comfortable using the inexpensive VL than the Micron.

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My Badger 155 has the small paint cups and the ‘regular’ bottle also. The bottle was regulated to thinner for cleaning and I only use the paint cups With the ones on the bottom of the brush like yours and mine just remember to watch yourself, been a few times I ‘rolled’ my wrist and spilled paint vs moving the model because the top is open versus many of the gravity feed airbrushes with attached cups on top that have a lid. I like the small cups, keep a few hand on at all times, wont use the bottle/cap/siphon tube set up except for clean up. Just my two cents.

Cheers. That’s what I’ve been doing too. Color cup for painting, bottle for cleaning

It’s not your airbrush, it is the Tamiya paint because I too experienced the same problem and was stumped until I entered this hobby store and the owner gave me the answer and the solution.

That hobby store owner paints only Gundam robot kits…

It’s a Tamiya paint sales gimmick. The Tamiya jar paint is so thick that it dries in mid-air right from the airbrush nozzle, hence your splatter-finish that looks dusty/grainy. Yes, you need to thin Tamiya paint, but what you REALLY NEED is Tamiya FLAT CLEAR BASE in a jar.

Add Tamiya FLAT CLEAR BASE from the jar as a base foundation in the cup, add the Tamiya paint, add some water or thinner, and mix the paint in the cup. The FLAT CLEAR will slow the drying time of the Tamiya paint and produce a smooth surface (for his Gundams). It worked for me and every time I airbrush Tamiya paints, I pour and mix FLAT CLEAR. The FLAT CLEAR to Tamiya paint ratio should be about 40-50% Clear to 50% Paint. Also, Flat Clear prevents the airbrush from getting clogged as Tamiya paints have a tendency to dry pretty fast even inside your airbrush.

I clean Tamiya paints and my airbrush with Windex. Windex totally eats Tamiya paint so make sure that you rinse Windex completely out of your airbrush or else it will ruin the next color airbrushed.

Also, Tamiya paints develop a skin when drying. If you mess up, wipe it immediately or leave it alone because Tamiya paint has a tendency to wrinkle like skin if wiped when drying with FLAT BASE and peel off the primer and off the model. Best bet is to let Tamiya paint completely dry and then sand off the blobs and mistakes and then airbrush over that spot again.

I hope this helps.

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Interesting, Andy from Andy Hobby’s uses X-20a thinner instead of clear but the same principle. I have also added a drop or two of Tamiya retarder to help with slow the drying time.

I have absolutely no trouble airbrushing Tamiya flat or gloss paints using X-20A or “yellow cap” lacquer thinner. I do mix the two 1:1, but that is to adjust the flash time to my own airbrushing humidity and temperature conditions. The lacquer thinner mitigates or totally eliminates tip-drying issues, too.

Of the two Tamiya proprietary thinners, IF I had to chose and use only one, it would be their “yellow cap” lacquer thinner. (Which, BTW, is all I use to thin any of Tamiya’s gloss colors.) If I couldn’t get the Tamiya lacquer thinner, I’d try to source Gunze Mr. Leveling Thinner as a substitute (without mixing it with any X-20A).

If I had to use only X-20A, I would certainly experiment with adding some of Tamiya’s proprietary retarder.

I’ve only ever used Tamiya’s X-21 Clear Flat Base to adjust the reflectivity of their gloss paints. By adding the clear flat base, you can vary the reflectivity from high-gloss (no flat base) to satin / egg shell (some flat base) to dead flat (a lot of flat base).

FWIW, you can also do the opposite (up to a point) by adding Tamiya’s X-22 Clear Gloss to any of their XF flat paints. However, you can’t ever really add enough to make for single-coat high gloss. For that, it’s just best to over-spray with the clear gloss (like for decals). Still, between the two products, clear flat base and clear gloss, you can achieve a lot of variation in satin looks with any of Tamiya’s paints. (Note the relationship of the two product numbers, X-21 Clear Flat Base and X-22 Clear Gloss.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Tamiya X-21 Clear Flat Base is NOT(!!!) intended to be used as a stand along clear flat overcoat. DO NOT SPRAY X-21 over anything by itself! It is an additive formulated to be mixed with other paints.

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This is great advice, I’ve cured one of my biggest issues by listening to what you say, thank you :+1:t2:

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Glad to know it helped ya a bit!

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As an aside, Tamiya Clear Flat, if used by itself and undiluted, will dry leaving a white-ish residue. However, this residue will disappear under a properly diluted coat. I’ve used Tamiya Clear Flat by itself, but diluted 50/50 with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner (yellow top) as a final flat coat with good results.
:smiley:

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It’s important for guys to not confuse Tamiya XF-86 Clear Flat with Tamiya X-21 Flat Base, though. Two entirely different products with two entirely different uses and methods.

XF-86 is a final top coat product that is intended to be used alone.

However, X-21 is intended to be mixed with other paints (particularly Tamiya’s gloss X-series colors) to change the degree of gloss or sheen in those other paints. It shouldn’t ever be used alone as a top coat.

Folks seem to have a hard time keeping these straight. Apples and oranges…