What am I missing???

M

Mr. Magoo

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I wrote yesterday that I wouldn't post any more about my paint woes until I got some better paint. I lied.

This morning I did some testing with what I have, which includes Badger's own brand and what fried my bacon was that I couldn't even get Badger paint thru a badger brush. You'd think . . . .Yeah I know there are all kinds of reasons why this might be so BUT I did a controlled test using Spectra-Tex, Jacquard and Auto Air and then my own concoction made up of FolkArt hobbyist acrylic thinned with Pledge acrylic floor polish (actually works pretty good). The photo below shows the general results of all four paints where I wrote some words (in script so that paint flow not interrupted) and how I start with a fine line that then breaks up, expands, spiders or goes splat. Where the big, fat lines exist is where I went back over the areas that skipped a it wouldn't hold a fine line any_0001.jpg more. In writing the word AIRBRUSH the tip usually clogged by the letter B. That, my friends, happens within 5 seconds or less.

I keep the air on continuously with only an exception or two.

What I don't understand is how tip dry can happen so fast, and not only that, but it happens with ALL my paints and both brushes. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later but always within about 15 seconds. As for pressures, that doesn't seem to much matter, either. If I thin it down to the point where it sprays longer, then I get extensive spidering.

All this runs contrary to everything I've read and what you all have told me, which is why I'm so perplexed. I have on order Wicked and Etac paint, so perhaps only time will tell after I receive them. What is so perplexing is how I get the same basic result regardless of changes in variables or paint. Is there something fundamentally wrong here?
 
You know how sometimes by just defining the problem, the answer falls into place? That happened here where the word Pledge stuck out and I recall watching the Ken Badger video where he only mentioned using water to thin (his) water base paint. And here I was using clear acrylic wrongly thinking that would extend drying time and thereby lessen tip drying. WRONG, its exactly the opposite as I have just tested my paints using only water and here is the result. The Pledge caused even faster drying.

I wrote the word AIRBRUSH five times in succession, without stopping and no tip clogging and no ending splat. Thing is, couldn't get nearly as fine line.

You are probably wondering why Pledge. I saw that in a youtube video and being familiar with the product, seemed plausible and it did reduce with much less transparency that water does.Also gives better tack on glossy surfaces.
paint test.jpg
 
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pledge or not wicked is a pig for tip dry, however etac sprays lovely and should give you minimal trouble, again just a drop or 2 of water to reduce etac
 
pledge or not wicked is a pig for tip dry, however etac sprays lovely and should give you minimal trouble, again just a drop or 2 of water to reduce etac
I'd agree. Tip Dry was always awful for me with Wicked.
I would recommend ETAC PS to anyone over Wicked personally. I gave all mine away and will replace it with Private Stock if I need to paint on hard surfaces in the future.
 
The phrase 'right tool for the job' comes to mind.
Just because you saw something on you tube does not make it true
Pledge is definitely out there for things to use!!
Stick with the paint manufacturers recomended products (thinners/reducers/retarders) when starting out.
 
I don't have problems with tip dry and Wicked, especially with the W500, even after 10 mins I get a negligable amount. But there is a learning curve with them. People get on better with different paints, for various reasons, so worth writing to manufacturers and asking for samples of different brands, then you can play around and see what works best for you.
 
I have trouble with Createx Illustration and my HP-B+... it seems to clog at every chance. no drama with the Etac EFX unreduced, its weird but I live with it, and don't use that brush with CI. white and black I have tip dry issues with, but not every 5 seconds.

welcome to the 'variables' of airbrushing
 
Made my morning - i saw it on you tube :)
Glad its up and running now. You must use the reducer with wicked - no windex!!
 
Dunno who told ya to use clear acrylic but seems you found the problem LOL...Water is easiest, water is cheapest and water is still probably the best overall reducer for waterboure/based paints..Always has been and always will be..One issue is at times you will see people doing their own thing and preaching it as Airbrush law..But Acrylic clear is just a paint...A clear one, its not reducer in anyway shape or form....Don't be afraid to keep it simple, when peeps play to much and go away from the norm into complex it makes it more complex LOL. Some paints do spray well with their own reducers, but in many of these reducers their is an introduction of mild solvents..thats why the reducer works well..Whats more is the cost..it seems some manufacturers rely more on reducer sales I think than paint sales because everyone seems convinced water is no good...If you do use water and get a little tip dry 9It is the nature of mixing air and paint together) then a cple lil drops of glycerin will fix that up and glycerin like water is super cheap and can get it from any supermarket...But again glad you solved your issue, experimenting is good for that...
 
That would be to a gravity feed cup m8, you dont need much at all and would start on the lighter side and see what suits your individual environment..the more dry your environment, the more may be needed. Other wetting agents are available at any art store, acrylic painters have been using them for years to help keep the paint wet and to gain the advantages of oil. Etac I believe probably uses a wetting agent in the erasable series of paint, thats why you can re-activate the paint and erase it much easily, the glycerine helps break the bonding action and increases the evaporation time of the water molecule attached to the pigment molecule by holding it together with the stronger glycerine molecules....Kinda LOL...I think....Maybe....Either way it does work and help with tip dry..So does of course not stopping so much and that's even cheaper as it requires no additives at all ;)..but on a hot day it helps..
 
Thanks for the clarification (and science lesson :D)
You'd know all to well how 'warm' its been here lately and I didn't want to try adding the glycerine to a B cup if you were adding a drop to a 2oz bottle, it might have made things a little sticky lol
 
Most paints reduce well with water, Wicked paint has a very tiny amount of solvent, and so you must use the appropriate reducer. If you buy a bigger bottle it actually works out pretty cheap. Don't bother with the small bottles though, that is not cost effective, although if you just want to experiment it would be better to buy the first time until you know if Wicked is for you.

Its such a vibrant versatile paint, and well worth getting to know, but as I said, do get some samples of different paint to test out.
 
I got a small bottle of reducer with the bloodline set, once its empty i'll just keep filling it back up, its just easier to 'drip' from a small bottle rather than a larger one
 
Dunno who told ya to use clear acrylic but seems you found the problem LOL...Water is easiest, water is cheapest and water is still probably the best overall reducer for waterboure/based paints..Always has been and always will be..One issue is at times you will see people doing their own thing and preaching it as Airbrush law..But Acrylic clear is just a paint...A clear one, its not reducer in anyway shape or form....Don't be afraid to keep it simple, when peeps play to much and go away from the norm into complex it makes it more complex LOL. Some paints do spray well with their own reducers, but in many of these reducers their is an introduction of mild solvents..thats why the reducer works well..Whats more is the cost..it seems some manufacturers rely more on reducer sales I think than paint sales because everyone seems convinced water is no good...If you do use water and get a little tip dry 9It is the nature of mixing air and paint together) then a cple lil drops of glycerin will fix that up and glycerin like water is super cheap and can get it from any supermarket...But again glad you solved your issue, experimenting is good for that...
The glycerin is a great tip for tip dry I use it too!:D:D
 
They also say that etac' conditionair can greatly assist with tip dry and flow in any manufactures water base paint line.
 
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