Questions about air pressure and paint thinning.

[John V]

Hi All:
I am a beginner airbrush user with about ten hours practice doing basic beginner practice . Dots, lines and so on.
I have looked on the Forums and found some answers, but need some guidance please.

My current setup
Airbrush Thayer & Chandler Omni 5000 by Badger .50 Needle /Nozzle I think.
California Air Tools Ultra Quiet Air Compressor 5510 SE
Pressure regulator at Compressor . Five foot hose to water trap. Attached to seventy five foot air hose . Attached to Water trap and pressure regulator then to ten foot Badger air hose to Airbrush.

My goal in airbrushing is to do portraiture and Illustration art.
After joining the forum I have learned that the airbrush I have is not the best one for what I want to do. But the Omni 5000 is capable of doing more than I am at this time, and a good brush to learn on. So I will use it.

What I need help with is understanding what ranges of air pressure and paint thinning, I need to use to produce the finest detail the Omni can produce.
The two brands of paint I am using are Badger Air.Opaque primary set 701 and Createx Opaque Airbrush colors. I am tending to use the Badger paints more right now.
The paper I am using for practice is newsprint packing paper and copier paper.
I seem to be getting to much splattering or spidering. At this point the color or brand of paint does not seem to make a difference.
John V

 

[Robbyrockett2]

The regular createx opaque is actually intended for fabrics and would be rather difficult to get a lot of detail with.

Idk about the badger air but I think it should be easier. It says thin with water if needed.

Unfortunately your so far from what I am used to that it's hard for me to give you a good starting point.

I would probably use 20 psi and just thin the paint until it starts acting right at that pressure.
That may well be no thinning on a .5

You'll need to pull back on the trigger in fractions of a millimeter to get paint flow low enough to get a fine line without spiders.
It just takes practice.

 

[Leakyvalve]

Get yourself some 4012, STAT
I have been able to use airbrush/acrylic paints I wrote off decades ago. It really is a wonder reducer.

 

[John V]

The regular createx opaque is actually intended for fabrics and would be rather difficult to get a lot of detail with.

Idk about the badger air but I think it should be easier. It says thin with water if needed.

Unfortunately your so far from what I am used to that it's hard for me to give you a good starting point.

I would probably use 20 psi and just thin the paint until it starts acting right at that pressure.
That may well be no thinning on a .5

You'll need to pull back on the trigger in fractions of a millimeter to get paint flow low enough to get a fine line without spiders.
It just takes practice.

Thank you Robbyrockett2 I did not know that createx was intended for fabrics. I will use the Badger paints . I think it will a good thing if I keep things as simple as possible for now .

 

[John V]

The regular createx opaque is actually intended for fabrics and would be rather difficult to get a lot of detail with.

Idk about the badger air but I think it should be easier. It says thin with water if needed.

Unfortunately your so far from what I am used to that it's hard for me to give you a good starting point.

I would probably use 20 psi and just thin the paint until it starts acting right at that pressure.
That may well be no thinning on a .5

You'll need to pull back on the trigger in fractions of a millimeter to get paint flow low enough to get a fine line without spiders.
It just takes practice.

I will start with Badger paint at 20 PSI and see how that works.

 

[John V]

Get yourself some 4012, STAT
I have been able to use airbrush/acrylic paints I wrote off decades ago. It really is a wonder reducer.

Thank you Leakyvalve. What is Reducer ? Is it like paint thinner ?

 

[Leakyvalve]

Thank you Leakyvalve. What is Reducer ? Is it like paint thinner ?

Sorry, I got ahead of myself. It's Createx's all in one reducer/thinner and it's no joke. It has been amazing with every paint I've used, including both lines you listed above. I can run 20 year old createx t-shirt paint through my Micron .18mm airbrush. It made my Badger air-opaque usable again.

 

[SiRoxx]

That is the million dollar question John V. It’s something all beginners struggle with and to be honest, just over a year down the line, I think I’m getting there, but still have some pressure and reduction things to learn.
From my experience the frustration came from never really knowing what was meant by “good flow”. People would say “add reducer until you get good flow” which is really all you can say. But I didn’t know what that meant. Eventually I realised that you should be able to move the brush fairly slowly painting a line, and that line should be continuous and relatively even. Moving the brush closer or further away effects the thickness of the line, likewise pulling back more or less for paint. All of that come with practice, so leave that for another time.
Focus on getting the paint to come out smoothly rather than producing a kind of jagged or spotted line.
I was taught here that a good way to learn a paint system is to start with pressure set around 20psi (as Robby has said), have one drop of paint and one drop of reducer, and try for a continuous line. If it’s a dotted line or has a grainy look to it, add another drop of reducer and try again.
Keep going until you have a smooth unbroken line.
As I said Mate, this is only my experience, and I hope I’ve explained clearly.


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[huskystafford]

maybe this will help you

 

[MeeshellMP]

It's very hard to answer this one. Some people are at 20 PSI, and some are not. I myself cannot paint at that PSI. I am around 30-40 depending on what I'm doing. As far are reducing? Start with 1:1 (50-50) see how that sprays for you...if it doesnt work? Add a little more reducer...just keep adding and subtracting till it works for you. Because of the high detail work I do? I reduce my createx illustration paint to the MAX! using my HCB plus? (Smaller cup) its 3/4 reducer, and 3 drops of paint.
So you see...its really where it works best for you.

 

[John V]

That is the million dollar question John V. It’s something all beginners struggle with and to be honest, just over a year down the line, I think I’m getting there, but still have some pressure and reduction things to learn.
From my experience the frustration came from never really knowing what was meant by “good flow”. People would say “add reducer until you get good flow” which is really all you can say. But I didn’t know what that meant. Eventually I realised that you should be able to move the brush fairly slowly painting a line, and that line should be continuous and relatively even. Moving the brush closer or further away effects the thickness of the line, likewise pulling back more or less for paint. All of that come with practice, so leave that for another time.
Focus on getting the paint to come out smoothly rather than producing a kind of jagged or spotted line.
I was taught here that a good way to learn a paint system is to start with pressure set around 20psi (as Robby has said), have one drop of paint and one drop of reducer, and try for a continuous line. If it’s a dotted line or has a grainy look to it, add another drop of reducer and try again.
Keep going until you have a smooth unbroken line.
As I said Mate, this is only my experience, and I hope I’ve explained clearly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SiRox Thank you for the help. Now I better understand "Good Flow" a little bit better than I did. So you practice with air pressure, paint thickness, How far you are away from the paper, and Trigger control all at the same time
John V

 

[SiRoxx]

SiRox Thank you for the help. Now I better understand "Good Flow" a little bit better than I did. So you practice with air pressure, paint thickness, How far you are away from the paper, and Trigger control all at the same time
John V

I know it sounds like a lot. But take it a step at a time and it helps. For now, leave the pressure, distance and other things to one side and just practice some lines that are smooth and unbroken. There’s plenty of time for the other stuff [emoji3].


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[John V]

maybe this will help you

Thank you huskystafford That video helps.
John V

 

[John V]

It's very hard to answer this one. Some people are at 20 PSI, and some are not. I myself cannot paint at that PSI. I am around 30-40 depending on what I'm doing. As far are reducing? Start with 1:1 (50-50) see how that sprays for you...if it doesnt work? Add a little more reducer...just keep adding and subtracting till it works for you. Because of the high detail work I do? I reduce my createx illustration paint to the MAX! using my HCB plus? (Smaller cup) its 3/4 reducer, and 3 drops of paint.
So you see...its really where it works best for you.

Thanks I will keep learning. Airbrushing seems to have a steep learning curve at the start.
John V

 

[huskystafford]

Thank you huskystafford That video helps.
John V

Np fighter.

 

[John V]

I know it sounds like a lot. But take it a step at a time and it helps. For now, leave the pressure, distance and other things to one side and just practice some lines that are smooth and unbroken. There’s plenty of time for the other stuff

.


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Ok I will aim for smooth unbroken lines .

 

[SiRoxx]

Ok I will aim for smooth unbroken lines .

Cool. If you don’t have any luck, post up a picture of the lines you’ve done and we’ll be able to help. I practically filled the “Beginners Questions” forum single handed in my first few months LOL.


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[John V]

Cool. If you don’t have any luck, post up a picture of the lines you’ve done and we’ll be able to help. I practically filled the “Beginners Questions” forum single handed in my first few months LOL.


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Does that mean all I need to do is look for your old posts. And have an instant guide on how to airbrush ? : )

 

[huskystafford]

Does that mean all I need to do is look for your old posts. And have an instant guide on how to airbrush ? : )

after you spend bunch of time on dagger strokes and dots

 

[JackEb]

great video Husky,


John, if you are keen to learn how to control spiders then practising on glass is a great way to go, if you can get it right on glass then everything else is a no brainer.
Heres a video that our own @Seamonkey did many moons ago.

It was one of the best things i ever did