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Limetart posted an update in the group
Airbrush and Gunpla! 9 years, 1 month ago Hi guys, so I finally decided to go all out and get an airbrush and compressor. As far as cleaning goes, how do most people do it? I’ve heard to spray thinner through the brush with enamel and lacquer. I’ve also heard to use water in some cases (i’d assume acrylics maybe?)
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Airbrush and Gunpla!
For cleaning, first use a paper towel or something to wipe out the bowl, then onto the thinner to clean out the rest. You can use thinner (Alclad airbrush cleaner works very very well), or water+windowlene or pre-made “airbrush cleaner”. Water does work, but it can often not be strong enough to get some paints thoroughly removed.
One trick is to put your finger over the end of the brush and engage the air and pull back – this forces the air back through the mechanism and out through the bowl (it’s got to go somewhere) and it acts like a backwash and that can really help.
Finally, invest in a cleaning kit (or maybe you have some tiny brushes already) and learn how to disassemble the brush and clean the insides. You don’t have to do that every day, but every now and again if the brush is acting up you need to de-gunk the insides.
ok thanks for the info! excited to start airbrushing 😀
I’d get a “I don’t care” kit to practise on at first. I did that, then dived right into PG Red Frame Astray 🙂 It doesn’t take too long to get the hang of the airbrush, and from then on it’s great fun. I wish I’d done it years ago….
Other thing to do is invest in some clips to hold your parts – alligator clips on wood skewers works great.
yep this is pretty much what i plan to do.. just finished an hg jegan and as much as i love the ms its gonna be the test subject for my airbrushing
Another trick for backwash is to slightly loosen the front of the airbrush. Don’t take it off completely, just about half-way, and that has the same effect as putting your finger over the end. If you need to do an extended backwash, this is less tiring.
Check this out. I became completely anal about my airbrushes after this. And it’s worth it
As GN said, dump the remaining paint (if you want to keep it) into a jar, I always backwash the airbrush, since the Tamiya paints seem to clog up after a couple of sessions, and depending on what type of needle it uses, I pull the needle through the front after taking the nozzle apart saves dragging paint and gunk through the airbrush into places it shouldn’t go (my Iwata just has a regular needle, seen other brands that you can’t take the needle through the front section because of a forged bead at the unimportant end of the needle), learned that trick from a youtube video of a seasoned airbrush artist…Actually I followed every step of his instruction for cleaning the airbrush.
thanks Beldin and Outamyhead for the helpful guides!