Search the Community

I've been on a hunt for primers and varnishes to use with my Vallejo paints. I don't normally prime or clean my models before I paint them, and just started to use varnishes on a few of my models. However, I just switched from using Testor's enamels in my airbrush to Vallejo's model air. I don't want my paints to react with anything I do end up getting. As far as primers go, I can't seem to find something that is just an overall good primer. It seems that Vallejo brand primers get a really bad rap and don't "adhere to the plastic, just create a film on top of it". Throughout the research I've done, Stynylrez primers seem to be a favorite. I'm also considering Mr. Surfacer 1200. Is it worth mixing brands or do Vallejo primers work well enough? And is there a certain color I should get? And for Varnishes, my paint set came with a couple of varnishes- Gloss, satin, Matte. I did use the gloss but it seems to have not done mush with the surface of the airplane after about 3-5 coats. With this, I'm not sure if I was doing something or it was the varnish its self. I'd like to get some GX100 since it seems to be a great clear coat from what I read. Any ideas of what I should do or past experiences you can share? - Joanna

Hi fellow modellers. I have a problem with my Hataka red line paints. They stay sticky after airbrushing. I have used different thinners with them (hataka, vallejo, green stuff world) but the result is the same. Do any of you experience the same problem? Any solutions? I have tried to airbrush the Hataka blue line (for brush painting) and they seem to work better. They spray easy and dries fast without the sticky feeling. Looking forward to hear your experiences with these paints. Happy modeling. /T

Hi, I've been airbrushing for around seven months now, had one of those £40 amazon sets and then i changed the airbrush to a harder steenbeck ultra but kept the cheap compressor hoping that the air pressure is sufficient. Paint used to spray fine but over the last couple of times it has started to become very grainy or just not spraying any paint at all. I clean all the airbrush parts to the best of my ability. I have come to multiple conclusions: compressor not good enough, paint not thin enough, wrong thinner for the wrong brand or even something as simple as tip drying. I use vallejo 71.361 thinner on tamiya paints, sometimes I thin it so much it looks like water so I add some more paint and it goes all grainy and 30 seconds later it stops spraying. Please can you shed some light on the troublesome area. All the best, Magnus.

Maybe I need to brush up my searching skills, as I can't believe I'm the first person to ask this: Are airbrush needles brand specific? Obviously they need to match the nozzle size, but does the manufacturer matter? I managed to bend the needle tip on my airbrush. It's labelled Sparmax SX0.3D on the box, but Tamiya 74801 on the airbrush body. I can't seem to find sparmax needles anywhere online, (and their website wasn't much help). The options seem to be (i) taking a punt on a 0.3 needle specc'd for a different airbrush. or, (ii) ordering a cheap set of needles from some "no-name" manufacturer and hoping for the best. And tomorrow I'll try to straighten the needle. But none of these approaches fill me with confidence right now. Obviously, it'd be expensive to have to replace the whole 'brush for the sake of one component, so I wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience?

So I just started having problems with my airbrush we're when I start to paint semi large areas on my model the paint from my airbrush starts to I guess dry in the air and leave a anti slip textor or a sandpaper texture all over the model. I don't know if it's because I need to thin it more, bad air pressure, to far away form the model, or my airbrush is just getting to old. I'm planning on getting a new airbrush so I dont want it to keep happening with the new one. I use Tamiya xf series of paint and I thin it with only Tamiya lacquer thinner in a cup before I pour it in the airbrush. Thanks for your time

Hi all Today I received my first 'pricier' airbrush in an Apex Ultimate. I also bought the heavy 0.5mm conversion needle set. I'm not a major fan of double actions but it seems that is what 95% of all airbrushes are, so I went with it. There a few small issues about it, and some other questions: 1) When my mini compressor is running, and I don't press the trigger for air, it makes a heck of a racket. It did this with a Scalemodelshop double action until I swapped out the trigger and connector from my Revell single action. Really hope that doesn't cause any issue with the mini compressor. As for the issues: 1) I'm hoping its just the norm, but the paint cup looked to have staining or even small spots of something residual, like it had been used and not fully cleaned. Hope I'm not being paranoid in thinking its a refurbished model or anything. 2) The biggest issue by far is the conversion kit for the bigger needle. After overcoming the fiddly trigger, I had the needle in place with the new air cone and cap. Right off the mark, the tip of the new needle protrudes beyond the cap in a rather risky manner. But worst of all, the moment I apply air, it back flushes. It seems to spray fine with the water test, but I don't understand why its back flushing. Surely these conversion parts are designed to allow airflow still? Its acting like a blockage, which didn't happen with the stock needle. Glad I didn't decide paint was a good first test, because it would have gone everywhere. Cheers in advance Gaz

Hope this is the correct forum. I am looking for a guide to masking off the division between the upper and lower wing surfaces for airbrushing, initially on a 1/72 Spit. Should I just put masking tape on "sideways" around the wing edges, or would that bleed? Also, sometimes the upper surface colour "wraps around" the wing edge to the underside, so how to tackle that? Any other tips I should be aware of? Regards Tony

Hello everyone, I have a large bottle of tamiya x-20a. I am going to paint a 1/24 car in a lacquer paint. Do I need lacquer thinner or will the x-20a work? Also, what sort of ratio would you suggest?

Hello all, I was looking to buy an airbrush either an affordable AK airbrush or a cheap scale model shop one. Dual action of course. I do mostly car modelling in 1/24th scale. Are those tiny compressors worth buying at all? If i wanted something like an as-18 should I get one with a tank? What beginner setup would you recommend for around 100 pounds maybe just over?

Summary: A good airbrush for its job but with some peculiarities that can be a deal breaker. Yesterday I had my first painting session with my new Badger Sotar 20/20 V, which I bought directly from Badger with the 2020 Birthday discount. The V has a 0.3 nozzle / needle and a larger cup (sort of - I will explain later). For reference, I have been an owner of an Olympos side-feed airbrush (0.3) for something like 20 years, and a Harder and Steenbeck Evolution (0.2 / 0.4) for one and a half year. The Olympos is a great airbrush but the side feed always bothered me, and the H&S is also great but I cannot get comfortable with the position of the trigger. Both the Olympos and the H&S are manufactured like precision surgical instruments. Upon taking the Sotar out of the pouch it came with, two things impressed me: First, how it fit in my hand. Like the shoe that you will not throw away even though it is falling apart because it is soooo comfortable. I got an immediate similar feeling from the Sotar. Second, that any movement of the needle felt rougher than what I was used to. I took the needle out to find that it was well lubricated, so I attribute the roughness to the back-and-forth friction against some sealing o-ring. Which I do not consider a bad thing, given that my H&S will, when backflushed, send paint back to the trigger section. During painting, the Sotar gave me good atomization, even though I noticed that I needed about 5 PSI more in all scenarios, which I attribute (probably because I am physics-illiterate) to the smaller aperture of the air inlet (which also delayed my enjoyment of the airbrush as I had to find the appropriate adapter!) I am not a big detail painter but in my fooling around with the Sotar, it seems that details wouldn't be a problem. Also, I have to point out that Badger does not provide any protection for the needle while in use and only a badly-cut rubber tube thingy like a cap for when not in use. I understand that this is a discount item but it makes the whole thing feel a little cheap. What is weird in this airbrush is the cup. The Sotar V, being a more general purpose airbrush, has a bigger cup than the other Sotars. However, the cup has a cutaway on its back side from the top to half the height of the cup which makes a significant portion of the cup useless. Deal breaker: The airbrush is great so far but I will not buy another Sotar. The deal breaker is the miiiiniscule nozzle. Smaller than my H&S (of course, since H&S have comparatively huge nozzles - which was its selling point for me, compared to my Olympos) but also smaller than my Olympos which I understand is Iwata-sized and for me was already marginally too small but thankfully has two flat surfaces on its two sides that made it much more handlable. Sotar nozzle is so small that I can barely hold between my fingers - and I have normal fingers. But I also have a standing relation with the floor monster (no carpet) so I am sure that one of these days this small small nozzle will disappear never to be found again. So a good airbrush for its job but with some peculiarities which can be a deal breaker.

As a relative new comer to Britmodeller I have been seriously impressed by the standard, especially skills with an airbrush. I decided it was time to try out some of the methods and techniques I have seen from looking through the amazing examples on this site. My guinea pig is a Tamiya F-15 Eagle that was part built some time ago and has been doing nothing apart from gathering dust. A quick wash and a coat of primer and we'll see what happens from here. Any tips and guidance gratefully received.

Hi guys! I've recently joined the airbrush club! But I do have an awful lot of hataka blue line and vallejo model color paints, and I figure rather than replacing them I'd use them! Just wondering if anyone has experience using these paints in an airbrush and how they thinned them for use? Thanks guys!

Hi there, I am a relative newbie who is (still) struggling with getting to grips with my H&S Evolution airbrush. I build cars and bikes and only shoot water-based acrylics due to my working environment. However, after much advice from numerous sources, experimentation and sanding (!), I am still experiencing the same issues as when I started. Does anyone know of any modelling airbrush courses available (once this lockdown is over!)? I am based in Surrey and have found one offered by Airbrush.com, based in West Sussex. This sounds ideal - but I wondered if anyone knew of any others? Any advice greatly received, thanks.

Hey, Please excuse this simple question but I'll have to ask When painting airliners, would you say the glossy white is the better approach or a matt white (like a normal white primer) followed by a gloss coat? I would think, a glossy coat would make the paintwork look more uniform but I might be missing something here. Also, I see many of you swear by spray cans when it comes to painting airliners but are there any good airbrush paints out-there for white, grey and the like? Many thanks! Cristian

Hi all. So I got a new airbrush, a relatively cheap 0.2mm one from Scalemodelshop. I wanted to use it to apply the camouflage to a 1/72 tank. However, despite having somewhat cracked a thinning ratio for Real Color paint (basically top up the bottle with thinner), it seems some of their colours still aren't thin enough. When I tried to spray, it speckled like crazy, almost like Tamiya White normally does. But when I thinned further, it retained the speckling but was more prone to flooding. I tried adjusting the screw like I used to on another airbrush to apply some post shading or highlighting with Tamiya colours, but I can't seem to get the knack for it. I really wonder how people do those crazy thin lines on the German aircraft night camo. No matter which why I approach the paint, its either too thick or too thin. No apparent middle ground. I still wasn't able to find the exact required thinning ratio of Real Color either, other than a suggestion of 2:1 paint to thinner. Any pointers would be appreciated. I keep looking forward to painting, but its starting to get laborious at times Gaz

Photo of cracked nozzle Hi I've had my airbrush (sparmax SP-35) for about 2 months now and today, it started blowing bubbles in the cup. On closer inspection, I could see a crack on the nozzle. I was wondering how this could of happened and how to prevent it happening again. I haven't dropped the airbrush or removed the nozzle and clean it thoroughly after every use.

Hi all. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays I got a new airbrush for Christmas, a double-action model with an adjusting screw beneath the paint cup. I'm curious as to what this screw does since none of my previous models have one and I couldn't quite seem to isolate the function through Google searching. Much appreciate for any direction in advance Cheers Gaz

can you age a 2 way flow adapter for airbrushes? and would it be possible to run 2 airbrushes off 1 compressor if the above mentioned does exist? (not both at the same time may i add) MT in advance

This is my new "dirty" corner, for painting and airbrushing. At the other end, to the right, is a clean bench for doing anything that doesn't involve paint. I'm left handed, so the brush to the left works well. The window points NW, so really good light. When spraying/airbrushing I use the face mask in the picture, but I'm thinking of some sort of extraction ventilation to go out of the window. Has anyone here made up an extraction system? I'm thinking of using a cooker hood fan, and making a wooden plate to go between the window and the frame. All comments, as ever, most welcome!

Hello there. After a long time, I've managed to spray the Future without any problems and have a smooth surface even after 3rd coat. It shines, yes, but there are some dust particles and it seems they stuck there while I was spraying the coats. My question is, how should i get rid of these without ruining the future coat so much? Wet sanding seems to activate the Future lies beneath. However coating that area again seems to fix the problem. Also should I wax with Tamiya stuff (or something else you may suggest) after coating my model with Future and letting it dry like several hours maybe days ? Some say that it dulls the final appearance, but some are using as well. Cheers, Baran

Hi there, I am hoping that I can pick the brains of those of you who have experience airbrushing with Revell Aqua acrylics, as I am having a real battle getting a smooth finish on a Ferrari 458 build. I have a H&S Evolution, and used Humbrol grey spray primer prior to spraying. After reading as much info as possible, I thinned the paint to the 'semi skimmed milk' consistency using de-ionised water. I sprayed in light coats, gradually building up the thickness. However, for some reason, I am getting a rough sand paper-like finish, usually semi-gloss. I have changed the air pressure from 25 psi sprayed at about 10/12 cm distance to 15psi sprayed at half that distance. I also thinned the paint less the closer I was to the model. I have now stripped it three times and have no idea how to solve this, apart from sanding with 5000 grit then covering with Alclad 2 Aqua Gloss in the hope it will look OK. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have a few images but am not sure how to post them? Many thanks, Ant.

Hi chaps. I've heard great things about molotow liquid chrome pens, and decided to pick one up to try. I've not used it yet, but am about to start a kit that needs extensive chrome stripping and re applying. Due to the large amount of painting needed I was hoping to airbrush it all. Can anyone tell me if the the molotow paint needs thinning? If so what would anyone recommend? Thanks in advance. Matt

I'm completely new to all of this and so I have bought myself a 50 litre compressor and an Iwata HP-CS Airbrush. The little problem I have is that there is nothing in between to connect the two...! I went onto the Iwata website and was just bamboozled with all sorts of connections and fitments, and with nothing actually in the paperwork regarding thread sizes or internal or external diameters, I'm just left wondering, "What the hell do I need!" Does anyone has some insight into making this as simple as possible?

Hi, I’m getting back into model making after 30 years and came across your (very useful) website – a great resource. I have just bought an H&S Evolution airbrush and am only using acrylic (water-based) paints for my bike or car projects. So far I have found that the Revell Aqua paint sprays okay, whilst I can’t seem to get on with Humbrol at all (variable results across pots of the same colour) My question is this – which water based acrylics give the best metallic finish (ie on exhausts, wheels, engine covers, etc)? From what I can see there are quite a few makes to choose from here in the UK: AK Extreme Metal, Vallajo Metal Colour, Vallajo Model Air, etc – do they all have to be used over a primer? And if so, what type (matt/gloss)? Can these all be sprayed with a clear coat to protect/enhance them? What are the acrylic (non-solvent) clear coats like to use? The biggest attraction of these for me is that they are water-based and thus make cleaning the airbrush easy and odour free. Any advice greatly received, thanks!

I heard of using an airbrush to paint on decal paper but can't find anything on it. I use a laser printer and laser paper if it matters. I want to know, should I use just acrylic paint and do I put the decal film on before and/or just after.