Iwata HP-CH + Lifecolor, how?

[Bengalensis]

I desperately need some help here. I have a new Iwata HP-CH with the standard 0,3 mm nozzle and I want to paint thin black lines preferably using Lifecolor.

I'm fairly new to Lifecolor, or acrylics for that matter, and have only really used them for a bit larger areas so far, through my Iwata HP-SAR. I use Lifecolor thinner, paint/thinner ratios of 60/40 to 40/60. This has worked (almost) fine, but I notice they will easily dry a little bit too fast, slightly reducing paint flow after a bit of working time. Cleaning, easily done, with Lifecolor cleaner fixes the problem. I have, depending on type of work, used air pressures between 10-20 psi. So far so (almost) good.

Now back to the HP-CH that I bought some time ago specifically for this type of fine line work. There is no chance I can get a consistent paint flow for any length of time when trying to do this type of fine work. I get less than a second worth of "line" and then paint flow gradually stops. Pulling the trigger back more will eventually release paint but of course too much. I can also work the trigger back and forth, within the region I want to use, and get that one second long "line" several times in a row. But never anything consistent.

I have tried changing air pressures within the 10-20 psi region, and even some more, with no improvement. I have thinned the paint down to 10/90 ratio with no improvement.

I tried to add some acrylic retarder (Winsor & Newton) with no effect at all. Not sure though if that will work with Lifecolor, although it mixed up nicely.

As soon as I make a quick clean and then spray 100% Lifecolor thinner it works perfectly, I can do my fine lines in thinner seemingly forever. As soon as any paint is added to that thinner it no longer wants to work.

The airbrush seems to be in perfect condition when disassembled and inspected. It is clean and have not been used with incompatible paint/thinners causing clogs of that type.

I assume I need some retarder, and/or some "flow improver"? What products would work good with Lifecolor?

Are there any other tricks involved, or do I make something wrong somewhere?

Should I give up Lifecolor for this work and use something else? If so what?

I'm at a loss now...

[Duncan B]

I have an Iwata HP-CH (one of 3 different Iwatas) and it is the airbrush I tend to use 75% of the time. I can get down to reasonably fine lines using my acrylics of choice, Mr Hobby and Mr Color but it has taken some practice to get the mix and pressure right. I've only sprayed Lifecolor a few times for general cover, never detail work, but found that it does want to dry on the tip so I would suggest that you are needing to use a retarder and you should also keep experimenting with different mixes and pressures, taking notes as you go. There is an outside chance that the grains of paint are too large for the needle but I think that isn't really likely with a 0.3 needle.

There are no tricks just trial and error and a bit of patience as you'll find each type of paint will have slightly different characteristics.

Duncan B

[Julien]

Thin your paint with Vallejo airbrush cleaner, strange I know but it helps slightly retard the paint.

Works with lifecolor, vallejo and xtracrylix.

Julien