Nozzle sizes

[Stuck]

This morning while cleaning my H&S airbrush I cracked the .15 nozzle which miffed me a bit because I only brought a new one last year and have hardly used it. Now that I am spraying a lot of Lacquer based paints on vehicles i am finding the .4 nozzle give a good finish but that one has worn and needs replacing as well. These nozzles not being cheap I am wandering whether to give the .15 a miss altogether, it also needs a new needle. Would a .2 be a good compromise over the two, and also will it fit on my existing aircap.

Cheers Mike

[little-cars]

Hi,

H&S nozzles are good value when compared with a lot of other manufacturers.

UK prices 0.15mm is £13, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6mm are £12 each and needles are £8 each.

How did you damage the nozzle?

The 0.2mm is a good standard nozzle. Will paint down to about 1mm widths, up to about 13mm .

The 0.2mm needle is a little less pointed than the 0.15mm one, so less likely to get damaged. The 0.2mm nozzle is a lot larger than the 0.15, so less likely to get clogged. So yes it's a good option if it will paint the range that you need.

Paul

[Stuck]

Thanks for the quick response Paul, i havnt a clue how it split like it did, i am very careful cleaning them. what with the exchange rate as it is it is getting a bit prohibitive to buy in the UK, but even with that your price compares favorably with what i am being asked here. If the post on a small package like that is not going to cost an arm and a leg to France then i will put an order in with you for a .2 nozzle and needle, I presume it will fit the existing air cap.

[P_Budzik]

I

 

Edited January 9, 2018 by P_Budzik

[little-cars]

Thanks for the quick response Paul, i havnt a clue how it split like it did, i am very careful cleaning them. what with the exchange rate as it is it is getting a bit prohibitive to buy in the UK, but even with that your price compares favorably with what i am being asked here. If the post on a small package like that is not going to cost an arm and a leg to France then i will put an order in with you for a .2 nozzle and needle, I presume it will fit the existing air cap.

What tools and cleaners are you using to maintain the brush?

Yes, the 0.15mm air cap fits the 0.2mm needle and nozzle set.

The exchange rate is good for people in the UK buying from europe, but not so good for people in europe buying from the UK

For referance Needle & nozzle to europe should be £3.50 when ordered on the web site.

Paul

[Stuck]

What tools and cleaners are you using to maintain the brush?

Yes, the 0.15mm air cap fits the 0.2mm needle and nozzle set.

The exchange rate is good for people in the UK buying from europe, but not so good for people in europe buying from the UK

For referance Needle & nozzle to europe should be £3.50 when ordered on the web site.

Paul

I usualy soak my blocked nozzles in cellulose thinners and after a while tap the flat end on a tile,it seems with the .15 that the gunk gets wedged right in the tip, I find that trying to ream it out only makes matters worse, so I have a very fine length copper wire that I gently thread through the pointed end which usualy pushes it out, yesterday I did this and as soon as it touched the nozzle it just cracked.

I have had my H&S evolution silverline for 6 years now, it fits my hand like a glove, and I swear by them. Well I can understand H& S thinking with 2 in one sets because it is not just us model makers using these brushes, but for most applications I find the .15 nothing but trouble maybe because the pigments of most model paints are just not fine enough to go through them successfully.

When I first started out with the brush I immediately went for the finer set up thinking this would give better results and disregarded the .4. I now find for most applications this one is best. So I would advise any beginners to start off with the .4 first with the brush to gain confidence with it.

Can i say what an excellent Utube video that was, the guy really knew what he was on about.

[little-cars]

Hi,

The 0.15mm nozzle does have to be kept clean as a little paint or gunge building up will stop the paint flow, it will work with the vast majority of modelling paints, but you need to use the right thinners and ratio as well as cleaning the brush after use.

I also find that people are often using more than one type of paint and the thinner from one type is a thickener for another.

I suggest flushing the brush through with water to get rid of any residual cleaner/thinner before changing paint types.

The reamer does have to be used carefully.

I personally normally spend a few minutes cleaning the nozzles manually.

You can back flush the nozzle by forcing cleaner trough the pointed end.

Aerosol cleaners are good at shifting the nozzle clogging stuff this way.

I normally use a 10x magnifier and a super fine micro brush to clean the inside of the aircap and nozzle. The micro brush is soft plastic, so less likely to damage the nozzle tip.

Paul

[Stuck]

Well I did rather hastily use the fine nozzle yesterday to try it with lacquers, I should have know better not to clean it thoroughly first because previous to that I had been useing it for acrylics. I have found that using acrylics after lacquer is OK, but vise versa unless fully cleaned is courting disaster,Silly me I will pay the price with Paul later in the week !!.

In an ideal world I would like a second Evolution, one for each, even better a third just for clearcoat,like many no doubt have had their lovely gloss finish ruined by tiny specks of metalic !!

[FalkeEins]

just invested in a new H&S Evolution for precisely that. I use a Sparmax just for varnishes

[little-cars]

Well I did rather hastily use the fine nozzle yesterday to try it with lacquers, I should have know better not to clean it thoroughly first because previous to that I had been useing it for acrylics. I have found that using acrylics after lacquer is OK, but vise versa unless fully cleaned is courting disaster,Silly me I will pay the price with Paul later in the week !!.

In an ideal world I would like a second Evolution, one for each, even better a third just for clearcoat,like many no doubt have had their lovely gloss finish ruined by tiny specks of metalic !!

There are plenty of people out there using their old brush for primer costs and a third just for clear. It can be expensive, but there is nothing worse that paint contamination when you want to put of a clear coat!

Paul

[azureglo]

I usualy soak my blocked nozzles in cellulose thinners and after a while tap the flat end on a tile,it seems with the .15 that the gunk gets wedged right in the tip, I find that trying to ream it out only makes matters worse, so I have a very fine length copper wire that I gently thread through the pointed end which usualy pushes it out, yesterday I did this and as soon as it touched the nozzle it just cracked.

My 9.99 euro cents worth. I have a couple of these babies:

I use Mr Color (lacquer ) through them:

First off if you're spraying lacquer, use a really good lacquer thinner like Mr Color Levelling or get some anti-bloom/hi-gloss thinners/standard thinners from your local car body paint supplier (virtually every town has one). Don't use DIY store "cellulose thinners", truly nasty stuff with aromatic chemicals and eco friendly gunge.

If you're thinning right, 0.2mm (@5-15PSI), is perfect for everything except primers like Alclad Grey/white/black and Mr Surfacer-0.4mm will bring you atomising joy for these. Blockages and tip drying are for acrylic heretics not the righteous lacquer worshippers like us.

Secondly, avoid tapping/beating/whipping/poking your precious nozzle, 30 seconds swirling in said high grade thinners and 5 mins (with plain water and dishwashing liquid) in one of these will see you right matey:

Lastly, listen to What Paul Says: He is Truly Wise In the Ways of The Airbrush and also holds supplies of Gators Grip Thin, possibly the finest modelling thingy since Mr Surfacer 1500 spraycans..

Anil The H&S and Mr Color Fanboy

PS put the cap back on the bodyshop thinners or you will write endless rambling posts like this .

PPS if you're spraying cellulose thinners at 10+PSI and not using a high quality face mask with organic vapour filters as well as a spray booth, think about about making a will.

[CedB]

Wow... I thought I was a shopper! There's some serious (ly expensive) stuff there azureglo. I'm impressed!

[Stuck]

Well azureglo that is an impressive array of airbrushes you have there.

The reason I started this post was not just to seek advice, but from my mistakes beginners could avoid them, and asking the question is there any place for .15 nozzle in general modeling. I made a stupid mistake with cross contamination , I wont be the first and I certainly wont be the last.

Just for the record I spent many years making and finishing bespoke furniture and kitchens with cellulose lacquers , and went through galleons of the stuff. I have realized that there is not much difference in laying a clear coat down on a 6ft dresser and a 1/24 model car, the one is just a bit smaller. I use cheap supermarket cellulose thinners, and have had absolutely no problems with it at all and even thin Tamiya acrylics with it. Workshop hygiene is second nature to me.

I am taking the plunge and am going to afford myself the luxury of a second airbrush purely for lacquers and primers, after a lot of research and because my old workshop spray gun was only single action I have decided to get a Paache H, and keep my evolution for detail work. Call me a fool if you like.

Ramble over.

[P_Budzik]

If those are your real questions than I would say that .15mm is too small to be reliable for paint, especially waterborne acrylic. I believe .2mm is a minimum for reliable performance. Second, despite your past experience, you are referring to an external mix airbrush, not single action. Indeed, the Badger 200 is an internal mix single action airbrush...

The action refers to the fact that material and paint are controlled by the single action of depressing the trigger button rather than the double action of depressing the trigger for airflow and then drawing back for material flow. Point in fact, no airbrush is really internal mix, but the Paasche H introduces the paint so far out from the air source that it does a poor job of atomization. Refer to my images in this video at the 6:49 mark of my video ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2_YEoGunu0#t=410

Personally, I wouldn't trade convenience for inferior atomization and in turn a courser finish. It might be OK on a piece of full sized furniture that you are going to rub out, but a rough surface on a scale model is sort of self defeating.

Paul

[Stuck]

Paul can I say how clear and concise your vids are some of the best I have seen on Utube covering the subject of airbrushing. Half the reason I started this thread.http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234978474-utube/

Thankyou.

[CedB]

What he said ^^

Paul is my guru and has had my thanks before - and again now.

I re-watch his videos from time to time since, as an ageing 'Newbie', things slip out of the back of my head and I need to recap.

Thanks Paul.