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Novice using an old Aerograph Super 63


Quiet Mike

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Getting back into modelling after a short break. (Of a couple of decades.) 

I thought I'd try my hand with my old Aerograph Super 63, which I bought as an art student in 1992. It only got used with watercolours when I was a student, then packed away as it was pretty much redundant by the end of my technical illustration course!

 

Well, I love using it. But I am really struggling with it now I'm using modelling paints, and I don't know if it's the right tool for the job? Or, more likely, I'm not using it properly with these paints. The first bowl of paint goes through the airbrush beautifully, but each successive bowl of paint gets worse, until nothing comes through at all by only the fourth bowl. So I spend much more time stripping it down and cleaning it, than actually spaying paint.

 

Tonight I was using Ultimate primer and thinner, about 50/50, which gave a nice coverage. Should I be using some sort of 'flow improver'? Apologies if I'm using the wrong terminology, but this is all new to me!

 

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Airfix Humber Staff Car by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Airfix Humber Staff Car by Mike, on Flickr

 

(I don't have a good spray booth set up yet, but I am wearing a particle mask while spraying)

Edited by Quiet Mike
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I have tried the cheap Badger replicas, an Aztek, but since I found a source of spares for Aerograph I've gone back to my old Sprite Major. It's brilliant.

If it blocks regularly, either the paint is too thick or the pressure is too low.

 I would recommend overhauling your airbrush, especially as teflon seals are now available. See https://www.everythingairbrush.com/airbrush-spares/aerograph-spares.html

 

Edited by Jo NZ
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Thanks for the replys. It is a lovely airbrush, I would love to get it working properly!

 

So, it obviuosly has black rubber nozzle washer. The white PTFE are the ones to go for I think? What else would need uprating for use with solvents?
https://www.everythingairbrush.com/airbrush-spares/aerograph-spares.html?p=2

 

 

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I have an Aerograph E54 that is now 63 years old that I retired to backup a few years ago because it deserved a rest!  It still functions very well though.  Annoyingly I can't find the instructions this might help with a bit of magnification.

 

Hopefully it would just be the nozzle washer that would contact any solvents.

 

 

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Patrick from Everything Airbrush replied very promptly to my email, and suggested a new nozzle and PTFE seal. I'll try this first, if that hasn't fixed it, I'll send it away for their service, which was £18.

 

The primer I was using was thinned 50/50 ... so could that still be too thick for this airbrush? Or is it just drying faster than I can paint?

I'm not entirely sure what pressure I am spraying at, I think between 1.5 and 2?

Edited by Quiet Mike
grammar
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My Super 63 is still in regular use and it has served me well for the last 30 years, and other than an occasional replacement needle and a change over to the white PTFE seals for the nozzle I have not had to do much else.

A great airbrush back in the day and still holds it's own against any newer airbrush that I have acquired in recent years. 

    

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Not bought any new parts yet, but have given airbrush a really good clean, and made my own flow aid from distilled water and glycerine, and spaying now is much, much easier!

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  • 9 months later...

Hi Mike, 

 

As far as I know, the primers are sprayed at higher pressures. I usually use pressure around 25-30psi when spraying Vallejo primers, with a couple of drops of flow improver, which I use with paints also. Makes life much easier, for Vallejo paints at least. Tamiya doesn't seem to dry at the tip that much, but I also add flow improver. 

 

Hope this helps a bit. 

 

Cheers, 

Nikola

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As far as I know, Ultimate Primer is the same stuff as Badger Stynylrez just with different branding.

 

Lots of things to know about primers, they are a little different to normal acrylic paints.

 

They are thicker, so benefit from a larger nozzle and higher spray pressure.  They also dry much tougher and clean on harder, so it is more difficult to clean up clogs.

 

Badger recommend a nozzle of 0.5mm or bigger and a pressure of 20-30 psi for their primer.  Adding flow improver will stop it from drying too quickly in the brush and clogging it up.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

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  • 2 months later...

My first attempt at using Tamiya acrylics hasn't gone well!

 

49570501857_67c682b8db.jpg

Paint doesnt look any better under natural light! by Mike, on Flickr

 

Very splatty, also despite me trying to get the paint on 'wet', it has gone on very thin and dry, with a grainy 'Action Man hair' finish. This is the second attempt. A mix of 4 Tamiya XF and X paints, thinned about 50/50 with Ultimate primer, spayed at varying pressures between 13 - 20 ish PSI.

I'm struggling getting this to go on smoothly, compared to the ultimate primer which is very easy to get a smooth finish.

 

Going for a third attempt this afternoon! This time ramping the pressure up to 25-30 PSI, also not thinning my new mix in the bottle. I'll be doing that in the airbrush, so I can vary the mix.

Edited by Quiet Mike
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Hi Mike, 

 

Have you tried using Tamiya thinner with their paints? I am just guessing that the mix between Ultimate thinner and Tamiya paints could be the cause of the problem. Don't know. 

 

I usually mix all my paint at 30:70 (sometimes 50:50) ratio (paint to thinner) with added flow improver, and spray at around 15-18psi. Primer I also mix with flow improver and spray at 25-30psi. I have a bottom fed Badger 150.

 

You can also try levelling thinners, as they have a retarder so they dry slower. 

 

Also, the distance at which you spray different mixtures matters a lot. Your coat of paint must be wet when it hits the target, otherwise you will always get orange peel. But be careful to move your airbrush as soon as you get that nice wet coat because if you keep it at the same spot you will have ripples and what not. Always keep you airbrush moving. 

 

Try experimenting on plastic spoons or scrap plastic and see what happens. 

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Best, 

Nikola

Edited by Nikola Topalov
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