Humbrol splattering and a bigger tip?

[Doggy]

Hi all.

I currently use a sparmax dh2 and I also have a cheap Chinese airbrush.

 

I can spray Tamiya paint no problem but I have nothing but trouble with Humbrol acrylic.

 

My Humbrol paint just splutters as if it's too thick. I've tried thinning 50/50 with humbrol acrylic thinners, tamiya thinners and water, it's always the same.

 

Would a larger needle make a difference, say 0.4mm?

 

Some of my Humbrol paint is new and some is about 7 years old but it had never been opened. Nothing Humbrol works through my airbrush.

 

Any ideas?

 

[little-cars]

I suspect using the Tamiya thinners is the main problem, I don't think it's compatible with Humbrol acrylics. I suspect you have  some little gels of paint inside the brush that is causing the problem.   And a  0.25mm is small so easy to clog.  I would suggest a full clean of the brush, then thin the Humbrol paint with the appropriate humbrol thinners, following the manufacturers instructions.  A larger nozzle/needle may make a difference, but I think 0.25mm is the only one available for that brush.

[Doggy]

Thanks there. I've tried thinning it with humbrol thinners, water and tamiya. 

 

The airbrush has been fully stripped recently too.

 

 

I'm stumped.

[G.E.SAUNDERS]

 

                          hI Doggy ,

 

                                             try an Industrial Acylic Thinner such as ACLAC 20, it is available from Auto Repair Supplies Shops.

                                             I also use a Product call GUNWASH to clean my  Paasche Airbrush , don't muck around with the expensive  "Modellin' Size "

                                             Products, go for (1) Litre size tins....... that goes for a General Purpose Thinner .

                                             Also check to see if the Nozzle is not split !

 

                                                                                                               cheery "Modellin' " mumbas !

 

                                                                                                                                         Geoff

 

                                                                                                                                            F.T.G. 3156

[bmwh548]

Are you sure that the ACLAC isn't lacquer based? Acrylic can mean a LOT of things nowadays. Solvent based acrylics like Tamiya/Gunze will work happily with lacquer thinner but waterbased acrylics won't.

 

I would give the paint a really good shake/stir and put a few drops in a transparent cup. Add whatever thinner you plan on using, mix it and check to see what happens. Tilt the cup so that paint gets everywhere on it and look for grit, pigment separation and even "chunks". I've had issues with Revell in particular when I managed to dislodge large chunks of pigment from the bottom of the bottle and they refused to mix properly. I had to decant the paint to be able to use what was still good.

[Steve Noble]

If you're spraying other paints such as Tamiya without issue, then I would suggest Humbrol is the problem? I've had the same problems with Humbrol paints, they went through a phase where they were utter useless, so much so that I stopped using them altogether. I don't know if they've improved because I haven't used them since and probably won't again. Mr Color is my paint of choice now. Such a vast range of colours, spray perfectly everytime and no issues with blocking my airbrush. Once people try them they tend to realise the difference that a good paint makes to their ease of airbrushing.

Like as stated above. If a good clean of your airbrush, checking it over for split tip, correct thinning of the paints etc is not working and other paints are spraying okay, I would feel it's the Humbrol paints in particular that are the issue..

[Doggy]

3 hours ago, Steve Noble said:

If you're spraying other paints such as Tamiya without issue, then I would suggest Humbrol is the problem? I've had the same problems with Humbrol paints, they went through a phase where they were utter useless, so much so that I stopped using them altogether. I don't know if they've improved because I haven't used them since and probably won't again. Mr Color is my paint of choice now. Such a vast range of colours, spray perfectly everytime and no issues with blocking my airbrush. Once people try them they tend to realise the difference that a good paint makes to their ease of airbrushing.

Like as stated above. If a good clean of your airbrush, checking it over for split tip, correct thinning of the paints etc is not working and other paints are spraying okay, I would feel it's the Humbrol paints in particular that are the issue..

Thanks.

 

I think it's the Humbrol too. I have some revell paint and it sprays ok but tamiya is so easy to use.

Last night I bought model air rlm colours so I'll see how I get on with that stuff. 

 

Thanks everyone. 

[little-cars]

15 hours ago, Doggy said:

Thanks there. I've tried thinning it with humbrol thinners, water and tamiya. 

 

The airbrush has been fully stripped recently too.

 

 

I'm stumped.

Have you visually checked the inside of the nozzle for small gells of paint ?

 

[Doggy]

4 hours ago, little-cars said:

Have you visually checked the inside of the nozzle for small gells of paint ?

 

Yes. The airbrush has been totally stripped, soaked overnight in thinners, cleaned and rebuilt. 

 

I was using it tonight with tamiya and it was perfectly smooth.

 

I dread using humbrol in it now, so much so I bought some model air rlm colours. 

If they don't work well through the gun I might need a better gun.

I like German and Japanese aircraft and I don't want to waste the models and time with an airbrush and paint that doesn't spray smoothly, I'll just get frustrated.

 

Thanks again

[Steve Noble]

2 minutes ago, Doggy said:

"I was using it tonight with tamiya and it was perfectly smooth"

 

"I dread using humbrol in it now"

I think you've answered your own question..

[Doggy]

6 minutes ago, Steve Noble said:

I think you've answered your own question..

Lol. You're probably correct but what I don't understand is how anyone can use the stuff.

[Steve Noble]

Just now, Doggy said:

Lol. You're probably correct but what I don't understand is how anyone can use the stuff.

Well some paints just seem to work for some people and not for others. No two people's set up's are the same, so different airbrushes may spray different paints in a different way. It's all learning by trial and error, find the ways that work for you..

[colin]

What pressure are you spraying the Humbrols at, some paints need more pressure than others to spray consistently.

[Doggy]

54 minutes ago, colin said:

What pressure are you spraying the Humbrols at, some paints need more pressure than others to spray consistently.

I thought of that too. I normally spray somewhere between 15 and 20 psi, I'm still experimenting. 

 

I tried pushing the pressure up high with the humbrol but it didn't help.

 

Even the paint finish looks crap using humbrol. I opened the trainer yellow for the nose section of a 109 and it looked dreadful. 

 

I eventually resprayed it with revell 15 I think. 

 

What is really annoying is I bought the new humbrol rlm paints specifically for a focke wulf weeks ago and it's still not finished because the paint looks so bad. I've stripped it off once already with detol and restarted painting it for experimental reasons.

[StephenMG]

On 3/28/2020 at 9:52 PM, Doggy said:

I can spray Tamiya paint no problem but I have nothing but trouble with Humbrol acrylic.

 

My Humbrol paint just splutters as if it's too thick. I've tried thinning 50/50 with humbrol acrylic thinners, tamiya thinners and water, it's always the same.

 

Would a larger needle make a difference, say 0.4mm?

 

 

 

I really like Humbrol acrylics (to brush) but I've had exactly the same problem airbrushing them. I normally spray Tamiya acrylics with my Neo CN (0.35mm) without any problem at all. However, that brush will absolutely not spray Humbrol acrylics. I also have a simple, single-action Aztec airbrush - with a 0.4mm nozzle fitted it sprays Humbrols perfectly well. So, as you suggest, I think they need a bigger nozzle.

[Doggy]

On 4/14/2020 at 11:07 PM, StephenMG said:

 

I really like Humbrol acrylics (to brush) but I've had exactly the same problem airbrushing them. I normally spray Tamiya acrylics with my Neo CN (0.35mm) without any problem at all. However, that brush will absolutely not spray Humbrol acrylics. I also have a simple, single-action Aztec airbrush - with a 0.4mm nozzle fitted it sprays Humbrols perfectly well. So, as you suggest, I think they need a bigger nozzle.

I kind of got around the problem by buying model air, however it dries really quickly and was difficult to use too. I bought flow improver but I'm yet to use it.