Iwata Eclipse CS Questions

[RaisingArizona]

I have the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS airbrush.  I have a question that I expect the answer will depend on many factors.  Allow me to characterize my environment:

• I live in a very dry climate, Arizona
• I like the Vallejo line of paint as cleanup is a breeze using water.  I have the Model Air paints as well as the Model Color paints.

 

Some questions:

• Advise on this forum and others states that for most applications, the Model Air paints can be used in the airbrush without thinning.  Is that your experience?
• I have also seen advise to set the air pressure between 14 - 20 psi.  However, Iwata states the optimum air pressure for the Eclipse CS is around 25 - 30 psi.  What air pressure do you use?

 

I do realize that lower air pressures for fine / detail work and higher pressures for larger coverage areas.  In my case, I do find that for spraying Model Air without thinning I have to use higher pressures.  

 

For Model Air paints:

• Do you thin the paint?  What ratio have your found to be good to use?
• Do you use flow improver?  How much to add ... ratio to paint?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Steve

[Ngantek]

I have only limited experience with Model Air paints, but my impression (and I've seen many comments that agree) is that it's pretty thick to spray without thinning, using the same airbrush. One can, as you say, use higher pressures to push it out. However my personal view (with any paint) is that better and more controllable results are generally obtained by thinning properly and spraying at lower pressure. There are fewer problems with tip dry, it's easier to control and obtain thin layers and so on. See how you get on with the paints, you might struggle with tip dry in your environment, (IIRC I've seen people in such conditions not use acrylics at all. You could consider lacquers or enamels?). Best of luck, hopefully someone who habitually uses these paints will have more to offer.

Andy

 

 

[CFster]

I spray Vallejo Model Air exclusively. I’ve found Dr. Strangebrush’s recommendations solved my tip drying problems. 
 

Premix:

90% Vallejo Airbrush Thinner
5% Liquitex Flow-Aid
5% Liquitex Slo-Dri Fluid Additive (not their Slo-Dri Medium!)

That mix can be increased to 10% each on the Liquitex to as much as 20% for problematic acrylics. I live in a very dry climate in the winter and have used 80/10/10 with great results. I find the Liquitex works better than the corresponding Vallejo products. Mix up a batch of this and keep it. 

Use this mix to then thin your Vallejo Model Air at 70% paint : 30% thinner ratio. For Model Color reverse those numbers. Obviously thinning depends on several factors including the specific color you’re spraying, but it’s a good starting point. I can spray routinely at 12psi with a .3 needle. 

This formula works with most acrylic lines utilizing their proprietary thinners, even including alcohol based acrylics such as Tamiya. 

I’ve also learned to stop the paint flow first before stopping the air flow with my double action brush. This trigger discipline ensures the last of the paint will be blown off the needle when releasing the trigger, which mitigates tip dry and clogging. 
 

https://modelpaintsol.com/guides/liquitex-flow-and-slow-the-tools-for-taming-acrylic-paints

Edited February 17, 2023 by CFster