Gravity Colors Primer

I am not used to airbrushing primer, it's a bit different. I have always had painting issues that I have attributed towards my climate, which is extremely dry and warmer that most of the world.

Right now it is drying too fast and I am getting a textured finish. I have been playing with the AB settings and it is getting better.

I can increase the paint flow and move slower, but I feel like there is a lot of overspray, maybe too much, but I don't know. I am spraying into an enclosed booth, downdraft and it just seems like to me there is a lot of cloudy overspray. When I watch videos like Tom's, I don't see much or any overspray in the booth. If I dial back the settings to reduce the amount of paint, it just dries too fast.

I don't know enough about painting to really work through this on my own. if I thin the primer, will that retard it a bit? If so, what should I thin it with?

I have seen excellent results with this primer and I like the idea of ditching spray cans all together. I love Tamiya primer, but even with my spray booth it's still an issue in the house.

EDIT: It's my airbrush. I have a Grex TG and I am going through o rings like crazy. I was told by the rep that I could use Lacquer Thinner. Apparently that's not the case. The packing seal o ring is already deteriorating and swelling after 2 uses/cleanings.

What can I use to clean lacquers other than lacquer thinner? The Isopropyl Alcohol is not working well to clean the Gravity Colors

Just get a really cheap gun wash thinner from your local auto paint supplier. You don't need expensive lacquer thinner to clean with. I find when airbrushing primer you need to use a bigger sized tip in your airbrush or better still, a mini spray gun type brush. It just seems to flow the primer out much better and give a better finish.

Thanks Steve. I am using a .3mm tip. The lacquer thinner I am using is Klean Strip from Home Depot. I don't know if it is more aggressive than hobby grade or what, but at this point I don't even want to paint anymore knowing that I will inevitably have problems

Killer - I have the exact issue also with Gravity primer. Dries way too fast so that my airbrush (basic Paasche H) stops up. Most of the time I can clear the tip with a swab with lacquer thinner on it, however eventually I have to stop and take apart the tip and needle to clean it out.

Last weekend I thinned the primer down and that helped a little, less clogging but still dries to fast on the body so that I get a lightly textured finish.

I'm also using a #3 tip and have ordered a larger #5 to see if that helps.

Lots of videos on you tube that seem to show nice smooth finishes with Gravity primer, one even notes that no sanding of the primer is necessary. Wish I knew the secret.............

Chuck

Providing you solve the issue with the o-rings, you can try thinning the primer with Mr. Color leveling thinner which has some retarder in it to help slow the drying. Or you can add some Mr. Retarder Mild(yes it's a real product) to slow the drying. For cleaning the airbrush I use Klean Strip lacquer thinner, I bought a gallon a few years ago at home depot for $15 and still have some. I just found out you can no longer buy the Klean Strip thinner in California but you can get it in other states like Nevada.

Edit: walmart have something called Klean Strip lacquer thinner for California (I have never use this one but you can try it out)

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Klean-Strip-Lacquer-Thinner-1-gal-for-California/32467932

Killer - I have the exact issue also with Gravity primer. Dries way too fast so that my airbrush (basic Paasche H) stops up. Most of the time I can clear the tip with a swab with lacquer thinner on it, however eventually I have to stop and take apart the tip and needle to clean it out.

Last weekend I thinned the primer down and that helped a little, less clogging but still dries to fast on the body so that I get a lightly textured finish.

I'm also using a #3 tip and have ordered a larger #5 to see if that helps.

Lots of videos on you tube that seem to show nice smooth finishes with Gravity primer, one even notes that no sanding of the primer is necessary. Wish I knew the secret.............

Chuck

Please keep me updated on whether or not the .5 needle helps, or if it's too big.

I appreciate everyone's help. My airbrush needs a professional teardown at this point, so I sent it back to Grex to have them replace the nylon washed that I can't get out and I also sent them some of the Gravity Colors primer, so they can dial it in for me and make a recommendation on needle size and settings.

They also have just released fan tips, which should help with part of my issue, of the paint drying too fast as I try to do overlapping passed on bodies.

I don't have issues on anything else other than bodies. I have always used a .2mm needle, which I am now being told by Grex is probably too small. I bought another Tritium brush as a backup and to have a second one, and I sprayed a body with the .3mm last night at it was flawless. Mist coats were great, wet coats were great. Then again, it's new out of the box.

The nylon packing washer that is getting replaced is worn and I think I may have damaged it a long time ago trying to get it out. I didn't know what I was doing.

Anyway, a complete rebuilt, moving up in needle size should help.

Never have used gravity paints before so don't really have much input, but I have had problems with overspray with other paints creating a textured/grainy surface.