Help. First time airbrushing.

I went out and bought me an airbrish kit(Aztek A2206). Anyway, I started out on one of my cheaper model kits incase I messed up really bad. Well, It actually went well...I think. The paint went down even and with no runs. However, the problem is the finish. The paint has a rough texture to it. Kinda like sandpaper. How do you fix this? Will a clearcoat help? Is there another step now?
Help!

http://www.boomspeed.com/nightmare1/DSC00325.JPG
http://www.boomspeed.com/nightmare1/DSC00326.JPG

Wet sand with 1000 or 2000 before clearcoat.

Wet sand with 1000 or 2000 before clearcoat.

I'm scared to do this. It would be my first time, and I'm scared I'll rub right though the paint:(

Also, what am I doing wrong in the first place? Is there anyway to avoid this?

Here is some read: (there is more info on my web site about airbrushing)
http://models.magietec.com/info/airbrush_trouble/index.html

Not to be rude, but a spraycan will do a better job than an Aztek A2206 (too cheap, but might be ok for interior paint.)

I'm scared to do this. It would be my first time, and I'm scared I'll rub right though the paint:(

Also, what am I doing wrong in the first place? Is there anyway to avoid this?

If you rub through you can always shoot it again.

The paint is dry too quick when it hits the surface so it doesnt have time to spread out. Turn down the air pressure a little bit and check your mixture of paint.

Here is some read: (there is more info on my web site about airbrushing)
http://models.magietec.com/info/airbrush_trouble/index.html

Not to be rude, but a spraycan will do a better job than an Aztek A2206 (too cheap, but might be ok for interior paint.)

It's my first brush so I didnt wanna spend a lot of money if I decided I didnt like it. it was only $20 so If I need to upgrade it's no real big loss.

If you rub through you can always shoot it again.

The paint is dry too quick when it hits the surface so it doesnt have time to spread out. Turn down the air pressure a little bit and check your mixture of paint.


Cool, I was running around ~25psi. Where do you guys usualy paint?

I would get a Badger 350 for a first airbrush, Works great for cars and interiors. I have this one so I'm a bit biased.

Sand paper?!?! WOAH! that rough? Did you thin the paint? that might be why? Usually ppl here thin 1:1. And did you primer? And if so how good was the primer job? was it rough or smooth? Most people would recommend a airbrush for the interrior, id stick to rattle bombs for body.
edit: wetsand with #1500, #2000, it shouldnt take off the paint, only if you press real hard.

Sand paper?!?! WOAH! that rough? Did you thin the paint? that might be why? Usually ppl here thin 1:1. And did you primer? And if so how good was the primer job? was it rough or smooth? Most people would recommend a airbrush for the interrior, id stick to rattle bombs for body.
edit: wetsand with #1500, #2000, it shouldnt take off the paint, only if you press real hard.


I did thin, 1:1 for gloss paint via Aztek instructions. I didnt primer:(

I'm gonna try some #2000

I didnt primer:(

Boom, major problem right there :nono: , id say strip the paint. Start over, prime this time!!

From my experience, the result you get there is because you didn't thin the paint enough and making it dry when the pain contacts the model surface, thus resulting with the rough surface as GTmike400 said. You have to sand it (wetsand) not all the way but just to make the surface smooth again, prime it and apply the paint. I can't tell you the ratio of the paint:thinner because all I can say is the paint should not be too thin nor too thick.

No! Don't strip it- it's fine as it is.

Primer is for adhesion issues, and this is not the problem here.

It's grainy because the mixture was a bit thick as it was hitting the surface, possibly because it wasn't thinned enough when mixed. (It coulod also be because the thinning agent is evaporating out too fast as you're spraying. The 1:1 ratio suggested is just that- a suggestion. It certainly won't do the trick for all paints, all the time. One of the skills you learn in airbrushing is to judge how the paint is performing- to know if you need to adjust the mixture. Always- ALWAYS test spray to check paint consistency before painting your model. I like to use a 3x5 card or the like.

In this case, I would probably apply a bit more paint- maybe two coats of well thinned paint (thinned so you have a good flow, but not so thin as so it will puddle easily- test spray!). You will still likely have a bit of orange peel afterwards, but it will be less pronounced, and if you sand it, you will be less likely to go all the way through the paint.

What kind of paint/thinner are you using?
No worries, you're doing fine.



Vric- Jeez, lay off. He did just fine with the Aztec. If you can paint with an airbrush (Aztecs included), you will always have better control than with a spray can.

It's my first brush so I didnt wanna spend a lot of money if I decided I didnt like it. it was only $20 so If I need to upgrade it's no real big loss.


Well this is a problem. Most people buy cheap airbrush to "try it", but those cheap airbrush are not even close to the result of a poor spraycan. Often, those people don't even try it with a "real" airbrush and never get into airbrushing.

I also got a cheap Aztek first, and have bad result as everybody. But I did try again and got a Badger Anthem (60$) to really try it and loved it. (after all, if you don't like that, you can resell them easily)

For your question, I usually work between 5psi and 17 psi. But it's different with every airbrushes and paint.

I'm with MPWR, don't start over keep going. I use a small touch gun with great results.
Mark
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v25/650Mark/Bikepix/IM002827.jpg

SOCalMark How much was that touch up gun....if you don"t mind me asking.

-Chris

I found it on eBay with a full size guy both fo under $50 including shipping. With this gun it's easy to get nice even coverage.
Mark

here's my :2cents: - and it's probab;y not worth more than that anyway :icon16:

Your paint job looks very familiar to me - i.e. just like mine!!
I also started with the same kind of cheapo airbrush as you and used it for quite some time.
This is what worked for me:
1) learn to thin the paint (practise on scrap);
2) turn down the preassure on the compressor (if you don't have one, I think that a regulator will be more use to you now than a high priced AB;
3) don't spray too far from the model - the paint dries in mid air - that was probably my biggest problem.

I couldn't strip my paint jobs (I didn't know how to) so I rubbed down and tried again and discovered that you can can actually get away with quite a lot that way so long as you don't try and lay down too much paint with each layer.

HTH

Thanks guys. I sanded down the really rough spots. I just thinned the paint down a little more and turned down the psi from 25 to 18 and gonna try it again today. I'll keep you posted on the results!