airbrush arrived:) ratio question

i bought a tamiya airbrush and it is my first time using airbrush. my problem is_

i always use arylic tamiya paints and when i spray the paint directly from the bottle(no thinner) the paint lands on the plastic like dust. Especially when i use white paint it doesnt even spray the paint. then i added about 1:1 thinner to the paint. dusty spray is still there. its not smooth like spray paints. so i added even more thinner like 1:2. Now there is no dust effect but the paint comes out too wet so the paint looks shiny but rainy.

it says do not use or use little thinner with acrylic paints in the manuel. so the manuel is wrong or my technique is wrong. help help help

i reaaly need help, i think now i ve gott the right ratio but i cant have gloss finish. still having paint soooo blurry and with lots of textures.
help elp elp p.

in order for me(us) to help you, i have a couple of questions first, one, what type of airbrush is it, is it a single or double action(does the trigger go down and back, or just down), and is it internal or external?

I use Rubbing Alchole to thin my paints(tamiya mostly), and i do it till i get a milky type liquid. It may be the stuff you are using to thin it out with.

Another possibility is that you are either A) spraying too much at once or B) Spraying too close to the object or C) is the item primed?

Last thing would be the airsource you're using, i highly suggest a compresor, though expensive, they're well worth it.

Now here are some airbrush tips i've picked up along the way(i'm still a newbie but i feel that i know my stuff:))

get an eye dropper or something similar to put the alchole in the paint, this way you can controll the amount that you put in(much better than pouring it out of the bottle)

Put the thinner into the paint, not the other way around.

make sure all the nozzels and tips are on tightly and the needle is clean.

try spraying water though it first, see if it sprays correctly with just water.

Welp, that's about all i can think of:)

Nika
(sorry if there were lots of grammer mistakes, i type this relatively fast and didn't proof read:))

Sounds like you're spraying too far away, try spraying from 3-4" with unthinned or 9:1 paint/thinner tamiya.

nikanora, you should consider using Tamiya thinner for gloss Tamiya...maybe that is why you have not had satisfactory results.

i have tamiya single action airbrush with compressor. illl try those tips but 9:! ratio seems too muddy for my tamiya paints as far as i can see but ill try thanx

The best ratio is normally up to you experimantation, but as said above a milky consistancy....
Always spary several coats of the color, a base "rough" coat and then a thicker coat, and then another some hours later. Acrylic paints dry really fast. I personally prefer enamels, they give a fantastic deep luster, but take a longer time to dry.

If you are using Tamiya's water base color, denatured alcohol should work. Hard part of learning is that there is no definite answer. Some prefer spraying thin paint from away from the object, some prefer thick but close to the object with low air pressure. So, apparently, you have to find your own.

Anyway, try filling 1/4 of the cup with thinner first. Then, add little amount of paint, and experiment. (thinner 5: paint 1, for example) Paint will most likely run, so add more paint and mix thoroughly, then experiment again. After several tries, you'll find that there is a range of consistency that you can use. Paint can be thin when distance is short, and pressure is low, and it can be thick when distance is long and pressure is high. But first, just concentrate on learning how to achieve the ratio you feel comfortable with. After that, change the distance to know its effect.

BTW, even for the same brand, some color is thinner than the other, so the ratio for white may not work for silver or yellow. In any case, every airbrush users have gone through this pain, so there's no reason you can't. Good luck.

If you are getting a fine powder type finish then the paint may be drying before it hits the model. When I first started using cans I sprayed too little from too far away. Essentially it was starting to dry in flight because it is such a fine mist.

Try spraying closer with a bit more paint. I am also about to try a Tamiya Spray works for the first time so will be interesting if I have the same issues.

Cheers

Glenn

Cool Glenn, i started to get used to spray works, have no problems with flat paints, still have some gloss finish problems with gloss paints but its getting better. so if you have a problem with the spray works share with me.

If you're having problems with airbrushing a nice gloss finish with gloss paints, don't use gloss:) that's what i'm starting to do. Once i finish that last coat of paint, i'm going to sand it to a uniform dull/smooth coat(FLAT) so why not just skip the gloss and use the much easier flat based paints. Some say that gloss comes with more colors, but that doesn't really appeal to me since i ussually costom mix my own colors anyways.