Iwata Revolution CR paint flow

[OJDee]

I've just tried spraying an acrylic clear X22 over a basecoat of acrylics and although it's my first try and there are some areas that are less smooth than others, there were some strange things I noticed in the process that someone may be able to shed some light on.

In order to get a wet enough coat, I set the pressure to about 20psi and left the bottled acrylic unthinned, but I had to spray less than 2 inches from the surface which gave me only about 0.5 inch coverage. Any further away and the paint dried too quickly and left a dull finish. However, the areas immediately around the wet spot saw a dusty deposit, which I can only assume was almost completely dried paint being blown onto the surface.

Given the small coverage and having to go over any dusty areas to moisten them and regain the shine, it was a bit of a tedious process. Am I simply limited to how much paint I can put down through this airbrush or have I got the settings/thinning ratio wrong? As far as I can tell I have done as much as I can to get lots of paint on the surface, but I was hoping to be able to pull the airbrush back more and spray more paint over a wider area rather than the stripes of wetcoat I have to do so far.

I was wondering whether perhaps there is a different tip for greater flow but cannot find anything to this effect.

Perhaps the paint is the problem and a decanted lacquer would dry more slowly in the air allowing higher psi and more distance/coverage??

I am specifically testing these things out on a cheap VW Beetle kit before moving onto my McLaren collection!!

Any ideas much appreciated,

Cheers
Oli

[joelwideqvist]

Hi Oli!
Try to thin the paint to start with, that will make it dry slower.
/Joel

[OJDee]

Oh, I thought thinner made it dry faster!?

[RallyRaider]

I'm surprised it worked at all with the paint unthinned. As a general rule the paint should be the consistentcy of milk when spraying through an airbrush. Although I have no experience with aqueous acrylics, they may be slightly different. I mostly use laquers and the odd enamel.

[Vric]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

I'm surprised it worked at all with the paint unthinned.

With 20 PSI, Tamiya paint flow. But I agree, You must Thin the paint (about 1:1 in my experience for usual X paint)

[LS1Aaron]

Yes you should thin the paint,better to spray thin at a lower psi than thick at higher pressure.

[OJDee]

Well what do you know it worked!!

Thinned it 1:1 and it now flows and covers wonderfully and I now have a smooth clear finish over my metallic blue beetle! Hope to have some pics up soon.

Thanks again guys
Oli