Thursday, March 24, 2016

Easy clean airbrush

Airbrush Cleaning

One of the cardinal rules of airbrush ownership is that you MUST clean the tool out after every spray painting session.

I did a little painting last week for a BRM video. We finished shooting around lunchtime and so I was faced with a choice - trip to the pub or clean the airbrush.

A week later, I've finally got around to doing the cleaning.

Happily, the tool proved to be easy to clean. A bit of cellulose thinners rubbed on the needle and poked down the paint cup followed by a blast of airbrush cleaner and all is shiny again. The Spraycraft airbrush seems to be every bit as easy to own as expected and doesn't do a bad job of painting too.

I've had the same experience with the Sparmax airbrush I received for review. This is a bit of a prima donna in the painting department as it requires paint to be thinned to homeopathic levels if you want to avoid blockages, but like a true diva when it performs it's fantastic, it too cleans easily.

Both are easier than my trusty Badger 100 which ought to be easy as it's such a simple tool. Maybe the difference is the top mounted paint cup on these tools as opposed to the side mounted separate cup on the Badger. I always thought I preferred this for painting but maybe I'm wrong.


3 comments:

Keith P. said...

As always, looking forward to next BRM and the dvd.
Airbrush tips always useful. Glad you are still using the Badger Phil. Many people have pensioned theirs off.

Odds said...

Phil, I do the same with my airbrushes as I do wish my spray guns. When you're shooting the thinners through, put your finger tip over the nozzle lightly and send a lot of air back up through the mixture, so it bubbles out. Chuck out the dirty thinners and do it again till clean, then shoot a half cup straight through. My Paasche Model Hs both respond to that. As does my Wally spotting gun, which does most of my spraying. If I can get thinners to flow backwards through a Model H, you can do it on any. OK, I haven't tried the process on internal mix brushes with needles yet and I've never used "Airbrush Cleaner" as such. I have a couple of those, new, unused to try out on weathering jobs.

Phil Parker said...

I forgot to mention the finger over the nozzle bubbling thing but I have been doing that for a while with the cellulose thinners. It certainly seems to make a difference.

Airbrush cleaner includes an oil I'm told which is (apparently) good for the tool. Might be snake oil but since it's cheap I'll live with that.