I've Hit A Snag With My Airbrushing.

[bassguy]

Metal flake and pearls can come out of suspension when allowed to sit motionless for a while. When this happens the flakes and pearls end up in a mass on the bottom of the bottle. This requires an extended period of aggressive shaking to first break up the mass that's accumulated in the bottom of the bottle and then get the tiny particles back into a suspended state. I have a feeling this is what's causing your paint to "chunk up".  Adding a ball bearing, or something similar, to the bottle will help break up this glob of particles. If you have any paint stored in glass bottles I wouldn't suggest doing this as the "agitator" can end up breaking the glass bottle. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

Ben

 

 

Ben I thought of that too. I also shake all the paints before I thin or blend colors because of separation, although I didn't have any stainless ball bearings, and being water based paint I wouldn't want to put something in the paint that would rust, again more problems and "chunking". lol

 

Jerry

Edited September 1, 2013 by bassguy

[gone2long]

I ordered a Norpro mini drink mixer on Amazon for like $6 has 4 attachments 2 will work great for mixing paint right in the bottle the one attachment is thin and narrow, when you insert it in the bottle then turn it on it splays outward to the sides of the interior of the bottle.

 

Here's a link to see it operate:

 

Edited September 1, 2013 by Gon2long

[gone2long]

Correction to my post #24 I was using Createx Auto Air not Createx Wicked

[bassguy]

That looks like a winner G2L!

[jt_ncbassman]

Just a couple days ago I was worried that I might be shaking the paint bottles too hard.  I found some good straining media so I'll give that a try.  I'm getting good results with my pearls and opaques now.  Taking better care of the tip of the airbrush, and turning up the pressure to 40 have helped significantly.  My little compressor will only push 40 for a second.   It drops down to 25 when I spray continuously.  Can't wait to get an Iwata!  haha.   

[Captain Ron]

I feel like all I do here is ask questions.   Maybe one day I can answer somebody's questions but for now I'm stuck and hopefully somebody can diagnose this problem.   I am painting some of my flat crankbaits for a friend and a member on TU.   I really want to make these paintjobs look neat and clean.   My problem is,  the only paint I can get to "atomize" and lay cleanly are my transparent yellows/browns/etc.     When it's time to start spraying pearls for accents and black for stripes and dots,  it's terribly "chunky" and splotchy.    I try to thin it to the same consistency of the transparent paints that spray so well,  but when I thin the pearls that much,  the only thing that shows up on the bait looks like water with some pearl dust mixed in.    It seems like my only option for pearls and black is either chunky or watery. 

 

My airbrush is just the standard Paasche siphon,  bought it from Janns Netcraft for about 50$.   I am thinning all my paints with 4011 reducer and running my compressor at about 25.    Is this setup capable of handling what I'm trying to do?   Or do I need to invest in a better airbrush and a different reducer/ thinner?   I am just trying to get through this batch of baits until I can get my hands on some better equipment.

I have 4 air brushes I use, 3 Badgers and 1 Paasche, and all three have different tip sizes for Base coat, pearls, transparent and irredesents. For me this is a must and I break down, clean  and oil my air brushes on a regular bases. This is all standard for this field of choice.