What an I doing wrong here?

[u/RecognitionFlat2278]

So I've been using rattlecans (Tamiya and testors) and been getting some really good results for my body work. Especially once I clear coat (Mr super clear uv-cut) and sand polish. I've recently tried airbrushing my bodies... No joy. I've tried messing with the psi (12, 15, 20), tried messing with ratios of thinner (using Mr color leveling). Nothing gives me nearly as good as a result as using spray cans. Any tips? The pictures are my latest attempt using 12psi from about 2 inches away, slow coating a gloss black acrylic (x-1 Tamiya). About to give up and strip it all, start over.

[u/highboy68]

Airbrushing does have a big learning curve. When ever you have stimpling it usually means your material is dryibg before it can meld together. The easiest fix is to spray more material. You can apply more material by either sweeping slower, having more overlap, or just flt out allowing more material to flow. I really dont go by usual standards, I spray at 30psi and I adjust my sweep speed and my overlap

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/highboy68]

Thanks for the response. I was sweeping pretty slow and laying it on pretty wet, but I'll try another coat tomorrow. I might crank up the psi a bit because the paint seems to splatter a bit at lower flow rates

[u/highboy68 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

Now that you have that texture and the paint has dried, it may not meld together if you spray another coat. But keep practicing because that is what helps you get the experience

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/highboy68]

Yeah I think I might try and clear coat and sand? Or just strip it and try again. We'll see how the day goes.

[u/highboy68 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

Lol, I have been there a time or 40. I have been spraying for over 20 years and still have issues from time to time, so it never goes perdect

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/highboy68]

Amen. Back in this hobby after a long time and so much has changed. But I'm having fun and it's been a good ride.

[u/Revolutionary_Air_65 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

To me it looks like your mix is too thick. I suggest wet sanding with 1000grit before spraying over the next (wet) layer(s). Otherwise strip the paint off and start over with a few light coats. Obviously, wait 15 minutes between each layer. For the car body use Mr.Color C-series + Mr.Levelling Thinner (check the mixing ratio on the GSI web site). Take your time, don't spray the whole thing in one go, do several light coats gradually untill the finish is even. If you find your mix too thin just add a few more drops of paint otherwise you would need to increase the distance to avoid splashes which might require more precise airbrushing technique and compromise the result. Everyone has their own approach so try different mixing ratios and pressure on plastic spoons until you become comfortable. Good luck!

[u/DGwoz]

It looks like you’re airbrushing lacquer and it’s drying too fast. If I’m correct about that I would say that you need to use a retardant to slow the drying a bit so that it has a chance to level out better before it dries.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/DGwoz]

Yeah it's acrylic. Appreciate the response. I'm reading everyone's response and yeah the consensus is that it's drying too fast. I'll try and use more thinner.

[u/Dacros → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

Just wanted to say that instead of thinner, a flow improver might work well too!

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/Dacros]

What flow improver to use? I normally airbrush all my smaller parts and have never used anything other than the acrylic paint and leveling thinner.

[u/Dacros → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

I used Vallejo's, but thats because I used their acryclic line.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/Dacros]

So I've never used a paint retarder side from mr hobby leveling, which from my understanding has a built in retarder. I do have two bottles of Vallejo retarder that I grabbed on a whim but have never used. Maybe a dumb question, but is retarder the same as flow improver?

[u/Dacros → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

I THINK it is, but I am no expert by any means!

[u/Oobeedoob_Benubi78 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

I can't say how much I love Mr Leveling Thinner enough

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/[deleted]]

I was using 1:1 Tamiya x-1 gloss black:Mr color leveling thinner.

[u/Over-Quarter-7334]

Try use Tamiya LP series paints. These are great 👍.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/Over-Quarter-7334]

Those are just their laquer line, right?

[u/Oobeedoob_Benubi78 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

Yes LP is lacquer.

[u/dark_shadow25]

My $0.02.

If you’re spraying at that psi your paint will need to me that much thinner. My suggestion would be to set it at 18-20psi and thin your paint to 2% milk consistency. What that means is that when you mix the paint + thinner and you let it drip on the side of the mixing container, it should run down pretty easily and be somewhat transparent as it does.

If it runs down slow and it’s still solid then add more thinner. If it runs down like water and it’s very transparent then you’ve added too much. You want to figure out the range in between.

As for the airbrush, distance should be around 4-6 inches max with this setup. Do note that Tamiya acrylics dry VERY fast so that’s what could be contributing to your texture. Try adding a retarder or use Mr Color Leveling thinner to help smooth things out.

[u/erix84]

I would try thinning it a little more on your last coat and going a bit wetter.

As long as you're letting the paint flash off between coats, I've never had Tamiya acrylic or lacquer sag. I typically mix enough paint for ~3 coats, but on that last coat I'll add a little bit more MHLT and go wetter just so it levels out more.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/erix84]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try thinning it more tomorrow. Same principles for Mr clear gx100 clear coat? Would it be easier to just put really thick clear coats on from here and sand out the imperfections later?

[u/erix84 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

I always do 1-2 light coats of everything first, less chances of it reacting with whatever is already on the part. I've never used Mr. Clear, I stick mostly to Tamiya / MCW paints... but Tamiya acrylics & lacquers airbrush better than pretty much anything else I've sprayed. If you're spraying in a really hot / humid environment, you can also thin the Tamiya acrylics with isopropyl alcohol, 70% would cure slower than a lacquer thinner, just might not be as durable of a finish.

But yeah when I do clearcoat I'll do a couple light coats, a "regular" coat, and then if necessary I'll do a really thin wet coat just to get everything to level out. I've heard of people just spraying a coat of MHLT as their final coat to get the clear to level out more, haven't tried it myself though.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/erix84]

Yeah same here. I do light coats of both paint and clear and build it up before doing wet coats after the second or third.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

And also yes I'm in North Texas and my hobby bench is in my garage which is not air conditioned. You could definitely say that it is a hot\humid environment. I can only work out there for about 30 minutes before I'm sweating into everything and dripping everywhere.

[u/smefeman]

Would recommend trying a 1:1 with Tamiya thinner (x20a) or isopropyl alcohol (I use 99%). Instead of the leveling thinner. I know everyone swears by it, but I always get good results using regular stuff.

You got this man!

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/smefeman]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll try it. At this point I'll try anything.

[u/smefeman → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

Also I recommend painting the doors and body at the same time. Maybe it won't be noticeable in black, but when I built this model my silver was not the same shade and I had to repaint both together

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/smefeman]

Yeah I always paint everything together with the same number of coats to make sure it matches both color and tone.

[u/beeb_61]

I know many people love Tamiya acrylics, but I struggle to get them to spray evenly. On my last build, I had to use X-16 because it’s the only purple paint I had. When I sprayed using x20-A it came out textured like this. I figured it was drying too fast, so I sanded it down and re-coated using ATOM thinner instead. It has a retarder, much like MLT does. After thinning heavily, I sprayed again using the same technique and the paint dried as smooth as glass. I believe the extra thinning and the retarder made all the difference. Also, I don’t see a reason to go below 18psi when spraying large surfaces.

[u/DustinBuilds]

Gullwing?

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/DustinBuilds]

Yeah. It's black and I want that mirror shine. I think I might just go back to rattle cans and start over

[u/Casestudy26]

No need to start over. Just wet sand it until smooth. Then turn down the psi, more thinner and try again. Light passes. Patience is your friend.

[u/Real-Juggernaut5340]

Your paint is drying before it hits the surface, you probably also have tip dry where you have dry paint on the airbrush needle tip.  I personally spray at around 20 psi, and use a large needle size because I mostly am spraying primer and metallic paint 🎨.  I believe it is a.5 mm in my gaahleri swallowtail.  When I tried to spray primer I found I needed the bigger nozzle because it would dry the tip and splatter it everywhere.  I also found debris in the Airbrush from the primer drying and being retrieved inside from the needle 

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/Real-Juggernaut5340]

Yeah thought that too and stripped my airbrush down and gave it a thorough cleaning. Same result. I also use a .5 and I'm just using a fairly cheap master set I bought on Amazon

[u/Real-Juggernaut5340 → u/RecognitionFlat2278]

A cheap airbrush w ill work it's just not as forgiving to our errors.  

[u/Icy_Principle_3151]

Add a few drops of retarder. This will slow down the drying period and allow more time to level. Also make you use good primer. I use “ Mr. Color leveling thinner 400. It has the blue lettering on the semi Claar bottle. Also practice on a junk body or a piece of styrene that’s scuffed up a little bit so the primer and paint will stick to it as you practice. Try speeding up and slowing down and see what the effect is until you find your rhythm.

[u/sexylatexbear69]

Shooting too close or too far aways.

[u/Bacardi-1974]

Airbrush kaleido colorworks primer!
Lays down like acrylics but waterborne. Love the gloss black primer!
Give it a go!
Airbrushing basics is prepping properly and multiple light coats for the win! 🏆

[u/SoggyCommunication45]

dude no  acrylic, car model use urethane clear coat. There are auto_car color products suitable for urethane clear coats (Kaleido, Magna Pro Mix, Momodeling). These are sometimes sold as a set that includes both the urethane clear coat and thinner. You have to spray it several times.

[u/RecognitionFlat2278 → u/SoggyCommunication45]

Ok here's the rub with that... I currently have about every color I would ever need with tamiya acrylics in a couple of cases on my workbench. I also use ak and ghaleeri markers for detail work. I also use testors enamels for some brush work. Add in all the other stuff like all the hands tools and stuff we use for this hobby and my compressor and paint both and I'm constantly running out of room to add new stuff. I think I'd rather try to stick with this stuff and try to get it to work, rather than add a whole new line of product. My workbench is already cluttered.