Spraying Acrylics From External Mix Airbrushes
Cleaning Paint Viscosity Air Pressure Keeping a Wet Edge for Gloss Coats Keeping the Sprayer Clean Stop Blockages in Pouch Paint
Cleaning: When spraying acrylics, cleaning the model is very important. Unlike enamel paints, water-based acrylic does not contain enough solvent to cut through oil including greasy finger prints. Before proceeding, proper care should be taken to remove these oils. Paint Viscosity Air Pressure: There are two basic paint viscosities, gloss and flat. The thinner the paint the better it sprays. Flat paint generally spays better than gloss. When spraying thicker gloss paints, compensate by increasing the air pressure if possible. Flat paints spray well at 20 to 25 lbs., while gloss may require 10lbs more. This will vary from color to color. Please keep in mind that a propellant can will instantly give pressure of 50 to 70 psi. This pressure will soon drop. Keeping a Wet Edge for Gloss Coats: To spray a good gloss coat, always keep a wet edge. To adopt a wet edge, spray covering the complete surface as you paint. Don't spray lightly. If you spray lightly, you will build up spray from one side to the other and all the small granules of paint will dry and a grainy finish may result. Try not to over coat the finished paint while it is still wet. Doing this may also result in a matte grain finish in certain areas. Keeping the Sprayer Clean: Never let buildup occur on the front of the spray nozzles. This will cause spiting and as a result debris will be sprayed onto the model. Stop Blockages in Pouch Paint As the pouch is sprayed the paint siphon may not work well. To increase the siphon effect, attach a paper clip to the bottom of the pouch. This will force the paint level to rise in the pouch making the siphon more efficient.
