Reply To: Looking for some help with my Airbrush.

[guillotine 16040xp 1]

I have Iwata Eclipse (gravity feed, .35mm nozzle) and the spattering on your photo looks familiar. Most likely cause is that the nozzle is not actually clean. It might work well with paints with finer pigments, but with white the flow is not normal: the paint seeps out from the nozzle slow and is carried only with the air when outside the nozzle, almost like an external mix airbrush, resulting in a spray that not smooth as normally with Eclipse. The same could explain the painting not adhering, the thinned paint hits the model without mixing with air, thus not drying normally.

Have you cleaned the nozzle mechanically, i.e. not just with cleaning liquid? Eclipse nozzle is easy to clean with a reamer or a needle (don’t use your airbrush needle, you might easily bend it) . Make sure to get the side walls, not only the tip. Also clean the nozzle cap properly.

If you’re sure the nozzle is clean, the check the following:

– does the paint have lumps? Put some on palette, swirl around with a brush, tilt the palette. The paint should look absolutely smooth. Some people filter or sift through their paint to avoid lumps.

– is the nozzle cap properly screwed in? Don’t use force, but it should be fairly tight. If loose, it can cause the problem I described first. A

– is the nozzle cap seal (black O-ring after the threads) good?

– is the needle tip bent or the nozzle tip damaged?