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Airbrush cleaning - again!

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  • Guest

    #16
    Originally posted by Mr Bowcat
    I answered a similar thread on another forum recently. Everyone there was raving about UMP cleaner. As always I suggested IPA, not only does it do the job for me but it's cheap at around £13 a gallon. The UMP satuff they were pushing is around £8 for 270ml!
    If that forum was international scale modeller, don’t listen to them. Their owners and admins own UMP so there is a huge bias. Also there are other reasons I dislike that forum and favour this one...
    John

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    • Mr Bowcat
      SMF OG
      • Dec 2016
      • 4597
      • Bob
      • London

      #17
      Yeah it was ISM. I didn't realise they were tied up with UMP as I don't post there often.
      Si vis pacem, para bellum.

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      • JR
        • May 2015
        • 18273

        #18
        Dam and Blast !!
        John and Bob .

        If I'd have known that about UMP, I'd have saved my money and used my trusty IPA ( none drinkable version ) Normally use IPA for cleaning the plastic prior to painting, and for acting as a wetting agent for PA.

        So it doesn't need thining for the ab cleaning ? as I normally would thin with water at 30% for my normal use .
        I will reorder some IPA today .

        Thanks .

        John .

        Comment

        • Tim Marlow
          SMF Supporters
          • Apr 2018
          • 18890
          • Tim
          • Somerset UK

          #19
          Be careful with stainless and VJ PVC bottles, I’ve had the B.B. react with the bottle (not the paint. ). Some colours are more prone to this than others, obviously the pigment promotes the reaction, but it is definitely a PVC/SS reaction not a BB/paint reaction. Doesn’t seem to hurt the paint, but the PVC discolours where the ball rests against it. May cause bottle failure long term, but I’ll let you know....
          Tim

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          • Mr Bowcat
            SMF OG
            • Dec 2016
            • 4597
            • Bob
            • London

            #20
            John, I blast it through neat, and soak the nozzle, cap & crown in it neat too. I've had no problem with it eating any o-rings or seals in my H&S Evo.

            I get mine from http://darrantchemicals.co.uk/isopro...xoCtjAQAvD_BwE
            Si vis pacem, para bellum.

            Comment

            • Guest

              #21
              Originally posted by Mr Bowcat
              John, I blast it through neat, and soak the nozzle, cap & crown in it neat too. I've had no problem with it eating any o-rings or seals in my H&S Evo.

              I get mine from http://darrantchemicals.co.uk/isopro...xoCtjAQAvD_BwE
              Well, not a big problem in terms of o rings with iwata as they only have the packing ring in the centre. That’s how it is with the Iwata Hi Line HP CH

              Comment

              • JR
                • May 2015
                • 18273

                #22
                Originally posted by Mr Bowcat
                John, I blast it through neat, and soak the nozzle, cap & crown in it neat too. I've had no problem with it eating any o-rings or seals in my H&S Evo.

                I get mine from http://darrantchemicals.co.uk/isopro...xoCtjAQAvD_BwE
                Cheers Bob.
                Both my Ab's are H&S, so that's good to know.
                John.

                Comment

                • rtfoe
                  SMF Supporters
                  • Apr 2018
                  • 9072

                  #23
                  Gee whizz you guys...why is the airbrush so pampered? For the last 37 years my Badger 150 has been functioning well from using artists inks to enamels then to lacquers and finally acrylics following this simple rule of cleaning at every use of each paint spray. Pour remainder paint not used out of the receptical or cup then fill the cup with industrial thinner and stir the contents with a brush, spray half of the contents on full blast while working the trigger back and forth then with the next quarter create blow backs (for the 150 the nozzle cap it has to be unscrewed halfway, for others like the Iwata just place your finger at the tip to block airflow) again work the trigger back and forth. The cup should now fill up with residue from the nozzle...empty this and repeat with fresh industrial thinner until the blow backs don't reveal anymore paint residue. Any paint build up at the nozzle is taken care of with a loaded brush of thinner. It just takes a minute. I do a final spray with a drop of thinner until empty and only air flows out. For the 150 not being a gravity feed but a flow up suction system I invert the airbrush to empty the last bit of thinner. This quick cleaning becomes second nature after a while.
                  I only break open my airbrushes once a year for thorough cleaning.

                  My Badger 150 doesn't look pretty on the outside but works the same when I first bought it. I only replaced the trigger once because of my off center trigger motion that wore out the shaft.

                  Hand brushing is a lot more convenient but it doesn't beat covering large areas and fine feathering like an airbrush does.

                  Cheers,
                  Richard

                  Comment

                  • rtfoe
                    SMF Supporters
                    • Apr 2018
                    • 9072

                    #24
                    I forgot to add...I mix my paints separately before adding to the cup. In my early days I used to transfer the paint to the cup with a thick brush to lessen and pick up of sediments very notorious with enamels. :smiling4: Now I don't bother...just blow back when stuck pour away and mix a new batch.

                    Cheers,
                    Richard

                    Comment

                    • Guest

                      #25
                      Originally posted by rickoshea52
                      Ball bearings are great for paint agitators too.
                      Don’t put them in a glass paint bottle/jar. though. Revell used to sell airbrush-ready paint in glass jars with a ball bearing already in it, and I had two of them break in my hands as I was shaking them. Luckily I didn’t cut myself but having paint suddenly fly everywhere in my hobby room did not exactly improve my mood … After that, each time I opened a new jar, the first thing I did was fish out the ball bearing.

                      As for cleaning airbrushes: I bought an Aztek precisely because of my dislike for cleaning the things, and the plastic insides of one of those are a lot easier to keep clean than the metal of the Badger 150 I used before. When I’m done spraying, I put clean tap water through it until no more paint comes out, then put it into an ultrasonic cleaner, with a dollop of ultrasonic cleaning fluid in the water, for ten minutes, and finally give all the parts a quick scrub in lukewarm water in the sink, using a pipe cleaner and a toothbrush. (I take the nozzle apart a bit by pulling the outer sleeve from the inner one, something you’re not supposed to do according to Testors, but it makes it easier to get the paint out so I do it anyway.)

                      Note that I don’t tend to spray enamels, largely because you can’t clean them up with water.

                      Comment

                      • stillp
                        SMF Supporters
                        • Nov 2016
                        • 8087
                        • Pete
                        • Rugby

                        #26
                        Originally posted by rtfoe
                        fill the cup with industrial thinner
                        What do you mean by "industrial thinner"? Which industry?

                        Pete

                        Comment

                        • rtfoe
                          SMF Supporters
                          • Apr 2018
                          • 9072

                          #27
                          Originally posted by stillp
                          What do you mean by "industrial thinner"? Which industry?

                          Pete
                          :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy: Hi Peter, to answer your question...no particular industry but just ordinary thinner from the hardware store. Over here they come in either 420ml bottles or 2litre cans. They're either brands like Swan or Anchor which probably come from the same source basically Solvent T903.
                          Practically used by car paint workshops and building contractors for everything from diluting putty, paints and clean ups. It's strong enough to glue small plastic parts on kits as it can dissolve plastic.

                          Cheers,
                          Richard

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