Airbrush 0.2mm 0r 0.4mm

[Bortig the Viking]

Real novice question here so dont laugh, when spraying a for example a 1/24 engine what is recommended, a 0.2mm nozzle or 0.4mm nozzle. Have tried both but get different results, some good and bad in both cases, want to get off on the right foot, now you can laugh.

[Steven000]

Hello Bortig,
it's not a stupid question, but a bit hard to answer as everybody has his own preference...

A smaller nozzle (0.2mm) will spray a bit finner lines than a larger 0.4mm, so for small detail work the 0.2 would be more useful,

But a 0.4mm sprays a bit wider and would be handy when you're spraying larger surfaces, like primer, masked stuff etc...

The 0.4mm should also spray fine lines if you spray very close to the surface (remove the screwed-on-tip-cap for better results, but don't damage your needle)

I have a 0.3mm nozzle, sometimes I wish I had a smaller one but in general it does every job just fine.

Cheers and kind regards,
Steven

[Bortig the Viking]

Hi, thanks for the reply, it gives me some help, I'll continue practising until I'm happy with my results.

[Jim R]

Hi Mark
Sound advice from Steven. The other factor to consider is what you are spraying. I find that acrylics tend to dry and clog the nozzle more readily when using a smaller nozzle.
Jim

[Bortig the Viking]

Hi, thanks hadn't taken that into account, I use acrylic paint, Tamiya and Vallejo color and air.

[Ian M]

I tend to use a 0,4 for just about every thing. As others have said the smaller the hole and the thicker the paint (as in pigment size) the more air you are going to need to blow it through the hole. That takes away a lot of the fine control you otherwise had.
Pigment size is normally much larger in Acrylic paint than in enamel due to the solvents used to suspend the pigments.
I use and old Badger cresendo with the 'fine' tip. It can paint a line 1 mm thin or 50 mm wide with no problems. (Other than my hand shaking like mad and even the pulse in my fingers playing havoc with maintaining a constant flow of both air and paint lol).

[Mr Bowcat]

I'm the same as Ian, tend to use the .4 for pretty much eveytrhing, I very rarely fit the .2 and when I do it's only for very fine up close work.

[Bortig the Viking]

Hi, thanks all for your input, will concentrate on my 0.4 mm nozzle to improve my spraying.

[BarryW]

I use 0.4 as my workhorse for 95% of the time. The 0.2 is sometimes used for fine detail. I also have a 0.6 which is rarely used.

[Bortig the Viking]

Hi, thanks again and my spraying is looking more favourable.