Airbrush cleaning after using acrylics

[Guest]

I'm a total newbie to this so can you tell me whats best to use and how?

I have one of those cleaning baths but have read eleswhere not to put the main body in it. Also should i fill it with water or some other cleaning fluid?

thanks in advance

[Guest]

Wayne this is my play on it.

First if you can get a quick removal coupler between the hose & brush. When Finished I remove the brush to the sink.

Every time I have used the brush I break it down into its parts back end off. Loosen needle & pull back an inch out of the way of the nozzle.

Remove nozzle & clean the parts. With the nozzle you need a reamer in case you have paint stuck up it. When clean look down the nozzle on to white paper to see that it is clean & free of paint.

Remove needle by pushing through the nozzle end of the brush. Clean carefully including the very tip where paint can stick to the very end.

I then with a fine brush on a long wire clean out the needle housing from back to front. With a paint brush I clean the area at the bottom of the paint cup. Rinse through with water. Use warm water for cleaning

Replace after cleaning the trigger. Thread the needle from the nozzle end (only) to preserve the point. Pulling well back form the nozzle. Replace nozzle. Push gently the needle into the nozzle until it stops. Tighten up the needle clamp. Replace the very end.

I then couple up the hose to the brush & fill the cup with airbush cleaner & squirt the lot through to get rid of any remnants.

SOunds a great deal but found I can do this in about 4 or 5 mins.

By the way this is for a gravity fed brush.

Laurie

PS Forgot. As Andrew on another post yesterday warned. He uses a paint roller tray. Easy to loose the nozzle down the plug hole.

[stona]

First of all you don't need to strip and soak your airbrush every time you use it,a good flush will suffice. What are you using? It makes a difference to how you go about flushing and cleaning on the job (no sniggering!) and also how you give it a really good deep clean (no sniggering I said!).

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

First of all you don't need to strip and soak your airbrush every time you use it,a good flush will suffice. What are you using? It makes a difference to how you go about flushing and cleaning on the job (no sniggering!) and also how you give it a really good deep clean (no sniggering I said!).Cheers

Steve

Sorry Steve, I sniggered,

I'll weigh in with my thorough clean video, (note, in this video I'm cleaning using turps/spirit after enamel, procedure for acrylic is the same but I use isopropyl alcohol, (ebay, maplins, chemist).

This is something I do after a spraying session before I put away the brush, one session could be several colours shot through with a flush of ipa or thinners in between colours.

A thorough clean like this is quick once you get the habit of the routine and ensures your brush is spotless and ready to go next time.

One addition since this video, I clean the delivery tube with a 0.6 interdental brush dipped in thinner.

[video=youtube;k9YnScCetDo]

[Guest]

Now this question will open a general debate, as we all have our own ways that works for us,my simple way is if its acrylics( Im assuming Tamiya) is just a few flushes through with ISO, and a long nose brush down the cup to swirl around with...then a final flush of 50:50 iso and water...so all in all,2 iso flushes, a brush swirl and a final flush of the 50:50.

Im old school, so when thats done I remove the needle and give it an iso wipe.

Ray

[Guest]

One thing is essential Wayne.

Not sure it would apply to all paints but Vallejo produce great varnish acrylics.

But whether you dismantle & clean after every session or not if you use varnish do not miss a thorough clean as otherwise the odds are you will spend a good time getting removing dried varnish. Sniggering will be reduced to tears.

On this note also wipe the snout of the Vallejo dispenser bottles before replacing the top as as some point or you will dispense a bit of dried paint in with your paint.

Laurie

[Guest]

thanks everyone, very helpful