Hi,

well, I did some more air-brushing last week. As is often the case for me, it was a miss-and-hit experience.

My setup is a small air compressor and a basic, external-mix airbrush https://www.revell.de/en/products/airbrush/spray-gun/spray-gun-starter-class.html. For me, the basic airbrush is a good choice because I don't do fine-art work and I'm very happy with the easy maintenance.

• As often, trying to spray some primer (same with acrylics) started out to be not working well. So I added some thinner to the paint. I just got a short splatter and then nothing.
• I disconnected the paint bottle and paint nozzle from the airbrush handle and used the handle to "spray" air into the paint nozzle. Which usually clears out the paint nozzle and helps stirring the paint. Nothing.
• Finally, I got a cup of hot water and put the paint bottle in that for a bit. It was about freezing outside, way too cold to do some air-brushing. That was a winner - now I was able to spray a nice and even coat of paint.

So, once I get my airbrush to work, the results are rather good. I get a nice and even, thin coat of paint. I can cover medium-sized areas or can get paint into barely accessible corners. Just what I wanted. However, setting up and adjusting - paint thinning - can be tricky.

One good thing, I've sprayed all kinds of acrylics including wall paint with this setup. Only once did I have a paint that had too coarse aggregates, most paints can be sprayed with this airbrush. Even primer.

While my airbrush is of the rather simple variety, I get good results (once it's going well) and maintenance is easy.

Do you also experience frustration trying to get the airbrush set up and then enjoy spraying?

Have fun!

PS: Replacement paint bottles and even spray-tops are available, allowing me to set up multiple colors and swapping them on the fly (rather than swapping air brushes or cleaning between colors).

PPS: While my airbrush isn't meant for detail work, it is rather good at getting basic coverage. I've even done furniture projects with it or sprayed cloth. Let me raise the banner for external-mix airbrushes!