Hi, just got myself a cheap airbrush and compressor but having trouble. First the paint refused to come through and would only splatter when I released the trigger, I assumed that the paint was to thick? So I thinned it with thinner from Vallejo (using the same paints). I then had paint coming through nicely but the needle would clog with paint and I don't know why, I thought it might be too runny but then cause its clogging it still wasn't thin enough. I am struggling to get a consistent dilation with the paints. They say milky but I struggle to achieve this... would creating the mix before inserting into the air brush help?

Thanks in advance

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=airbrush tutorial
Hi Southrifle try this there are lots of videos on you tube
Cheers
Ralph

Oh yes, you must thin your mix down before adding it to your airbrush! That's why your paint clogs, think about it, it's basically an acrylic resin similar to emulsion paint for decorating walls. Think about how this dries on your brush, same with your airbrush. You will find that when you are using it you spend a lot of time cleaning it by either spraying clean water through it or Isopropyl Alcohol or even methylated spirits which actually dissolve the resin and so aid cleaning your airbrush. I even spray Dettol disinfectant through mine because the pine oil in it does the same as IPA or meths. To thoroughly clean my brushes I use Dettol followed by a rinse in clean water which cleans the stock of my fine sable brushes. Calvin Tan recommends that you thin your Vallejo, Andrea, Games Workshop acrylics and also add a dab of retarder which aids the flow.
If you use airbrush a lot (I have used them in various jobs as well such as photoretouching) you will find that once you have a workflow established that you will spend almost as much time cleaning your airbrush as you do painting. YOu must keep it scrupulously clean! I hope this lengthy reply helps.
Main thing, enjoy your painting!

I am no expert with airbrushes by no means, I'm just going by what has worked for me, first things first pressure if you are spraying at a very high pressure it will clog very quickly this is because the air rushes through much quicker and is therefore colder as it goes through which dries the paint in the nozzle more quickly try around the 10-20 psi mark should help with this.

I recommend using the following http://www.liquitex.com/airbrushmedium/ it will thin down most paint bit of practice with it and you will get the right consistency just remember that even colours with in the same range will vary due to the pigments used. I know people will say use Windex, distilled water, ipa, tamiya thinner everyone has a different way of thinning I just know that this stuff works you can get it online quite easily or in art shops try Artifolk online as they have good discounts on rrp.

In terms of cleaning I use this http://www.theairbrushshop.co.uk/acatalog/Media_Airbrush_Cleaner_4OZ__118ml_.html not any probs with this and then rinse through with water after, I also use needle lube by badger as this helps with the action of the airbrush as well has prevents paint sticking.

Just remember that a cheap airbrush will obviously not be as resistant to corrosion etc

Practice makes perfect find some spares parts and a colour that you will not need a lot of I usually use pink or purple and practice spraying and control.

Hope this helps

Good luck

Thanks guys. It just seems a bloody nightmare in getting a milky flow. It doesn't bother me having to clean the airbrush but not when I have made no progress on the model. I plan to create a milky mix next time seeing as I have cleaned through the airbrush. Then add the mix to the airbrush not mix in the airbrush, if that makes sense. Will let you know how it goes.

Okay, made another attempt. Mixed the paints and thinner before placing into airbrush which worked well. Was a small amount of splatter but was an improvement on before result. Also found cleaning a lot easier today as well and paint changes were easy. Thanks guys, will replace my airbrush cleaner with Windex or Dettol as it will be cheaper but am happy with results so far, any other tips are more than welcome.

do be careful with using windex to clean the airbrush as it can contain ammonia which will gradually rot the coating inside your airbrush

As you asked for tips try this...get yourself a tube of 'Iwata Superlube' (e-bay)...once you have finished your session....strip and clean the whole AB.
With all the parts clean and dried..apply a thin smear of the lube to all threads/needle housing & spring,trigger & travel plate (piece behind the needle) and along the needle itself.
Once it is all back together....put one drop into the throat of the AB. Doing this will increase the response of the trigger (smoother action) and prolong the life of the moving parts.

As an aside...you mentioned 'spatter'....another common cause for this is not having the nozzle assembly tight enough to the front of the housing...it cause a reverse air leak....which interrupts the flow of paint no matter how thin.

Hope this helps.

Ron