Airbrush - some success!

Armed with some new confirmation about airbrush behaviour, I decided to give it another go.

• Air will bubble in the cup if the nozzle is not fitting well in the airbrush body. 

"Fingertight" on the nozzle cap did not quite cut it in my case. I screwed it on tighter (with the provided mini-wrench) while the compressor was on and immediately noticed the bubbles becoming smaller. One more slight turn and the paintcup was bubble-free.

1 - 0 (my first victory).

• The main reason for no paint coming out is "tip-dry".
  (Another reason might be the paint not being thinned enough)

This can be fixed by regularly cleaning the tip of the needle with a small cotton swab dipped in cleaner.

• Dark paints appear to be a lot easier to paint than lighter ones.

The main reason I started building the submarine is because it needs to be painted black. I thinned the Vallejo black primer about 1:1 with Vallejo thinner (stick to the same brand, just for safety).
I started out with the 8 wheels for the Puma (seen below on toothpicks) to test the flow, which came out fine. I had to clean the needle after 4 wheels, then the rest went ok.

A little overzealous, I immediately started painting the sub, which went rather well actually. I did have to clean the tip 4 or 5 times, but it becomes a habit and isn't really that much work. I managed to do 3/4 of the sub before the needle had to be removed for more throrough cleaning. I ran out of place to hold it anyway, so better quit while I'm ahead. A few spots will need a second layer, but better wait and add more later, then spray too much at once and cause runs, which are harder to clean up.

2 - 0 (we're on a roll!)

Feeling good about my first success, I cleaned the brush for a colour change and filled with grey primer. The Jaguar is now also completely primed, but still this paint is fighting me for every inch. I can barely paint the top of this mini-model before it stops doing anything, cleaning the tip or not (compare this to at least half of the submarine in one go)

2 - 1 (time to call it quits and maybe call the shop for more ideas)

Is the difference between paints really THIS much? If the lighter paints are such a hassle, I am NOT looking forward to completely painting the Enterprise with white primer. To be continued ....

(The paintcup on this Revell airbrush is rather small, so painting a complete kit will take several refills)