Hi guru's of customizing. I recently picked up an air brush (actually this: Amazon.com: Master Airbrush Multi-purpose Gravity Feed Dual-action Airbrush Kit with 6 Foot Hose and a Powerful 1/5hp Single Piston Quiet Air Compressor: Arts, Crafts & Sewing) and my first attempt at using it didn't go so well. I tried going simple with some Tamiya Black acrylic. Now I flubbed and forgot to thin it first thing so it didn't even come out. But then I added some Future floor polish to thin it; something I do all the time for hand brushing. At best, no matter how much I added I could get a sputter of paint at best if I was lucky. So can I use Floor polish as a paint thinner in an air brush? (Yes, when I was done I took it completely apart and cleaned the heck out of it. I flushed all the floor polish out of it with probably twice as much care as was necessary.)
Mix the paint first, then put it in the airbrush. I got a pack of small artist jars that I use for mixing and storage. For thinning, I use either distilled water or actual airbrush thinner. The consistency needs to be like milk for it to flow properly. Also, check your air pressure. You may not have been pushing enough.
Can't say I've ever used future to thin. Only as a topcoat. I find Tamiya paints often work pretty well straight out of the jar. For thinning I find a mix of 1/3 Isoprop Alcohol 2/3 demineralised water works great for Tamiya Paints. For Vallejo paints only thin with water as Isoprop will make the paint congeal. For other paints check google to find the best thinner and any tips. They can vary a lot between manufacturers. I have the same compressor- it's awesome. You may need to adjust the pressure though. The red ring near the pressure gauge adjust the pressure but you have to raise the black plastic cap on top of it by about half a cm as it has some kind of lock on it. I find pressure between 15-20psi works okay but you may have to go a bit higher if the paint is thick. Agree ion the small jars for mixing. As you do more painting and start to use up paint, keep the Tamiya jars and clean them out for re-use. One other tip - buy a cheap ultrasonic jewellery cleaner off eBay and use that to periodically clean you airbrush. Disassemble it into its component parts and put any part that comes into contact with paint into the cleaner with some water and either window cleaner or a dash of ammonia. This will give it a good clean and loosen any dried paint you may have missed. Do the same with those empty Tamiya paint jars and lids to get them nice and clean for re-use.
