I've bought myself one of the upper range Aztek airbrushes, but am a tad muddled regarding what nozzle to use with acrylic model paints, which I favour? The instructional dvd says I should use the two specified acrylic nozzles (black and white), but it seems to be rather limiting. Is this specifically referring to that gooey acrylic paint that artists use, or model acrylics like Tamiya, Lifecolour etc.?
I airbrush at 10-15psi and keep the tips clear but the other nozzles don't seem to work as well.
Also do Klear and matt varnish have to be thinned to airbrush?

Whatever you airbrush you want it to be the consistency of milk, no matter what it is you want to airbrush.

I have an Aztek as well and the black and white have worked well for me. I have never felt limited with only them...

Cheers!

Thanks Brian, how do you get on with fine lines as I can't quite seem to manage?

Thin your paint even more, lower the pressure and get close to the model.

In truth though, I never really have used the airbrush for freehand much so worrying about thinest lines and stuff hasn't been an issue. I am quite fond of making masks...

The smallest nozzle is the Tan (I think). You can use it for acrylic paints, but they have to be really thinned down, and you want to clean the nozzle often so as not to let the paint dry. No matter what anyone says, you will at sometime need to pull the nozzles apart. It voids the warranty, I know, but sometimes you really can't get the nozzle clean.

Again have fun!

I forgot to mention. Airbrushing really is a lot of trial and error. You have to give yourself a break and just play around a bit. Eventually you will get a feeling for what works for you, when you do just stick to it...

Hi Shane,

I have used an Aztek airbrush for over 10 years now and found it to be easy to use and produces fine results. After much experimentation with various paints I now use Tamyia acrylics, with their thinners, exclusively. I have never had a bad airbrush session since I have used this paint. With regard to the nozzles, I use the grey for general laying down of colour and if you adjust the air pressure and paint mix you can , at a pinch get some fine lines from it. To do fine work you need the tan nozzle as already mentioned. I also use the white and Turquoise nozzles for misting and applying paint over larger areas.

You have to disassemble the nozzles, no matter what the manufacturers say on the matter. I didn't do this at first and often wondered why I had little success with my airbrushing. I saw a tutorial on the internet and it showed that you must strip the nozzle down to its component parts and clean them scrupulously. You can buy a set of mini bottle brushes from most airbrush suppliers and these are essential for reaming the two parts of the assembly. Be careful removing the spring, you mustn't stretch it. Also be careful of the needle tip as well and always clean the needle with great care. Reassembling the nozzle is easy as each part fits in a specific way and will not fit any other. Keep the inside of the actual brush clean as well, use the tool and also you can swab the inside of the nozzle area with a cotton bud dipped in acetone or iso propyl alcohol to keep it really clean.

https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=21024&osCsid=92a738ac43cd50c467d2ad17a3228fdf

Practice on card, spray at dif ferent pressures/distances/dilutions so you get to know what you can actually do with your new airbrush. You should find it an indispensable tool in the end and it should give you many years of trouble free performance.

Hope this helps,

Paul