For years I had a disgusting Badger clone, but in the end i got very familiar to it and I managed to get satisfactory results. My wife gave me as a present a brand new Aztech 470. I tried to get on with it but I've got some problems. I only do armour and use 99% of the times Tamiya acrylics, so I'd like to know with what nozzle and air pressure you achieve the best results.
Thanks for your help

I'm relatively new to airbrushing, but I bought a Badger 175 and Aztek 470 at the same time. I can say that I was instantly able to get fine lines with the Aztek and found the Badger's double action trigger to be too course in terms of control to get consistent results -- for a newbie like me anyway. I run the Aztek at 25 PSI with the detail (tan) nozzle. I also thin my acrylics 60-40 solvent-paint.

Good Luck

I like acrylics, especially Tamiya - just make sure to clean the tip thoroughly. Also make sure to mix the paint well before adding thinner.

The one I use the most is the black tip for acrylic - this is general purpose. I also use Tamiya acrylics most of the time and thin it 50-50 with Tamiya thinner. I spray at about 20psi.

One thing, I think the tan nozzle is not for acrylics but maybe someone else would know better than me. I haven't gotten good enough yet to do complex camoflage so others can tell you which tip is best for fine detail if the tan tip is not correct to use with acrylics.

GR8Voyager

First, congrats on the gift, it's a great airbrush. I have nothing but praise for mine. Now, on to your questions. There are two acrylic nozzles, white and black. White is for high coverage, black is for slightly less. In terms of tips for camo patterns, I use the tan tip as well. It yields the finest line of the tips I have.

In terms of pressure, I generally use between 20 and 25 psi through an old compressor my father had floating around the house.

Hope this helps.

I forgot, one other thing - I use Model Master acrylic for primer so that I don't have to keep using the pipettes to transfer the paint from Tamiya bottles to the aztec bottles - the model master bottles thread right onto the airbrush as well and are identical to the aztec ones. That is the one good thing about Model Master and Polly S acrylics.

GR8Voyager

The best luck I have had is with the black nozel. I found the white one puts out a bit to much paint for my liking. I have also used the tan without any problems (after the black one made a trip down the garbage disposal) but now use the black mostly since I got a new one. Watch the tips when using acrylics, they can build up paint and cause problems. I keep some cotton swabs in windshield washer fluid to clean them off as I paint. I usually clean them with windshield washer fluid also.

Thanks everybody for help. I'0ll do my way to the local hobbu shop to buy a black nozzle...

One other thing, Andrew's advice reminded me of this:

I usually have one extra bottle (the ones that attach to the airbrush) that I fill with warm water with a small drop of mild dishwashing liquid and one bottle of clean warm water. When I am done airbrushing, I take the paint bottle off and just blow it out for a second, attach the bottle with the soap, turn up the pressure to 30 psi and spray until the bottle is empty. Next I attach the clean warm water bottle and do the same thing. Finally, after taking this bottle off, I just keep spraying until all of the moisture is completely out of the airbrush.

When I do this and then take the tip off, there is very little in the way of additional cleanup. As I said, I use mostly Tamiya and this works very well.

GR8Voyager

what a lovely and thoughtful gift from wife..respects to her...very good pistol and you can reach the top with experience and suitable nozzles. good modelling with your new airbrush

I am the proud owner of a 4709. I got it as a gift from my very good friend and pig brother Dave (SS-74) . I haven't fired this baby up yet since I don't have a compressor but I'll be buying one this weekend.

I drew up a list of the nozzles and their specs and I'll paste this inside the box to guide me:

Nozzles
Tan - fine line (0.30 mm)
Gray - general purpose (0.40 mm)
Light Blue - high flow (0.50 mm)
Orange - medium coverage (0.70 mm)

Acrylic Nozzles
Black - general purpose (0.40 mm)
White - high coverage (0.50 mm)

Please correct the list above if I made a mistake.

I can't quite figure out what the 2.5cc side feed cup is for. It's small and the cup design is a bit different.

i got a 470 for xmas,only today i got my self a regulater(pressure).i found my compresser reaches 20 psi.for fine lines do you go high (20psi) or lower( i read in a forum about someone who went as low as 3 psi)i,m practising on bits of paper4 and am struggling a bit,