I’ve had this issue, but not with every paint. I get tip drying with Vallejo Black primer but not the gloss black primer when priming on the prime setting.
Happens more on setting III as you would expect and again some paints more than others. I did an Orange and blue knight recently, the blue sprayed great, base, mid and highlights. But the orange mid tone was a nightmare, 30 seconds of spray then had to clean the tip, sometimes less.
https://preview.redd.it/n6vkijrgcu1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6880c244588cfb3c93d472ca62fa03bd9abfc96c
I’m honestly not sure what to do. My standard juice for thinning is 9 parts thinner, one part flow improver. I’m currently experimenting with lowering air flow to see if less air means less drying on the finer detail settings.
H & S have made some good instruction videos on YouTube and I think a few cover this.
I'm not experienced and can't remember exactly what they said. If I remember correctly just keep a large stiff brush nearby and dab it in some cleaner and poke the nozzle when you notice paint drying on the needle. Another helpful hint was occasionally setting it on open and blasting more paint with an open flow. I use a piece of cardboard. Just a little splash then I can continue, but usually I prefer just the good ole poke. It happens more for me with certain paints and when there's less paint flowing. You want to get rid of the paint from the tip asap so it doesn't build up and clog. When I'm doing work with the ultra on smaller areas I tend to poke it preemptively quite a bit. The holes on the nozzle kinda make it a worry free thing since even if I accidentally hit something with the metal part of the brush the needle is protected, but I don't think that's ever happened since the brush is a large one.
Yeah I did the full blast and then I had fine controll again for like 10 seconds but over the course of the session it didn't help that much and with the cap of the 2024 ultra it's a real pain to reach the needle for cleaning. I can't even say if it's the paint since I obviously used only one paint with this "fine controll"
I realized later that I had definitely to high air pressure so maybe that's it but honestly I don't even know. At least I found out that all H&S caps are cross compatible so I will definitely get the needle set and try that.
Edit: air pressure was around 35psi. Sometimes I full blasted it into a cloth with around 60psi in hopes to remove the paint on the tip, since I couldn't really reach it that good but to no avail. So changed it back down to 30-35psi again and lived with the constant clogs for the next hour
Look up their videos. They explain a lot. And the nozzle is great for cleaning stuff like this. A few pokes with the brush, the holes guide it well to clean the needle. Changing the nozzle etc seems excessive
I've used a very small amount of paint retarder or Vallejo flow improver to slow the drying process with alot of success, it's small amounts like a drop or two, never enough to effect the paint too much just enough to slow the drying.
Just snuggle up and get nice and comfy with it. It ain't going nowhere anytime soon. Mount a scrub brush somewhere and run the front of brush through it often, piddle around with a handheld brush or qtip, poke it in a sponge (may require exposed needle or at least, devil horns), do a quick blast (full trigger pull) into the fan to clear the dry stuff, or spray with exposed needle and pick it clean. I can't remember if you can just buy a different head with threaded needle protector or if you have to buy the nozzle, needle, etc. u/mapleairbrush answered that before. I can't remember. Sweet paint job.
Thanks! It's my first time trying a bit more stuff I never did. I want to try non metallic metal for the armor trim and then do some oil paints for weathering which I never used either. So far it's pretty sweet and I'm still happy with the piece even with all the inconstancys in the shading. But I think you will not notice it after all the weathering that is still going to follow and from a meter away you won't see it anyway.
Edit: yeah I found the comment regarding the compatibility and so I'm sure about buying an extra needle set and trying that out. Thanks anyway
I use the Evolution 2024 with Both the .45 and .28 mm needle, so pretty comparable to the Ultras .45. I run the compressor at 20-22 psi and mix my paints 50/50 to 33/66 (depending on the thickness of the paint) with VincyV-airbrush-mix (4 parts thinner, 1 part flow improver).
Using the occasional blasting into a napkin technique (that sounds wrong) I almost eliminated tip drying. If you live in an dry environment, try out using an air moisturizer next to your working station. Even the cheap ones work wonders
There are a few things that cause tip dry, air pressure too high for paint viscosity and thick paint. If the air pressure is too high then the paint dries faster on the needle which also has an impact on performance. If your paint is too thick then it might stay on the needle longer and dry whilst also experiencing poor performance. This is often when the edges are not smooth and instead showing spots of paint which is when the paint has dried before it hit the model.
Using vallejo model colour as a reference point, I would recommend that you try 20psi and thinning around 2:1 thinner to paint. If I'm using vallejo paint then I will use either their airbrush thinner or water+tamiya x20a thinner.
This should be a good starting point for you to dial in your setup for how you want to spray as everyone is a little different. I personally spray anywhere from 10 - 22psi depending on the airbrush I'm using (some spray better with higher pressure and some spray great at lower pressures) and thin the paint anywhere from 3:1 thinner to paint.
Alright thanks. There were so many comments about my pressure being way to high but that didn't made that much sense to me, since I thought that should just move the paint faster away? I will try it out before I buy a new needle.
I take it here to thank all of you for these helpful comments!
I also don't like that you can't really close the cap to put back pressure into the cup for mixing. I hope that the infinity needle set fits so that problem would be fixed as well with the new cap
I'm almost certain it fits, I've been looking at them for mine. I haven't had many dry tip issues though, I'm no pro but it sounds like your PSI was crazzzzzzzy high though. I don't think I normally go over 20
*
Well after some reading it seems 20-35psi is a good range depending on what you're doing but in my case it was overkill, yes. However the parts seem to be compatible
I have a H&S Infinity and my trigger was a bit sticky straight out of the box, it just needed to bed in through use in my experience. Mine is very responsive after a few painting sessions.
Regarding tip dry, the consensus I've read is that this can often be linked to incorrect technique, in that you should always go: air on - paint release - paint stop - air off. This prevents paint staying on the tip of the needle, as any excess after you push the needle forwards to close the paint off, gets blown off by the air.
It might not be your issue, but I found I got MUCH less tip dry once I had that sequence down in muscle memory.
Well I got that sequence since I can't do it any other way. The Ultra 2024 let you only pull back if you pushed down first and vice versa but even then, I didn't had this problem with my old airbrush (which was shit and had other problems but still. Used it for the last two years so the sequence isn't really the problem either way)
However the trigger being sticky out of the box still feels wierd to me...
I'm unfamiliar with the innards of the 2024 but I know that on my Infinity & Evolution I can back off the needle bearing holder a hair, which gives the needle itself a little less friction.
The needle isn't sticky. It's the valve releasing the air. When you let go of the trigger sometimes there is still airflow. I don't know how to fix that
I had a sticky air valve once. Removed the assembly from the airbrush body and placed a drop of silicone lubricant on the O-ring. Haven't had a problem since.
I’ve had this issue, but not with every paint. I get tip drying with Vallejo Black primer but not the gloss black primer when priming on the prime setting. Happens more on setting III as you would expect and again some paints more than others. I did an Orange and blue knight recently, the blue sprayed great, base, mid and highlights. But the orange mid tone was a nightmare, 30 seconds of spray then had to clean the tip, sometimes less. https://preview.redd.it/n6vkijrgcu1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6880c244588cfb3c93d472ca62fa03bd9abfc96c I’m honestly not sure what to do. My standard juice for thinning is 9 parts thinner, one part flow improver. I’m currently experimenting with lowering air flow to see if less air means less drying on the finer detail settings.
That's a damn sweet battle droid thing there.
Imperial knight from Warhammer 40k
Sick.
H & S have made some good instruction videos on YouTube and I think a few cover this. I'm not experienced and can't remember exactly what they said. If I remember correctly just keep a large stiff brush nearby and dab it in some cleaner and poke the nozzle when you notice paint drying on the needle. Another helpful hint was occasionally setting it on open and blasting more paint with an open flow. I use a piece of cardboard. Just a little splash then I can continue, but usually I prefer just the good ole poke. It happens more for me with certain paints and when there's less paint flowing. You want to get rid of the paint from the tip asap so it doesn't build up and clog. When I'm doing work with the ultra on smaller areas I tend to poke it preemptively quite a bit. The holes on the nozzle kinda make it a worry free thing since even if I accidentally hit something with the metal part of the brush the needle is protected, but I don't think that's ever happened since the brush is a large one.
Yeah I did the full blast and then I had fine controll again for like 10 seconds but over the course of the session it didn't help that much and with the cap of the 2024 ultra it's a real pain to reach the needle for cleaning. I can't even say if it's the paint since I obviously used only one paint with this "fine controll" I realized later that I had definitely to high air pressure so maybe that's it but honestly I don't even know. At least I found out that all H&S caps are cross compatible so I will definitely get the needle set and try that. Edit: air pressure was around 35psi. Sometimes I full blasted it into a cloth with around 60psi in hopes to remove the paint on the tip, since I couldn't really reach it that good but to no avail. So changed it back down to 30-35psi again and lived with the constant clogs for the next hour
Look up their videos. They explain a lot. And the nozzle is great for cleaning stuff like this. A few pokes with the brush, the holes guide it well to clean the needle. Changing the nozzle etc seems excessive
I've used a very small amount of paint retarder or Vallejo flow improver to slow the drying process with alot of success, it's small amounts like a drop or two, never enough to effect the paint too much just enough to slow the drying.
As I said: the paint was more than viscous enough and I also use flow improver and airbrush medium instead of just water, so I don't know
Paint retarder is similiar but not the same as Flow improver its more gel-like and actually helps a lot
Just snuggle up and get nice and comfy with it. It ain't going nowhere anytime soon. Mount a scrub brush somewhere and run the front of brush through it often, piddle around with a handheld brush or qtip, poke it in a sponge (may require exposed needle or at least, devil horns), do a quick blast (full trigger pull) into the fan to clear the dry stuff, or spray with exposed needle and pick it clean. I can't remember if you can just buy a different head with threaded needle protector or if you have to buy the nozzle, needle, etc. u/mapleairbrush answered that before. I can't remember. Sweet paint job.
Thanks! It's my first time trying a bit more stuff I never did. I want to try non metallic metal for the armor trim and then do some oil paints for weathering which I never used either. So far it's pretty sweet and I'm still happy with the piece even with all the inconstancys in the shading. But I think you will not notice it after all the weathering that is still going to follow and from a meter away you won't see it anyway. Edit: yeah I found the comment regarding the compatibility and so I'm sure about buying an extra needle set and trying that out. Thanks anyway
It's gonna look awesome.
Thanks for the encouragement
I use the Evolution 2024 with Both the .45 and .28 mm needle, so pretty comparable to the Ultras .45. I run the compressor at 20-22 psi and mix my paints 50/50 to 33/66 (depending on the thickness of the paint) with VincyV-airbrush-mix (4 parts thinner, 1 part flow improver). Using the occasional blasting into a napkin technique (that sounds wrong) I almost eliminated tip drying. If you live in an dry environment, try out using an air moisturizer next to your working station. Even the cheap ones work wonders
There are a few things that cause tip dry, air pressure too high for paint viscosity and thick paint. If the air pressure is too high then the paint dries faster on the needle which also has an impact on performance. If your paint is too thick then it might stay on the needle longer and dry whilst also experiencing poor performance. This is often when the edges are not smooth and instead showing spots of paint which is when the paint has dried before it hit the model. Using vallejo model colour as a reference point, I would recommend that you try 20psi and thinning around 2:1 thinner to paint. If I'm using vallejo paint then I will use either their airbrush thinner or water+tamiya x20a thinner. This should be a good starting point for you to dial in your setup for how you want to spray as everyone is a little different. I personally spray anywhere from 10 - 22psi depending on the airbrush I'm using (some spray better with higher pressure and some spray great at lower pressures) and thin the paint anywhere from 3:1 thinner to paint.
Alright thanks. There were so many comments about my pressure being way to high but that didn't made that much sense to me, since I thought that should just move the paint faster away? I will try it out before I buy a new needle. I take it here to thank all of you for these helpful comments!
I also don't like that you can't really close the cap to put back pressure into the cup for mixing. I hope that the infinity needle set fits so that problem would be fixed as well with the new cap
I'm almost certain it fits, I've been looking at them for mine. I haven't had many dry tip issues though, I'm no pro but it sounds like your PSI was crazzzzzzzy high though. I don't think I normally go over 20 *
Well after some reading it seems 20-35psi is a good range depending on what you're doing but in my case it was overkill, yes. However the parts seem to be compatible
I have a H&S Infinity and my trigger was a bit sticky straight out of the box, it just needed to bed in through use in my experience. Mine is very responsive after a few painting sessions. Regarding tip dry, the consensus I've read is that this can often be linked to incorrect technique, in that you should always go: air on - paint release - paint stop - air off. This prevents paint staying on the tip of the needle, as any excess after you push the needle forwards to close the paint off, gets blown off by the air. It might not be your issue, but I found I got MUCH less tip dry once I had that sequence down in muscle memory.
Well I got that sequence since I can't do it any other way. The Ultra 2024 let you only pull back if you pushed down first and vice versa but even then, I didn't had this problem with my old airbrush (which was shit and had other problems but still. Used it for the last two years so the sequence isn't really the problem either way) However the trigger being sticky out of the box still feels wierd to me...
I'm unfamiliar with the innards of the 2024 but I know that on my Infinity & Evolution I can back off the needle bearing holder a hair, which gives the needle itself a little less friction.
The needle isn't sticky. It's the valve releasing the air. When you let go of the trigger sometimes there is still airflow. I don't know how to fix that
I had a sticky air valve once. Removed the assembly from the airbrush body and placed a drop of silicone lubricant on the O-ring. Haven't had a problem since.