Is there an easier way to go from one paint color to another without taking the air brush apart, cleaning it, reassembling it and spraying with another color ??
I’ve been painting with airbrushes for about 25 years more for art projects in the early years, and now almost exclusively for model railroading. When I started, it was with Testors model enamels which had to be thinned with paint thinner, but since we have progressed to acrylic paint that can be thinned with water, it makes it easier to change colors. What I do is keep 2 small containers about 12 ounces each of clean water next to my project so I can take the paint cup and actually drop it into one container, and while it’s there, I use a small stirring straw like a coffee stirrer to use as a pipe from the brush to the other container of water and then I spray the clean water onto paper towels until all of the previous color has stopped running out of the brush. You may use a lot of the water, but probably not all. If you have a dual action brush, keep working the trigger back and forth to keep everything free of possible clumps that might form if the acrylic has a chance to set up a little during your painting session. After your brush is clean, just separate the 2 parts of the cup, and wipe them out with a paper towel. It wouldn’t hurt to put the cup back onto the brush and run some water through it to catch any paint that might still be in the feeder tube. Change your water each time before you change colors. This method still takes a few minutes to do, but it’s much quicker than breaking down the entire brush. Try it on an old piece of cardstock to see how it works.
When changing colors I just do a quick cleaning and then hook up the stainless cup to it and run windex through the brush. It works great and does a good but fast job.
I paint with both Floquil or PollyScale and almost never clean the airbrush between colour changes when using the same type of paint. I does help to plan your painting sessions carefully, and I generally do clear finishes first, then whites, yellows, and other light colours, including primer, then on to the darker colours. Weathering is done last. If necessary, I’ll put a little thinner (water or lacquer thinner, depending on the paint type) through the brush when changing to a different colour, but that’s generally to avoid contaminating the next colour in its bottle.
Wayne
I also use Polly Scale paints. I use a clean jar adapter for each new color during a session. I also have two jars set up, one with water and another with Air Brush cleaner, both with jar adapters.
When finished with one color, I remove the paint jar and adapter, spray the paint out of the AB, then hook up the water jar and spray through. Then switch to the AB cleaner jar and spray through.
The old color jar adapter goes into a bucket of water and the paint jar is capped.
Then the new color jar is opened, a jar adapter screwed on, and attached to the AB. I spray the new color on a sheet of paper until it looks good, then I start painting.
I have several interchangeable color cups for my airbrush. When I finish with one color, I swap out the cup, spray a cupful of soapy water through the airbrush into a cleaning station, and move on to the next color. I completely clean my airbrush only after I’m done for the day.