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Paasche H help?


Disco58

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I sold an H to a guy, and now he's asking some questions I can't answer. I haven't used one in years ('93 maybe?), and I was just kind of playing around with one that was allready adjusted. This one a new one I had bought and never used, so I just sold it. He's asking how to adjust spray pattern, paint flow, etc. Some of the basics I know, like opening and closing the tip to adjust paint flow, but adjusting pattern I have no idea, I don't remember. Do you loosen the allen screw and move the whole needle/tip ass'y back and forth into and out of the air cap? I need someone who has a lot of experience with an H and really knows it's pros and cons and quirks if any. Thanks.

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I sold an H to a guy, and now he's asking some questions I can't answer. I haven't used one in years ('93 maybe?), and I was just kind of playing around with one that was allready adjusted. This one a new one I had bought and never used, so I just sold it. He's asking how to adjust spray pattern, paint flow, etc. Some of the basics I know, like opening and closing the tip to adjust paint flow, but adjusting pattern I have no idea, I don't remember. Do you loosen the allen screw and move the whole needle/tip ass'y back and forth into and out of the air cap? I need someone who has a lot of experience with an H and really knows it's pros and cons and quirks if any. Thanks.

 

I'm not an expert by any means - I just use mine like a glorified spray can. I think the only adjustment on spray pattern is by changing the whole needle - my set (20 years old) came with 3 different sizes - although I think I've always just used the middle one.

 

Don

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Agreed, an H is very basic although very reliable and sturdy. Tightening/loosening the cone-shaped tip results in a corresponding change in the size of the spray pattern. Adjusting the set screw under the "push-button trigger" sets the amount of airflow. Beyond that, just put it in gear and let 'er rip.

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The allen screw is only to hold the entire tip assembly in place. It has nothing to do with spray size. This can be modulated by amount of finger pressure on the " trigger button," varying the nozzle opening around the needle by screwing it in or out, swapping in and out the three different tip sizes and, of course, adjusting the pressure at the air source ( compressor or tank). I have only used a single action Paasche H-1 for years and I agree that, kept clean, it is durable, vesatile and forgiving. Regards, Nick Filippone

 

 

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Common misconceptions about airbrushes--ANY airbrushes:

 

You can modulate the amount of air by the amount of pressure (up/down) you put on the trigger. Nope, it is either on or off. There is no in between. Now, there might be one out of a million airbrushes out there that has a variable valve, but I'd bet it was beyond the realm of hobby airbrushes (read as it costs more money than any scale modeler would be willing to mortgage his or her house for).

 

The spray pattern is changed with the various tip sizes. Nope--well, not really but sort of. If memory serves, Paasche has fine, medium, and heavy tips--but those descriptors really relate to the fluid being sprayed, not necessarily the fineness of the pattern.

 

As Ken at Badger says, the fineness of the spray pattern is a product of the taper of the tip--the faster it tapers (a short tapered area), the coarser the spray, and the more gradually it tapers (long taper, like a sewing needle) equates to a finer spray. So, there is some truth that a fine tip gives a tighter pattern than a heavy or coarse tip. But there are things you can do to get a nice, tight freehand camo. Aim the tip straight at the surface, you get a circular pattern. Hold it at an angle, you get an elliptical (think comet) pattern where one edge is sharper than the other. You can use that trick to your advantage--hold the airbrush at an angle when you spray demarcation lines, aiming the tool towards the area you want to be that particular color--that sharper edge of the comet is what gives you a sharper line.

 

You can't beat practice. Like any tool, you get better with it by using it...

 

Ralph

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Perhaps it takes the practiced hands of a surgeon to be able to modulate the amount of paint coming out of an airbrush by subtle variation of pressure on the trigger, but I have been doing it using either a Binks Wren or a Paasche H-1 single action airbrush for approximately 45 years. Furthermore, if you are contemplating a complex, free hand camo pattern-as I recently applied to a Roden Junkers D or in the application of a mottled scheme on a Luftwaffe aircraft- I use the fine tip. It definitely allows better control of the size of the pattern, fineness of the edge and the amount of the paint. (You will have to thin the paint accordingly.) The medium tip I use for most applications of paint to large areas where an even coat is desired. The large tip I usually reserve for applying flat and especially gloss coats where I want to quickly and evenly "wet" an entire model. It all takes practice and experience, but it ain't brain surgery! Nick Filippone, M.D., Fellow of the American College of Surgeons

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