My Badger 150 is being naughty!

[Dukat, S.G.]

All,

I'm at a complete loss.

I just started airbrushing again after a long modeling hiatus. I had intestinal surgery and "acquired" a colostomy bag, albeit only temporarily. I should have the reversal surgery and see my guts be completely put back together in two months or so.

But I already digress. I recently broke out my Badger 150, which was clean as a whistle (read: all parts were separately soaked in lacquer thinner), but for some reason, the trigger won't fully depress.

When I tried to use the airbrush, as soon as I hooked it to my compressor, it started funneling air through the AB's nozzle. So, I have no control over, well, anything; it just sprays away and I have to content myself to:

*wave model parts by its stream just so

or

*use the replacement brush I nabbed, an Iwata Neo BCN, which, no matter WHAT I do, has a horrible tendency to splatter even when it too is clean as a whistle AND it's running VERY thin paints.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong with either or both airbrushes?

[seam-filler]

Badger 150... Try stripping down the valve assembly. It may be clogged up. The O-ring may also be perished. The spring may need re-tensioning or just plain replacing. The parts-breakdown on the image linked below is pretty self-explanatory...

http://www.merriartist.com/v/vspfiles/a ... schart.jpg

(Incidentally - Badger O-rings don't like being soaked in laquer thnner for long)

As for your Iwata, splatter usually means the air pressure is too high for the thinness of the paint you're spraying.

[Rocketeer]

I had something similar happen; the o-ring in the air valve was swollen, presumably by exposure to lacquer thinner.