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Afternoon all,

 

Much as I love Alclad when it's working well, it doesn't a lot of the time. It could be my fault but I have clotting issues through three types of airbrush (Badger, Iwata and Fengdu) despite keeping them very clean, and lubing just before use.

 

I have no issues with coarser pigment paints and primers, only (some) Alclads (if that is a permissible plural).

 

I do suspect there is a shelf life issue, as said some older paint's appearance seems like they are clotting somewhat, but it also occurs with new unopened paints.

 

Only options are turning the pressure way up or keeping the pressure low resulting in no paint flow at first followed by a great splash of paint when the back pressure has built up sufficiently - both resulting in airbrushing with little control.

 

Any ideas what I may be doing wrong? Help here would be much appreciated.

 

I thank you all,

 

Marc.

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With paints with extremely fine and relatively heavy pigments like Alclad, the pigments will rapidly settle out to the bottom of whatever you are using to hold the paint. In the case of gravity feed airbrush, the bottom of the paint cup. If you don't keep the paint mixed you will rapidly be shooting mostly pigment and this can lead to the "clotting" effect you describe. You must keep the paint properly mixed at all times. I use a Iwata side feed airbrush with a modified feed tube and cap that I can screw directly on to Alclad bottles. As I see the pigment start to settle, I can swish the paint around in the bottle to re mix the pigments.

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I do have the feeling shelf line is also an issue. The pigment seems to dissolve out of the carrier in some of the older paints. This results in needing to spray at higher pressures (30 psi plus) meaning you kind of lose the control you have at lower pressures.

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Also, there was some sort of problem a couple of years back where some Alclads had a bad batch run.  Can't remember if it was the original Alclad or right after it became Alclad II.

 

You might try an on-line search...

 

Ed

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Marc

 

Alclad definitely has a shelf life. I posted about this issue on Hyperscale about a week ago. I have 20 bottles of Alclad that I purchased about 1 or 2 years ago. They seem to have lost their shine. I did all the usual stuff to make sure I was using it properly. Shook the hell out of it to make sure paint pigment was thoroughly mixed. I tried thinning with Mr. Hobby thinner based on recommendations. I tried lacquer thinner, etc. Nothing works, they are a complete loss. 

 

Here is my post: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/what-to-do-with-alclad-t515500.html

 

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Thanks FalconFan. It seems the jury's still out. As said on some bottles there is a grainier look to the paint as if the pigment is no longer in suspension or has coalesced into bigger clumps.

 

I have the feeling it's a shelf life thing but I can't be sure.

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