First air brush

I've been goofing around with my new double action pasche air brush kit and need some help. After speaking with Pasch about some basic questions and figuring out how to change over needles, heads ect. I have been trying to do some fine detail with the needle close to the paper (as if I was writing with a pen per the pasche guy) but the paint gets blown outward when it hits the paper. My compressor gauge reads around 20/25 psi when I am spraying just air. I've tried different angles of holding the brush (should you be straight over the work?

I have the #3 needle and head in. The instructions and practice manual are horrible in my opinion. I'm an engineer by trade and can usually figure these types of things out but need some help here.

I have been hand painting all my birds and thought I would catch up with the times.
thanks for the help
John

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One more thing

I am using brand new Life tone water base paint from the waterfowl kit I purchased. Shook the bottle and used as is.

Typical Engineer!

I say that tongue and cheek btw. I worked as a Designer in a Nuclear Engineering firm for 15 years prior to taxidermy.

Well, you didn't expect to run any calcs and such until AFTER your 4+ years of schooling right? The air brush takes practice - LOTS of practice to become proficient with it.

First off, the number 3 tip is a general purpose all around tip (Which btw is all I use). You can get fairly fine lines with it but it's difficult to do, especially for a beginner. Switch to the number 1 tip for the fine stuff. Also, practice thinning your paint, sometimes a lot. A little retarder can help too. The paint (especially with the smaller tips) wants to clog quite often. Play with your retarder, thinners and your PSI along with your tips (Are you starting to see hoiw many variables come into play here and the NUMEROUS things that COULD go wrong?)

Lastly, the double action airbrush will take longer to learn. You've got paint control AND air control to worry about. BUT, don't give up. With practice, practice and more practice you'll get the hang of things...

thanks Marty

thanks.