Airbrush Speckles: 6 Possible Causes and Solutions

The biggest annoyance is always that the tool does not work correctly. As an airbrush artist, you will undoubtedly experience from time to time that your airbrush speckles and thus produces a changed color image.

This happens, for example, when the airbrush gun is clogged. In this article, we will look at other possible causes and solutions.

Airbrush gun speckles: 6 causes and solutions

There are basically 6 causes why your gun might produce a sprinkling effect that you didn’t want or cause yourself. Sometimes some reasons coincide, so you should consider all causes and check the respective spots.

Cause 1: Paint viscosity

The first cause can be the viscosity of the paint. It is simply too thick so that it starts to speckle. Here you should either thin it even more with water or paint thinner. Alternatively, you should noticeably increase the pressure on the compressor if you don’t want to thin the paint.

Cause 2: Air delivery volume and air pressure

The air delivery quantity or the air pressure at the compressors are set too low. You may have deliberately wanted this before and forgotten to put it correctly again hours later when working with the airbrush. Now increase this low-pressure range back to the normal one at about 2.3 to 2.5 bar.

Cause 3: Contamination of the airbrush gun

Of course, the airbrush gun can be contaminated, often the leading cause. The paint has stuck to the nozzle and is increasingly clogging it. The first thing you should do is empty the paint container and spray the gun properly with water.

If this is not enough, you should spray clean it with a cleaner. If the spraying effect is still not reversed, you should consider a complete cleaning.

Cause 4: Defective nozzle

It is also possible that the nozzle is clogged or defective. It may have developed one or more small notches, causing spattering effects. As a rule, the nozzle can no longer be repaired, and you should buy a new one.

Cause 5: Pinched air hose

Another cause that could be considered is that the airbrush air hose is kinked. If you are very mobile or inaction with compressors, this can happen. The more sensitive (transparent) Plexi hoses are particularly susceptible to this. Therefore, you should check and repair their condition from time to time.

Cause 6: Crooked needle

Similar to the nozzle, the needle can also be defective. Especially if it is crooked, it makes a different color image. It may then speckle, show an oval instead of a round spray pattern, or spray more sideways.

Perhaps you can straighten the needle outside the gun and carefully yourself. In most cases, you can use your fingers or fingernails to carefully but form actively straighten the tip of the hand. Otherwise, a new acquisition is recommended.