Needle Sizes With The Airbrush

Do you know how different needle sizes affect airbrushing?
Watch this week's video to help your understanding and also for some sizes you can experiment with the next time you airbrush.
Check out harderairbrush on KZbin.
This video is part of the Airbrushing Need To Know Basics.
Where we answer your commonly asked questions to help bring your art to life when using your airbrush.
If you are a beginner or intermediate airbrush artist, using your airbrush for miniature painting, canvas or even makeup then this video will be perfect for you.
If you have a question on airbrushing then please leave a comment below and we can help answer it in another video.
Music from epidemicsound.com

[@rija-ss6xj]

Thank you for answering a simple question about needle sizes & their purpose.

[@hanfo420]

also don’t forget that bigger nozzles don’t clog that often if you use a lot of glitter and particles

[@harderairbrush]

Thanks for adding that - it's true.

[@SuperSeel]

I freaking love this series! Such digestible short videos! Thanks much!

[@harderairbrush]

Glad you like them! :-)

[@4Xscalper]

Very much agree!

[@Scherdnr]

Is using two Teflon washers the recommended way to remove the trigger lag on an infinity produced prior to the Giraldez infinity? Is there a possible replacement part to be made available by H&S to do this in the future? Thanks!

[@freelancerblitz2579]

what size is best for priming miniatures?

[@drgrimlockisking]

Gotta say, I could listen to you talk all day. Love your voice and I love how you break down everything into easily understandable videos. A lot of things I’ve struggled to really understand the intricacies of over the years you’ve made so much clearer.

[@harderairbrush]

That's really kind - thank you! We have a lot of content lined up, and we're all really enjoying this process, so there's lots more to come, with some new contributors coming soon too!

[@konkeyming1624]

Just a few seconds in and I already got the information I was looking for. Fantastic!

[@harderairbrush]

Great to hear!

[@hobbyrookiee]

well explained direct to the point concise. 👌 nothing more nothing less

[@AndrevwZA]

Great way to explain it.

[@dracosummoner]

Thanks so much for this. I've been considering getting a bigger set of nozzles, etc. since my small one tends to clog frequently, and this is good info for what else to look for.

[@cragar55]

Another great informative video--keep 'em coming! Thanks!

[@harderairbrush]

Thank you very much!

[@brokenposturepainting]

Loving the series, Another great video!!!

[@harderairbrush]

Thank you - appreciate your comment.

[@samantony7039]

Brilliant advice! I’ve just started out and this channel is invaluable!

[@harderairbrush]

Great - thanks for letting us know Sam!

[@danielcoombes3310]

Dude!!! I've passed by this video so many times looking for a good explanation of needle size etc and what they do. I e watched other videos of people over complicating it. And now I just finally watched this video and you explained everything I needed to know in a way that made me understand in about 15 seconds 😂. Thanks so much. I will be watching more of your videos in the future. And for anyone who hasn't done yet. WATCH THIS SHIZZLE NOW!👍

[@harderairbrush]

Hey Daniel - thanks man! I think we haven't necessarily done a great job in the industry of explaining this over the years, and to be honest, it took me a while to really contextualise it to what the value of smaller v larger head sizes is. We all sort of know it by feel once you've used various sizes, but to try to really make it explainable to someone who hasn't had the experience took a while to figure out. In my case, about 20 years. Slow learner I guess ;-)

[@docraven2021]

Another great and very important explanation for beginners and pros alike. Many errors and confusions are circulating in the communities and finally an expert and manufacturer explains in an understandable way what the technology really does. No opinion, no home brew only facts for the high art of engineering. Thank you for this video series which makes many ineffective and expensive airbrush courses for beginners unnecessary and saves many from frustration. Grateful!

[@DingoPaints]

Excellent

[@harderairbrush]

Thanks very much Doc!

[@killergameshit4529]

About to start airbrushing for my first time and will be doing a thicker glow paint that is amazing.. i know it needs to be thinned and i have that sorted but my question is, what tip would be best for this .5 or .3 .... or can be done with both easily if thinned properly and kept well stirred as i shoot the action figures? From what i understand the glow particles are a little bigger than normal paint,, thank you to anyone for answering this.

[@dalemasyk1583]

wow finely...lol..found my friggin answer about this for awhile ..thank you for this video..i bought a airbrush gun n it came with 3 needles o.2 , o.5 , cant remeber 3rd one

[@harderairbrush]

Glad we could help!

[@Chamomileable]

This is a bit of a dumb question maybe, but if I were to change out the nozzle, needle, and needle cap, can I effectively "convert" an airbrush to another needle size? I've got an Iwata TRN1 (sorry it's competition lol) and I've been wanting for a while to try and change it from a .35 to a .5.

[@harderairbrush]

No problem - it's an airbrush channel :-) from memory, I think on the TRN1 you also need to change what they call the "head base" as well for the larger size, but the needle cap remains the same. So in that case, the answer to your question is yes, you will then have a TRN1 set up as a 0.5mm.

[@WAYNEMODELBUILDER]

Great videos but just want to mention scomething. When you advise on how to use these airbrushes you don't seem to consider those of us who build models, it's all about miniatures or pictures but not model kits. Just something I e picked up on so maybe give advise on scale model painting too be it cars or planes ect especially when advising on needle size ect ect just a thought as I'd guess a lot of your custom comes more so from the scale model builders side of things

[@hope4ourfallen]

I got a bit of a problem...I have an old paasche VL and the needles have rings to know what size they are but my nozzles got mixed up and have no markings, the (tip has a number) but I put my nozzles side by side and there are no rings, no numbers nada🤷‍♂️ I'm trying to use my number 3 needle but don't know if I have a number 3 or number one nozzle..will I ruin the nozzle if I guess wrong? Or would it just spray better if I guess right 😬

[@harderairbrush]

The Paasche VL nozzles are very easy to tell apart. Their sizes are approximately 0.5mm, 0.75mm and 1.0mm - if you have some of each size, then if you line them up next to each other, you can clearly see which is which just by looking at the mouth of the nozzle. Having said that, if you DO get it wrong (if you do, please book a visit to the optician ;-)) then I doubt very much that you will damage anything.

[@RodneyAkehurst]

have just damaged my 0.28 needle can I use my 0.2 needle in my Evolution 2004 crplus

[@musoseven8218]

Another great video😊✌️👍 Iirc, doesn't the 0.15 (H&S) needle use a 0.20 nozzle and cap🤔🤔 I think that's how mine came?

[@harderairbrush]

I'm glad you asked that, because that's NOT the case. ALL our needles MUST be used with the corresponding size of nozzle and this has always been the case. However, recently the aircaps have been updated. In past years, we used the 0.2mm aircap for both the 0.15mm and the 0.2mm set-ups, but recently we developed a FineLine (the Infinity cap) in 0.15mm to really maximise the performance of that, and to also enable us to maximise the performance of the 0.2mm FineLine and the 0.2mm Evolution aircaps for only the 0.2mm. So the 0.2mm Evolution aircap is not suitable for the 0.15mm any longer. If you want to go to 0.15mm, then you really must take the full FineLine set. I didn't really see the purpose of an Evolution style head for the 0.15mm size, and so we took the decision to just focus the 0.15mm within the FineLine set-up. Hope that makes sense!

[@kevinkerlin5603]

Mine came that way too I think

[@musoseven8218]

@@harderairbrush I think that I follow 😄🤞 My 2 in 1 Infinity set came with the 0.15 needle and a 0.2 aircap and nozzle (already fitted) and a 0.40 needle, nozzle, cap set (as the option/spare). So when I purchased a 0.2 needle (v2.0), I used the existing 0.2 aircap and nozzle set already in the 2 in 1 set (I think - I'll have to double check as I'm a bit confused now). I'm VERY careful never to force fit airbrush parts and all seemed fine when I did the swap - went together well. So what I really need now is a fine line 0.15 aircap and nozzle to complete the 0.15 set up (if and when I go back to using that combination)? Phew! I'm going for a lie down!😊✌️💜

[@musoseven8218]

@@kevinkerlin5603 You mean the same as my 2 in 1 set🤔🤔🤔😄😄🤔

[@harderairbrush]

@@musoseven8218 Hey again - my apologies if I wasn't clear. We DID used to use the same aircap for 0.15mm and 0.2mm nozzles, in FineLine and Evo. Now, we do not offer a 0.15mm aircap for Evo, and we do not recommend using 0.2mm Evo aircap with 0.15mm nozzle. In FineLine, we now offer a 0.15mm aircap ONLY for use with the 0.15mm nozzle. If your Infinity was an earlier one, then it will have come with the old set-up of 0.15mm nozzle with 0.2mm air cap. This is totally OK. Don't worry about replacing anything - no need to spend money - that set-up is compatible, at the time it was shipped. It is unlikely that your aircap will need replacing before your nozzle! So when you need to replace your nozzle, buy the aircap/ nozzle set and then you'll have the benefit of the latest 0.15mm set-up. All our items on the front end are backwardly compatible, so don't worry about if you have a new this and an old that - not a problem. However, when replacing a nozzle in 0.15mm size - the only reason why you use that size is because you want total precision - so to my mind, if the nozzle is gone, you need to question the needle and the aircap too - a full set makes sense when replacing head parts in the 0.15mm. I'm not advocating that for all sizes, as then it gets unnecessarily expensive, but it makes sense to me in 0.15mm when you're looking for extreme detail and control. I hope that's clearer!

[@martinfinbow2120]

A video on the effect of the needle size to thinning of the paint would be useful for beginners.

[@harderairbrush]

Thank you Martin!

[@GenoGENOVA]

so for painting Gundam part is better the 0.2mm than the 0.3 mm or at this size both works very well ?

[@harderairbrush]

Honestly, you can work very well even with the 0.45mm... nozzle size is much more about what type of paint you want to use, and how fast you want to be able to paint. Remember that the way that the needle operates is essentially a valve, and a very precise, progressive valve. So a 0.45mm can behave like a 0.2mm down to a certain level. However when you come to detailing, it is very useful to have a slow delivery, as it is easier to control your colour build. But this is not when basing, this is really when creating highlight detail and so on. This is when the smaller nozzle sizes are really useful. I hope that helps you!

[@GenoGENOVA]

@@harderairbrush Merci

[@Jimmy-sb3fc]

I have several airbrushes that don't have any markings on the needles. How do I measure them to determine what sizes they are? Thank you!

[@harderairbrush]

Hey Jimmy - firstly there is no universal marking system across brands. So I'm going to assume that you're talking about H&S airbrushes and needles. In fact some airbrush brands don't mark their needles at all, so if you take them out of the their packaging, and forget what they are, then you're kinda in trouble :-) But with H&S there are two conventions: firstly, the old needles, and their convention is: No marks: 0.15mm; 1 notch: 0.20mm; 2 notches - 0.40mm; 3 notches - 0.60mm then you have the current needles - the so-called V2: 1 ridge - 0.15mm; 2 ridges - 0.20 and 0.28mm; 4 ridges - 0.40 and 0.45mm; 6 ridges - 0.60mm Hope that helps!

[@Jimmy-sb3fc]

Thank you so much,@@harderairbrush!

[@mrTirwit]

I guess 0.4 is better for primers and varnishes, right?

[@harderairbrush]

They work for that, but they also have great detail capability :-) W

[@DingoPaints]

For me, that was the best info yet. Changed my thinking. Thank you

[@harderairbrush]

Glad to hear that - thanks for taking the time to write.