International Scale Modeller

OK - one for the hive mind here as, frankly, I'm baffled.
Airbrush is a Feng-Da FE183K. Until the other day its worked reliably and well. I had a paint issue with a 1/72 Phantom and as part of the resution thought I'd try swapping the 0.3 needle for the 0.5. So first the brush was thoroughly cleaned with a small amount of Ultimate airbrush cleaner blown through at the end. All worked perfectly.
Swapped the needle, nozzle and cap over, went to test it - and no air came through when pressing the trigger. Stripped the air valve down and cleaned that. Still no air. Tested the valve with a rod and got air. Put the trigger back in and nothing. Checked the valve movement and pressed to the max 2.2 mm protruded past the face of the airline fitting when the rod was used.


Refitting the trigger it barely moved.


So as an experiment I cut a dowel down to 2 mm length, inserted that into the air valve and rechecked the trigger - valve now moves out 2.2mm.
Hooked the airline back up, pressed the valve with a rod and air flowed.


Refitted the trigger and still nothing!!


(Apologies for the ugly mug in the video clips!!)


Disassembled airbrush


Has anyone got thoughts on how to fix this problem????

Sorry I don't but you can email air-craft.net
they are awesome to diagnose problems.

Garion77 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 02, 2025 9:45 pm Sorry I don't but you can email air-craft.net
they are awesome to diagnose problems.

Thanks for that - will give it a try. I'm beginning to think the problem lies in the body of the air brush. I cranked the pressure on the compressor up to 60 psi as a "what if" and got air flow through the brush albeit at a MUCH reduced rate - certainly not the same as the other brushes at 18 psi.

I've tried to get my head around it but only vague thought's I'm afraid. Seems like the problem is the valve. Have you tried going back to the last needle and seat that worked? That would decide if the new needle and seat are the problem.

To check the valve, try pulling the trigger without the needle and seat, air should flow. That will confirm if the valve is the issue.

These are just thoughts based on a few problems I've had on my AB recently.

Contacting air-craft.net is a good idea. They have a great rep for being helpful.

Stokesy44 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 03, 2025 7:44 am I've tried to get my head around it but only vague thought's I'm afraid. Seems like the problem is the valve. Have you tried going back to the last needle and seat that worked? That would decide if the new needle and seat are the problem.

To check the valve, try pulling the trigger without the needle and seat, air should flow. That will confirm if the valve is the issue.

These are just thoughts based on a few problems I've had on my AB recently.

Contacting air-craft.net is a good idea. They have a great rep for being helpful.

Many thanks

I did try without the needle and reverting to the 0.3 - nothing changed. However - I removed the brass valve body last night, soaked a cleaning brush in lacquer thinner (as that seems to remove almost any thing!!) and gave the brush body a good scrub. Nothing changed last night - BUT - I just tried it again and now there is air passing through. But I think not what it should be. Using the finger tip test a blast from one of the old brushes with a 0.3 in makes a visible dent in the skin whereas the problem one just about moves the skin with a 0.5 in.
I'm going to contact air-craft.net but I suspect the answer may be to soak the body in lacquer thinners for a while - like overnight ....

If everything is clean then it must be in the air valve.
Try replacing it.....can you swap one out from another brush ?