I just got started airbrushing and have an Iwata Eclipse bottom feed brush with a standard sized compressor. I have a couple questions for anyone with experience. It seems that my brush takes a LONG time to clean out after a color. When I pull the paint bottle out, a little bit of the paint drips from the gun and then when I put the cleaner bottle on, that color ends up leaking into the bottle. Am I doing something wrong or is that just the bad part of a bottom feed? As I said, it takes a long time to clean out and get spraying clear (and it seemingly never sprays totally clear), but is there something else other than the expensive "airbrush cleaner" I can use to clean it such as rubbing alcohol or windex? Can you spray water through it or is that a bad idea? Any other tips for spraying baits and just airbrushing in general is appreciated. Thanks.

For cleaning get a big bottle of windex, some people cut 50/50, I like to use at full strength.

Get some metal color cups to fit a passch vl, that way when you want to change colors just pour in the windex and shoot until it clears the brush.  Pull the needle out and wipe off any excess paint also.  I even pour a little windex thru the back of the brush and for my final clean up.

INHO, you got a great brush to learn to paint with.  Look at the gravity feed brushes when you ready for the next one, use less paint and easier to clean.

What do you guys use for a topcoat? Just the standard gloss topcoat, or something else? Two coats ok or will it run too much?

What do you guys use for a topcoat? Just the standard gloss topcoat, or something else? Two coats ok or will it run too much?

If you mean a topcoat for hardbaits....

Most people uses Devcon 2ton epoxy, But there are others, such as dick's lurecoat.

Epoxy!Wal-Mart has Devcon back in the paint dept.It comes in a mixing tube.Get the one that has the most working time!

BIG M,full strength Windex is hard on the brush's seals.