Airbrush

[The Imperial Painter]

Hi Guys and Gals,

this is my first thread

I'm wondering which airbrush to use. I want one that is relatively cheap and can be hooked up to proppelant as I'm not going to use it much so I dont want to invest in a compressor!:silly!:

Also want to know wether any brand of paints suit airbrushes (I know about vallejo model air but would like to know more about them!



Cheers Tom

 

[QuietiManes]

What are you going to do with it? If it's just for priming then just stick with spray paint, it's the same price as canned air anyway. If you want to do anything other than priming or base coating, going cheap isn't a good idea as it is difficult to get them to work well (impossible if you don't understand how an airbrush works and have experience using one). Canned air is expensive, you buy a few cans and you've just spent more than a compressor would cost. Just FYI.

The "go to" cheap brush seems to be the Master line. The G23 I'd suggest. Seen here:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/master-performance.aspx#G23

For a little more (less than double) you can get a Badger 100 or Patriot, and it'll be far more reliable and user friendly. Everyone and their grandmother will tell you about their Iwata's, but, at the very least, they're over priced for people who don't airbrush often (since you don't have the skill to put all their "ultra fine" abilities to use).

Any name brand airbrush will work fine but choosing which will work FOR YOU depends on what you want to do with it.

EDIT: Oh, and as for paint, any paint can be shot through an airbrush. ANY. Period. However, as with the brush, it depends what you are doing with it, once we know that we can figure out which will work for you.

 

[me_in_japan]

Eek! Please don't use canned air. I did, and it nearly turned me off airbrushing completely. I cannot stress this strongly enough. It was an exercise in frustration, and i dont want anybody else to suffer like i did. Imagine trying to paint a mini with a bit of horsehair roughly tied to a stick, and compare that to a Newton and Winsor paintbrush, ad you'll have some idea of how canned air compares to a compressor. You don't need to spend mega bucks to get a brush and compressor that will last you for years.

Incidentally, I do have an iwata airbrush, but that's only because that's what's available where I live. It is verra nice, though

 

[PegaZus]

Recently just got an Iwata HP-CS. If you're stateside, find a Hobby Lobby and grab a 40% coupon. Can grab one up for little over $100. Think the total was $119, actually.

However, what I wanted to say is that if you've got access to a shop compressor, you're workable. You'll need an accessory or two (better filter for oil and water, a long hose to avoid the noise, and a regulator which should be standard on the compressor to start with), but you could be closer than you think. Might scare a couple of the regular air blowers here. Dunno. Had the setup, so went with what I've got already. Used it just one time so far, but in fairness have only had the parts for a week.

Not sure I can state not going with canned air as emphatically as MiJ above, but sounds like sound advice there, too.

 

[Einion]

I'm wondering which airbrush to use. I want one that is relatively cheap ...

What's your idea of relatively cheap (there are $400 airbrushes, so by comparison a $100 AB is relatively cheap but still might be more than you'd like to spend)? Where are you (suppliers are important and some brands aren't easily available in diff places)?

If you try a search* Tom you'll get lots of useful reading material from the archives, including loads on brand and model recommendations and what paints you can use.

I really wouldn't use canned air.

*Go here, search for the word airbrush in thread titles for this forum only.

Einion

 

[RuneBrush]

Welcome to the forum!

The point on canned air has been pretty well covered, so I'll go onto your question about paints.

Pretty much any paint can be put through an airbrush with enough/appropriate thinning down. The VMA paints are quite good in that they can be used straight out of the bottle and the metallics are probably the best out there for an airbrush due to their tiny metallic pigment size (they brush on nicely too). With acrylic paint (such as GW, P3, etc) you will need to thin the paint to roughly the consistency of skimmed milk. If the paint was thick to begin with it's also worth filtering it through some mesh/nylon tights to make sure there aren't any lumps.

I (along with a number of others) use car screen wash to water down paints for the airbrush rather than plain water. The benefit of this is that the screen wash contains lubricant's and wood alcohol which together improve the flow of the paint and decrease the drying time which makes it easier to cover large areas.

There are numerous threads on here about airbrushes and techniques so follow the link Einion has posted and have a mooch

pete

 

[airhead]

Recently just got an Iwata HP-CS. If you're stateside, find a Hobby Lobby and grab a 40% coupon. Can grab one up for little over $100. Think the total was $119, actually.

However, what I wanted to say is that if you've got access to a shop compressor, you're workable. You'll need an accessory or two (better filter for oil and water, a long hose to avoid the noise, and a regulator which should be standard on the compressor to start with), but you could be closer than you think. Might scare a couple of the regular air blowers here. Dunno. Had the setup, so went with what I've got already. Used it just one time so far, but in fairness have only had the parts for a week.

Not sure I can state not going with canned air as emphatically as MiJ above, but sounds like sound advice there, too.

I've been preaching that for over a decade.

The little airbrush compressors have their place, but often for the same price, you can get a much larger compressor that will let you do more than just airbrush. I just bought another one on closeout at one of the big box stores. $200 for a 3.5 HP compressor that will let me paint (almost - my gun still outruns it.).

 

[Jbickley00]

For the record, the masters series brushes by tcp global are quite reliable. I think their entry level kit is about 75 bucks for the compressor and airbrush. Well worth it for your purposes

 

[Vet Sgt Ezekiel]

I've used an Iwata Eclipse and a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity airbrush which are both great. My last compressor was an Iwata Sprint Jet pro which was also excellent.

However.

I now use a cheap generic compressor with a 3 litre tank and the usual moisture trap and filter etc plus an Iwata Neo airbrush. I have certainly not noticed any difference in terms of my painting quality from these two items in comparison to the more expensive makes I've used before. The airbrush and compressor worked out cheaper than the Infinity airbrush I had! If anything the latest set up is easier to use as there's less bells and whistles plus the compressor is quieter and runs less due to the tank. Both compressors come with a 1 year warranty so I can't really see any point (in hindsight) to buying expensive gear unless you are using it professionally and several hours a day at that.

I think I spent less than £160 for the complete set up and get the same results as the £350+ set up I used to use. The Neo is also easier to clean than the Infinity and less fiddly.