UK Airbrush Experiences?

[WingsOfTheFalcon]

Hey guys,

 

Anyhone have any experience of using this kit from Halfords? Link

 

Looks pretty smart and reasonable value vs the GW one as you get a can of propellant thrown in.

 

Just wondering if anyone has ever tried this one and also the virtues of a wand style airbrush vs gun shaped?

 

^_^

[Lorenzen]

im no expert.. but badger are a reasonably respected airbrush & spraygun company, a friend of mine recently picked up a very similar style kit (almost identical design) i havent heard his thoughts on it yet.. but essentially the gw one is the worst one on the market with some serious design flaws that were ignored in favor of making it look like a hand flamer.

[WingsOfTheFalcon]

Pretty solid review here. :P

[averykess]

That is a usable beginner airbrush. If you plan on doing anything long term, consider picking up an airbrush where the paint is fed from above the gun (gravity feed) rather than sucked up a straw.

[WingsOfTheFalcon]

Pondering what to do now, seen the coloured primers which are sold by Army Painter and thinking that if I can't get a cheap compressor that might be the route to go as I gather using propellant is a bit of a nightmare for airbrushes?

[winterdyne]

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with that Badger kit. Sure it's cheap, but it's really not very good.

IMO you're better off typing 'airbrush kit' into ebay, it'll save you money to get a full kit in the first place.

[madscuzzy]

The ones that are feature are single action airbrushes. The GW one is a single action too. By single action it means it is just press and spray. It is essentially a glorified spray can, where you can control the colours to the ones that you need (ie GW colours etc.) but the cost of some inconvenience (mixing, cleaning etc.) The are good for what they do, as long as you just want to spray paint onto a surface.

 

If you want control, you would need to get a double action airbrush, which as its name implies, requires you to do 2 things: first is to depress the trigger (this allows air to enter the gun, like the single action) and 2nd is to pull it backwards, which allows control over how much paint enters the airstream. This lets you control how much paint vs air is applied on the model, which can give a nice gradient effect should you so choose.

 

There are a couple of topics on airbrush here, so use searchie if you need more info...:)

[RSM Schlierkamp]

I bought the very same kit to start airbrushing, not bad for doing large base coats (I used on my Valkyries) However within about two weeks i found myself wanting a double action which i promptly bought from Ebay, and about 2 months after that i went onto a compressor instead of propellant cans.

 

The double action gravity feeds are far more paint economic in my experience, allow better control and a compressor means you don't get the problem of pressure drops you get from cold/empty cans.

 

My advice would echo others, skip this one, go straight into the double actions stuff and get a compressor, given i spent about half the cost of a compressor on cans in a few months and you can see why a compressor makes alot of sense straight off the bat.

[Tanhausen]

You have relatively cheap brands...I have a Ventus Titan 0.25 which I got for some 50€ at a local store. The copy (exactly the same, no name engraved) goes for some 20 Euros + H&S in ebay.

 

That is something I'd suggest: buy locally. If you need replacements (the needle or any other part), its better to have a store you can drop by than finding stuff on ebay/net. Besides they usually are art stores that can help you out with issues such as paint consistency and so :)

 

You can probably find double action airbrushes+compressor packs for around 80-90 Euros at local stores.