equipment to use when airbrushing?

[Kaptejn]

Hey all!

 

I'm pretty interested in starting airbrushing.

 

Can someone recomend a good airbrush that's not too costly for a happy amateur? :)

 

Also, what paint do you guys use when airbrushing? Will the citadel paint work well and how much shoulsyou water it down if needed?

 

Is vallejo air an ok brand to use?

[S.k.i.t.t.l.e]

For an airbrush I'd recommend getting a name brand one that you can get parts for in your country/area. Iwata and Badger both do airbrushes for around £90/$130 mark. You probably want one with a .3mm (approx.) needle for general work such as priming and basecoating and even applying highlights. You'll need a compressor too, not air cans.... Try and find one that has a tank attached to it so it's not always running, and it helps keep the pressure constant.

 

As for GW paints, I've thinned them and used them succesfully in my airbrush. I use Windex to thin them to the consistency of milk.

 

I haven't used Vallejo Air, but I've heard a lot of great things about it.

 

Also, as a side note, my first airbrush (actually, it;s my current one) is a no namer eBay special, and my compressor has no tank on either.... And to be honest, I have no problems with it.... BUT a lot of people do have issues with this kind of set up, I think I've just been lucky. :D

[Lorenzen]

i mainly use vallejo model colour paints, though i do have some of the model air metallics (best metallics going outside of alclad 2) i thin my paints with automotive screenwash.. i cant really recommend a cheap brush as i dont use a cheap brush.. but the essentials are gravity fed, double action and if possible easy to source spare parts imho.

 

things to think about are cleaning tools (brushes, cleaning stand etc) compressor (quiet, oilless & with a tank is preferable) and dont expect amazing results straight off the bat, airbrushing takes time to learn and more time to master.. much like brush painting.

[AekoldHelbrass]

Cheap airbrush is like gambling, either you fail miserably or you will get a quite good one. Without access to better brands, I had 2 cheap ones and they were just horrible, but third one, named VEDA on ebay, is really good in comparison, cost is somewhere between $25 and $33. I have no experience with brand ones, so can't compare.

 

Also, I had a really bad experience with old GW paints, instead of thinning properly it was still separated paint and water, that was why I got second airbrush. Then I tried Tamya, but while you're airbrushing thinned paint tears down previous layer. So now I'm using only Vallejo, because their thinner does not harm previous layer, their Model Air series are already very thin and can be thinned down even farther by their white thinner.

 

And on compressor, I would agree that one with a tank is a must have. Also don't forget about face masks, glasses and latex gloves.

[Kaptejn]

So i've been doing some reading and i'm currently choosing between the Iwata NEO and the BD-116 from a chinese company. The NEO only comes with a single nozzle/needle at 0.35 mm while the BD-116 comes with three different ranging from 0.3 to 0.8.

At what times would you use the 0.8 and 0.5 nozzles?

Currently leaning towards the Iwata since it's a well-known brand and that particular model has got good reviews.

If anyone could shed some light for me here i'd be forever grateful

//Kap

[DarkMark]

I'd go with the Neo from those 2, but have a look at the H&S Ultra 2in1 too. Its about the same price, easy to use, comes with 2 needle sizes; .2 and .4, and spare parts are readily available. 

 

Anything > .5 is mainly for base coating, vanishing etc.

[Vourne]

I also have an Iwata Neo. It's an amazing airbrush for it's price and you won't find better value for money. It will suit most tasks apart from maybe ultra fine detail airbrushing. But it's perfect for base coats, varnishing, priming, and large area spraying such as tanks etc.

 

I would definitely recommend the Neo for a first airbrush. As others have said you should definitely get a compressor, with a tank if possible, as this will improve the quality of the airbrushing and is also a good investment.

 

Vallejo Model Air are perfect for airbrushing as you can use them straight in your airbrush without having to thin them down. Although GW paints will work just fine. I would recommend using some Vallejo thinner medium to get a milk like consistency, never use water.

 

Make sure you get some airbrush cleaning solution and some cleaning brushes as you'll need to clean it regularly to avoid it from clogging up. I would also recommend a cleaning station. This is basically a pot that you spray your cleaning solution into through the airbrush, and helps make cleaning it out a less messy process.

 

The Neo is also a dual action airbrush, meaning you have trigger a that you press down to release the air and then pull back to draw the paint. Try practising your spraying on some card first in order to get used to the trigger control and paint flow.

[chenley]

Why would you never want to use water for thin down paint? I plan on using mostly water based paint for my airbrush, would water not work best?

[Tamwulf]

The video is from a couple seminars taken at Adepticon, with Ken Schlofeldt, the president of Badger Airbrushes. It's a bit long, but it contains fantastic information, and it's not a sales informercial. Ken actually goes into great depth about what to use, how to use, how to fix, how to clean... it's Airbrush 101, and I show this video to everyone that says they want to learn to airbrush.

 

For thinning your paints- ya know, people use all kinds of crap- rubbing alcohol, Windex, thinner of whatever kind... here's the deal: If your paint is water based acrylic, then water will be fine. As a matter of fact, Mr. Schlofeldt even recommends it. Consider this- you are atomizing all those chemicals/garbage and unless you are wearing a respirator (not one of those stupid little cloth masks), wearing full goggles, gloves, and have a full up paint booth with proper ventilation, why would you ever spray with a chemical that says "WARNING: Harmful or dangerous if ingested"? Don't forget, YOU might have all the safety equipment, but do your pets, your family, that can of Coke you have sitting on your paint desk?

 

I used to shoot Tamiya Airbrush colors with their thinner, but quickly gave up due to the fumes and reading about atomization of paint through an airbrush. I do not have a full up paint booth, and I don't have a full up respirator and neither do my family/pets. I use 100% water for thinning. While it might limit what I can do with an airbrush, which I haven't noticed yet, it's much, much safer.  

 

[ARBAL]

Two options for airbrush:

CHEAPER: http://www.coloureddust.com.pl/2013/02/airbrush-bd-208-chinese-k208.html

BETTER but expensive: http://www.coloureddust.com.pl/2013/03/airbrush-evolution-2in1-harder_15.html

Primers for aibrush:

VALLEJO: http://www.coloureddust.com.pl/2012/10/modelling-materials-part-4.html

AK-Interactive: http://www.coloureddust.com.pl/2012/12/modelling-materials-part-7.html

Good paints are Vallejo Air and new Ak-Interactive paints. You can use Vallejo or AK thinners and paint with any acrylic paint

Good luck with airbrushing

[KaiserTJ1860]

Sorry to hijack/revive this thread but I had a question which is linked in a roundabout way.

 

it concerns the paints. Now Im in the same position as the OP, from what I see Vallejo looks like the best move for me but I read an article that recommended getting model colour not model air and simply thinning it. In doing so, this post argued, you get far more paint for your money's worth (especially if you are using distilled water to thin it out)

 

Now that all makes relative sense to me, my confusion is how you'd go about putting this thinned paint into the airbrush cup. Do you put the both the paint and thinner into the cup and simply stir? I read that this is an easy way to get an uneven distribution of the paint/  I can understand how you'd go about doing it in bulk if you had spare dropper pots, but if you were only looking to thin a very small amount of paint, say for a helmet or a shoulder pad, how do you thin it before it goes into the cup and how do you get it from said palette into the cup?

[DarkMark]

You put the thinner in before the paint then just use an old paintbrush to stir it well. Putting the thinner in first ensures that you don't clog the nozzle.

 

Many use pipettes to put their custom mix into the cup.  It is possible to buy micro cups for some ABs for when you only want to use very small amounts.

 

You do have to be a bit of an alchemist when you use a new pot of paint, BUT it really isn't that hard to work out the correct consistency.

 

I'd say you could base coat 3x 10 man squads with less than half a bottle of paint. That works out at about 1,5€. I wouldn't worry too much about the cost more which colour/ s you want to use.