Advice on air brushes for a beginner

[JJD]

I recently picked up a copy of B&C and will likely pick up a copy of Prospero Burns.

 

I plan on starting a new army but at the moment I am torn between either a Blood Raven 40k army or a Thousand sons 30k army.

 

I have been thinking about getting an air brush for some time for basing the vehicle for my Dark angels but put it off and used the Caliban green spray.

 

I I go down the 1k sons soute I want to go metalic red and for that I feel I need an air brush.

 

I don't need anything too fancy just something for base coats and a zenithal high light.

 

Can any one make any recommendations or suggest where to find good information.

[Imren]

The #1 mistake people do when getting into airbrushing is to put their money into the airbrush itself and go cheap on the compressor (such as buying those cheap ass membrane ones with no air tank or water filter.).

 

When airbrushing, you really want just air and nothing else flowing into the airbrush from the hose. Due to the air expansion as the air leaves the compressor and flows to the brush, the humidity in the air falls out as water along the hose, when mixed with the air and paint you'll have spiders and blotchy spray results, also as air supply is from a tank the air comes without pressure pulsing resulting in a steady smooth air pressure supply to the airbrush. That is why your #1 priority when getting into airbrushing is to buy a compressor WITH a tank and stay away from those membrane mini compressors without tank.

 

There is a plethora of airbrushes and and compressors on the market, I remember I did hours of research and went though tonnes of reviews on blogs and youtube. I have also tried many hobby friends' airbrushes from various makers.

 

As a tradeoff between quality and price I find the best compressor to be the Sparmax TC-610H, comes with a 2.5L tank, water filter and pressure regulator. I'd say this is the best buy you'll do getting into airbrushing. Make sure you empty the tank after every time you use it by venting off the bottom valve and letting condensed water from the tank to get out, this prevents corrosion inside the tank. When it comes to airbrushes, its a bit trickier, If you're just going to use it for priming and base coats, then I think the best tradeoff in price, quality and usability is the badger patriot 105. It has a big easy to maintain tip, 0.7 mm needle that is a bit more robust and good for everything but super-detail airbrushing.

 

If you're really on a budget, then rather go cheap on the airbrush than the compressor.

[JJD]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I see you recommended at 0.7mm nozzle. Most of the beginner Sets I have looked into so far seem to range from 0.2 to 0.4.

 

Would I be better looking at a larger nozzle size.