The Airbush Question

[Soldier of Dorn]

And it is an age-old question.

 

As my academic career continues, I find I have less and less time to meticulously apply my layers of paint by hand when I do paint, and more and more of a backlog of miniatures piling up. I've essentially made the decision to buy an airbrush to speed up several stages of my process -- basecoat, multiple layering, et cetera.

 

The only issue is that of which airbrush to purchase. Ideally, I'd like to buy something that's good for beginners, but I won't have to replace for a while when/if I start developing proficiency with it. Currently the airbrush I'm leaning towards is the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS -- by all accounts, it's a fundamentally good airbrush, and rather easy to clean. I don't particularly mind a (relatively) high initial investment if it's going to save me down the line, hence why I'm considering the Eclipse. It seems like it's a suitable brush for what I have in mind. However, I don't know whether it's the best brush for the task.

 

So, any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm still in a stage where I'm giving it a lot of thought: this is not a decision I mean to take lightly, as it's going to impact the entirety of my hobby (and my wallet!) Basically just looking for any tips, tricks, or other trivia that my fellow frater can offer a first-time airbrush purchaser. I've read much of the literature online, but there's a certain quality to asking for advice that simply reading up on a topic lacks.

[Firepower]

Good starter airbrush: Iwata Neo.  It's cheap, a good workhorse, and easily capable of performing all 'beginner' airbrush skills from base coating to zenithal highlights, and OSL once you've got the hang of it.  It's not as easy to clean as I would hope, though.  I've had mine for years and am only just now upgrading to a couple of new Badgers because they had an incredible sale last month.

 

For a decent example of what it can do in the hands of a beginner, check out my Broken Arrows blog in my signature.  My OSL skills were very amateur (and still are) and it can do much better than what I managed.  But I used it to prime, base and zenithal highlight them, as well as for the gloss varnish needed to oil wash them, etc.  I've a few vehicles towards the end of my Templar blog that are airbrush tests as well, with a bit more skill and experience to them, but the Drop Pods, Ironclads, Grimaldus, Helbrecht and Emperor's Champion are some of the best work I've done with them.  

Edited January 30, 2018 by Firepower

[Bung]

You missed for 2 weeks or so, when Badger had a birthday sale with every airbrush for 54 USD.

Since you are US based i would suggest you look into the Bader 105 Patriot which is on the same level as the H&S Evolution.

Both are not so much of an investment than other guns but are capable of alot advanced technics and easy to mantian.

Look for something where you can get some cost effective replacement parts like needles and muzzles as you will need them and its not nice to pay half and more of a gun for a muzzle and needle set through shipping costs.

[Arkhanist]

I'd recommend the badger patriot as a starter brush over the iwata neo for a few reasons:

1) much easier to clean, as the floating nozzle is much bigger and doesn't need a spanner to remove

2) teflon seals, so unlike the rubber on the neo they'll last much longer if you use more aggressive cleaning agens (acetone cleans dried acrylic out so awesomely, but is corrosive to rubber)

3) 0.5mm stock needle vs 0.35mm means it's more forgiving of paint consistency, and remains useful as a primer and basecoat brush even if you buy a high-end one later

4) cheaper parts

 

I started with the neo and kinda regretted it, as it's such a pain to clean (especially since I can't use my acetone) it ended up in a box when I upgraded to a nice quality brush, while a patriot or H&S ultra would have remained useful for bulk work. That said, it's now gone to my wife as she's trying out airbrushing craft things...

 

Of course, even starter brushes can still do a lot of nice OSL and zenithal work as well as priming and base coating and you'll be able to do lines down to a mm or 2. Mostly what you're paying for with the higher end brushes is greater options for cups, more nozzle/needle size options, and things like handle cutouts and limiters (which are sometimes useful, but mainly for straight artists), as well as overall construction quality and material - the H&S crplus brushes are lovely if you sweat a lot for example! For acrylics, there's little point going below 0.3mm or so, 0.2mm is mainly for inks etc and fine detail work that isn't particularly relevent for general painting.

 

If you want to skip a cheaper starter brush and go straight to a good mid-level brush, then the iwata hp-cs is indeed a very popular brush and has an excellent reputation. I'd probably recommend getting the 0.5mm needle & nozzle & needle cap set to start with as it will be more forgiving for paint thickness, but it's a solid brush and for model painting, you'll likely never need anything higher end while it still does the same things you can do with a cheaper brush.

 

An alternative at that sort of price would be a Harder & Steenbeck Evolution 2-in-1 which is another solid mid-range brush, that comes with the 0.2 and 0.4mm needles, that will also likely cover anything you're likely to want to do and has an equally excellent reputation and great build quality. Between that and the hp-cs, it's as much which you can get cheaper parts for and personal preference as anything else.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Arkhanist

[betrayer41]

Iwata Neo is great. My first Airbrush!

[Colonel Cross]

What about the Iwata Revolution?

[Arkhanist]

A few more general thoughts.

 

A number of people that airbrush a lot have 2 or more airbrushes. The main advantage is that you can keep them set up with their ideal needle size and just swap brush depending upon what you're doing instead of having to swap out the needle in a single brush. For example, you'd prime and base with a patriot 105 (0.5mm), then switch to an xtreme (0.35mm) or krome (0.3mm) for the rest. You can of course do that with any of the main airbrush makers, or indeed switch maker between brush (I'm a H&S fan personally). Some brushes by the same maker share needles/nozzles, but definitely not all. You can of course swap needles&nozzle in a single brush (most can do at least one swap) it just takes a couple of minutes.

 

As a rule of thumb, needle size is the viscosity of paint you can put through it - the smaller the needle, the thinner the paint needs to be. While you can thin acrylic right down with airbrush thinner or matt medium+water to go through 0.2mm or bigger, that also affects paint coverage (i.e how transparent it is, and the area it covers). Primer also doesn't want to be thinned too much, so you ideally want a 0.4mm or 0.5mm needle for that so you don't have to thin. 0.3mm to 0.4mm is a good size for general work, and 0.2 for targeted oil filters, inks, or very fine detail. 

 

I've found adding a little flow aid/improver, such as a drop or two of vallejo's airbrush flow improver per cup for acrylics helps reduce clogging and tip dry significantly, I use it for pretty much everything now bar primer. Tip dry is a fact of life with acrylics though, so keep a q-tip or tissue damped with cleaner handy, then you can just wipe the tip clean and retract the needle without air to get a bit of cleaner in the front of the nozzle. If it's clogging you can just do a big blast onto waste paper or your waste-pot, and that can clean it. Otherwise, you might need to empty out and clean. You can strain your paints, but I've not personally found it made a difference. 

 

ALWAYS clean your airbrush before finishing. Always. I personally flush it out with water as much as possible, then use nail polish remover that's mostly acetone - that cuts right through any paint that's dried on. Can damage rubber seals though, so I do recommend a brush with teflon (PTFE) seals. You can get an airbrush spray pot that's ideal to dump waste paint/cleaner spray in so it doesn't fill up the room with fumes! I then remove the needle, and use disposable interdental brushes with cleaner to get into the nooks and crannies where the paint flow is.

 

Acrylic is pretty safe to airbrush indoors, but I always recommend using a mask when spraying as you only get one pair of lungs. A disposable glove means you can hold the model without having to clean your hand afterwards. Definitely be aware of the greater risks of spraying oils, lacquers and even alcohol paints and have good ventilation and a mask, and ideally an extractor booth for those.

 

For deep cleans every so often, a cheap sonic cleaner will do wonders for getting traces of paint out you couldn't even see. Also does a bang up job getting mold release off of resin models.

 

Before you use an airbrush for the first time, and after a deep clean, completely dissassemble it and put beeswax or needle lubricant on the main screw joints. This will help protect them and make them airtight. You'll also want needle lube for around where it meets the trigger/airvalve to keep the action smooth - just put a little on whenever it needs it or you've deep cleaned it.

 

I strongly recommend a compressor with a water trap and an airtank. It will give you much cleaner air which makes life easier. High quality compressors will last longer than cheap chinese ones, but the cheap ones are a 1/3 the price, so take your pick! Empty the tank at the end of your session, and it should have a drain so you can get rid of any water - left in, it will rust the tank.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Arkhanist