Airbrushes-----Can anyone recommend one please

[marcus]

Hello All.

 

I'm doing a bit of future planning and thinking that in 3-4 months I'll be starting some vehicles for my DIY chapter. I want to use this as an excuse to buy an airbrush.

Does anyone have any advise on models, price bands and what to expect from them etc

 

Thanks in advance

[Kaldoth]

Hello All.

 

I'm doing a bit of future planning and thinking that in 3-4 months I'll be starting some vehicles for my DIY chapter. I want to use this as an excuse to buy an airbrush.

Does anyone have any advise on models, price bands and what to expect from them etc

 

Thanks in advance

 

Well, I cant recommend any specific types of airbrushes. Mine is a single action external mix siphon feed. Not that bad, and not too expensive either. Good for beginners :blush: As for tips, I can give you a couple:

 

1. BUY A COMPRESSOR!!!! Canned air is horrible. Seriously, go with a compressor. Its well worth what it costs.

 

2. When mixing paint for an airbrush, you want it to be about as thick as warm milk. If its too thick, it will clog your airbrush. If its too thin, your paint will splotch and look bad. Mixing the paint is the most important part! I would suggest using Tamiya colors.

 

3. Before and after each use, MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN YOUR AIRBRUSH THOROUGHLY!! Use pipe cleaners and windex to clean out the airbrush itself, and use just plain windex to clean out the paint container. Make sure all the paint is gone when you clean the container! If theres even just a little bit left, it will completely ruin the pigment in your next batch, and thats not something you want. Ive had to strip quite a few models just because there was a tiny dot of another colour left over in my paint container :lol:

 

4. When painting with it, move the brush back and forth slowly across the model. Keep the brush about an arms length away. If you stay in one spot too long, you will get splotches, so make sure you keep moving your arm.

 

5. Never tilt the brush! You wont be able to read the level of your paint properly! Keep it straight at all times.

 

6. If your brush clogs mid paint, turn off the compressor first. Then, dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol, place it on the tip of the brush, and then twist and dab until it looks clean. Then continue brushing. If your brush still wont work, try again. If it doesnt paint after a third time, check your paint levels. If the tube is still feeding paint, disassemble the brush and clean it out entirely.

 

Thats about it really. You kind of just have to fiddle with it until you get it right :P Good luck!

 

-Kaldoth

[Lotus Arenco]

marcus,

Have a lookin the Screwfix catalogue or www.screwfix.com. There is a dual action airbrush kit for

[marcus]

@ Lotus Arenco: Thanks i'll take a look.

 

@ Kaldoth : Thanks for sharing, i've saved the thread to my pc for future reference ^_^

[Essayons]

I have used a Testor's Aztek with good results.

 

Now be prepared for all of the comments bemoaning the fact that this isn't a "real" airbrush. Ignore them. This puppy works just fine for modelling applications and is by far the easiest to clean and switch colors with.

 

I do agree that you should buy a compressor though.

[Thunder_god]

Here is my two bits:

 

Having owned several different airbrushes over the years in main line hobbying, I can recommend three:

 

The Badger 155 Anthem. It's a siphon fed, double action setup with just one tip and needle. You can spray from as thin a pencil line to about 1" strokes with it.

 

The Iwata Revolution series. Best airbush for the money. You can turn out somebeautiful works of art with this rig.

 

Tamiya Sprayworks. After butying one, I believe it is an Iwata w/ the Tamiya logo on it.

 

Visit this site: www.bearair.com

 

Hope this helps

[madscuzzy]

Ive got a couple, though by far I find the Aztech line prollie the best amongst the airbrushes for what we are doing. The full metal bodies of most airbrushes require quite a bit of maintainence and when clogged, takes a while to clean up. Clogging DOES happen. It just depends on how much paint dries up in the nozzle and how fast. Getting a good thinner can work miracles in working time. The Aztec brushes (i actually have a couple... but the one I prollie use the most is the cheap Walmart one ha! Hey its just a materials difference, but use is the same. Sides, it cost me only 40 US for it + turnaround paintholder + paints + an aircan haha... ) are great simply cuz the entire spray mechanism ( the needle + nozzle ) is a single piece. Yes its supposed to be somewhat disposable, but Ive used mine for a long time now. You can just unscrew it, pull out the need with your fingernails and wipe and then screw it back in and get right back to work. Saves a lot of time... and you can even leave the paintpot connected to the gun(well sometimes...as opposed to never XP)! And the Walmart one is double action! Heh.. its essentially the same as the mainstay one, just cheaper components (doesn't feel that 'shiok').

 

In our case, the airbrush is a lasgun... well... laspray... a glorified spraycan. Our details are a tad too fine for an airbrush, so most of it will still be painted by hand. Vechs and prollie some FW stuff might actually benefit from the spray gradient thingie that airbrushes are so famous for.

 

The right kind of thinner should be used to prevent clogging as much as possible. Our paints are not designed to be airbrush compatible and mixing water into them, while it thins them, still clogs the airbrush quite quickly. Airbrush paints tend to be thinner, similar to inks. You can get airbrush thinners to mix with paints that are not airbrush friendly. Vallejo does sell it as do other companies (cept GW of course). A common ingredient in the thinner is alcohol. Isopropyl or denatured alcohol (or rubbing alcohol, can be bought from pharmacies quite easily... and its cheap!) is a common ingredient and can but used in our paint types.

 

 

Airbrushes are great cuz you can get the right colour that you need as opposed to spray cans and have a greater degree of control over the paint type and application. It is however, a hefty investment. The airbrush itself is rather affordable, but its the compressor that will kill you. A good compressor will have... the compressor, a pressure gauge, a water trap and an airtank. Most compressors are sold with the parts optional, and when chosen, can cost quite a lot.

 

Compressor

There are a couple of types of these, but depending on the accessories you buy, it'll dictate what kind of compressors you can get. Ideally, a compressor itself should be able to handle a high PSI... around 60 PSI, so as to achieve a smooth airflow. Some compressors, since they do not have the gauge or tank, might limit their PSIs lower. A higher PSI, a stronger airflow, which means the paint gets applied smoother. The lower you go, the less even you get for the spray, which can result in splatter.

 

Airtank

The compressor feeds air into this container from which air goes out into the gun. Most compressors have a a rythm to the pumping cycle and this can sometimes make the airflow jittery, which is something you don't want. You'll always want as smooth an airflow as you can get. So compressor to airtank, airtank to gun. This way the air is stored and released as a constant pressure.

 

Gauge

Well.. as mentioned above, PSI is important, so this is what you use to measure and control it.

 

Watertrap

Okie... this one is tricky. There are times when, due to the climate, airbrushes act up. Airbrushes work weird, especially in humid countries where there is water in the air. The water in the air can be drawn into the compressor and fed out into the tube into the gun. The watertrap collects the water that is fed out before it enters the gun. Now note that there are times when you will STILL get the gun squirting out water instead of air. The compressor itself can generate heat and it heats the air as it blows it out. The heated air then condenses IN the tube, AFTER it passes the water trap. Its tricky, so one piece of advise it to use the airbrush sparringly, in short working times... and DON'T use it in an airconditioned room, other than the fact you don't have ventilation. The airtank itself can help reduce the condensation by collecting the heated air and trapping it and cooling it at the same time.

[Shinohai]

i'd avoid testors if at all possible. iwata is a great brand and not to expensive.

[marcus]

Thanks all :P

 

@ Thunder_god: thanks for the advise and link.

 

@ madscuzzy: Really appreciate the advice, that's extremely helpful :wacko:

[Brother apocalyptic]

hmm, what do you use airbrushes for, and where can you use them?

[Lotus Arenco]

@Brother apocalyptic: Airbrushes have little use for actual miniature painting, other than applying a decent base coat. Remember airbrushes apply a very thin coat of paint which will not clog details. I am painting yellow marines, and after undercoating in white, I can get a perfect yellow in one pass of the airbrush rather than multiple, grainy coats with a normal brush.

Airbrushes can however be pretty good for marines, as the large, flat areas of armour lend themselves to highlighting quite well.

It