Hi my name is Chris and getting back into modelling for the first time in 45yrs.Just retired and decided to get back into it.
I was wondering about peoples thoughts on the Battery operated Airbrush systems?
Thank you for any advice .
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Welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the forum. I think a couple folks here may have some input for you.
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Hey mate, welcome back to the hobby!
On the face of it, they look like a very cheap and convenient approach to airbrushing and heavily marketed on social media. There are a few major drawbacks however:
- Generally quite bulky unless you have a hose to provide a flexible separation between the airbrush and compressor parts
- Generally comes with a poor quality airbrush, which will likely be adequate for basecoating and working over a mask, but likely too inconsistent in its performance for freehand or detailed work
- Compact construction omits an air tank, meaning your airflow and air pressure will be directly proportional to the operation of the pump and unlikely to be consistent
- If youāre spraying, thereās going to be constant mechanical/pump noise rather than the subtle pssss of an airbrush running off tank pressure
The air compressor is generally the biggest financial barrier to entry when it comes to airbrushing. A cheap airbrush will do better off a good compressor than a higher-quality airbrush off a tankless or unregulated compressor. Some folks have mitigated the compressor barrier by sourcing large CO2 cylinders, which seem cost effective but require refilling once desired pressure cannot be maintained.
After I returned to the hobby and finished a couple of brush-painted tanks, I bought a compressor / airbrush set that had everything I needed (including airbrush discharge pot). The airbrush it came with was a cheap no-name brand which Iād persevered with for basecoating, varnishing and masked work quite satisfactorily but have recently upgraded to something better suited to detail and freehand work.
So thereās nothing wrong with dipping a toe in with the cheaper options, but itās important not to find yourself frustrated and ultimately put off from the hobby entirely due to their limitations.
Best of luck getting set up again!
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Ahoy Chris and welcome to the forum. Youāll find this forum is never short of opinionsā¦and thatās a good thing. Most of the battery powered airbrushes Iāve seen are āgimmicksā. Theyāre not serious airbrushes. I recommend that you get a real airbrush, one that uses air from a compressor that has a tank or better yet, air from a Co2 bottle. Your airbrush doesnāt have to be expensive. But get one that has support, one that you can get needles, nozzles and valves for when they wear out or get busted. This forum has many good, inexpensive compressor recommendations. An airbrush/compressor combination will last a long time and is a good investment if youāre serious about modeling.
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Hi Chris, welcome to the forum.
I bought one of these from Amazon for about 30ā¬. To be honest, not really made to suit our hobby - I think for painting finger nails or such.
Like pr154 said, forget about the airbrush! I connected a short hose for better handling.
Also, forget about the idea to paint a whole model - I use it only for small jobs. The advantage for me is because its very quiet, but it gets hot very quickly. Perfect for airbrushing a cockpit at night when the family is already sleeping! Painting a 1/72 aircraft or tank might be OK, too. But a 1/48 aircraft or 1/35 armor - no way! This is what I can say ā¦
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From one Chris to another, welcome to the forums! I find FSM to be sort of a āhome away from homeā online place. As others have said, youāll find many points of view on what constitutes the ābestā or most useful airbrush setup.
I, too, have just sort of started getting back into the hobby and have been doing my due diligence on all the changes that have occurred since Iāve been away. One thing for sure is that my overall level of ignorance of airbrushes has caused me to do a LOT of searching. Iām one of those types that has to research as much as possible before making any real decisions on anything Iām intending to purchase ā like an airbrush/compressor setup.
While I now have a ādecentā setup that I snagged for $65 US, it is not my āfinalā destination for an airbrush or compressor. That said, my opinion is that you shouldnāt take my opinion on ANYTHING beyond this: https://www.youtube.com/@barbatosrex9473
That is Barbatos Rex on You Tube. I did a LOT of searching and checking as my interests in the hobby are pretty diverse. THIS guy has been painting with his dad since he was a kid. He learned by helping his dad paint cars in a booth with spray guns and has also been building models and painting them for many years.
Of ALL the people Iāve seen using an airbrush and attempting to communicate their use, the best practices, testing of new units, etc. heās IT. Use that link to check out his YT Channel and search for battery powered airbrushes. Iāve seen him test at least three of these things.
I think you will find him informative, knowledgeable and straight shooting when it comes to his views of such things as he tests them out and provides clear and objective testing right before your eyes.
Of course, plenty of folk here also know their stuff, make no mistake, but if you want someone to talk airbrushes, itās hard to get better than a guy that maker of airbrushes Ghalleri named an airbrush for after asking him to critique and test some of their new models.
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Welcome to the forum! Chalk me up as another, āIām sure youāll find an answer hereā guy. Iāve never used that type of airbrush/compressor combination, but I have to say that my preference would be to look elsewhere rather than risk something unable to meet your needs! As a kid, my airbrush experience was 100% with canned air, which is all I could afford at a time for quite a while, and it was a very underwhelming experience and I often ran out in the middle of a job. In retrospect, I should have scrimped and saved for months or even a year and just bought a compressor, but they were PRICEY back then!
Also, as dunniteowl has mentioned, the Barbatos Rex channel on YouTube has a lot of information that could be helpful.
I tend to agree, except MAN I cringe watching him use an airbrush - his trigger technique just ā¦ ack! I push and hold the trigger down and then move it back and forth for paint application, he does a bunch of quick bursts that if I tried, I think Iād cover everything except the model with paint! But Iām old and slow and didnāt learn with my dad decades agoā¦
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Hello and welcome!
The new kid on the block as far as battery power supplied compressed air is Gaahleri. They are running a preorder on something called the Turbox Pro. It is just a compressor, not an all in one. On paper is looks pretty good as it uses a variable speed motor to fill a small tank and itās going to be available in both corded and cordless and alone or with an airbrush and primary paint set. In any form, itās way more expensive than the usual cheap self contained battery air brushes but itās probably closer to what youād end up with after learning that the tiny compressors just arenāt capable of keeping up with priming and top coats. It runs from $150 to $238 with the preorder discount. Unfortunately, it wonāt ship till February 2027.
Is it any good? I donāt know. I have seen a review or two and it looked good enough that I ordered the cheapest version to replace my 35 year old Badger tankless compressor. Keep in mind I do have a mild case of Gaahleri fanboyism. I fell down the Gaahleri rabbit hole last Christmas and so far have not been disappointed but this will be only my second motorized product from them. I do have the vortex mixer and like it. And Barbatos Rex just posted a review on it which makes me feel a bit better about my purchase. Phew.
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I use a NO-NAME brand (literally) compressor I got from Spraygunner. Nice and quiet, large tank, doesnāt move around when running, has a pressure regulator, etc. Currently itās selling for $140, if thatās an option.
Iāve been airbrushing for 45+ years and have used a 10lb CO2 tank for the last 25 years. I have to swap empty tanks at a welding supply shop about once a year. Last time was $35.
There is a huge difference between spending $20 and $200 on an airbrush set up.
The all in one battery powered airbrushes where the airbrush is attached to the top of big cylinder isnāt very good overall. The airbrush is crudely constructed and the compressors tend to be weak. Itās also heavy to use with any precision. This can all lead to a very frustrating experience, not much better than a spraycan running out of propellant with a half clogged nozzle.
Ideally you would want a compressor capable of sustaining 25-30psi. It really doesnāt matter what airbrush you have if you donāt have a good air supply. For an airbrush, you should look for a quality 0.3mm gravity feed model. 0.3mm is a good general purpose airbrush for modeling. Any airbrush you get should have spare parts available. You will likely need something, lose a spring, crack a nozzle or bend a needle, but these can usually be straightened.
I recommend an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS as the high end brush to aim for. This would be the ideal workhorse airbrush for most, but it retails for around $175 which is more than many want to spend on a first airbrush. Iād definitely aim closer to $100 than $25.
A solid budget choice is the new Spraygunner No-Name Trinity. No-Name is Spraygunnerās in house brand for their curated ābest ofā Chinese products. I bought the Spraymagic R7 Ascend from Amazon before Spraygunner was selling it as the Trinity. It surprised me how good this brush actually is compared to the cheap Chinese brushes Iāve tried in the past. The machine work and finish is one of the best Iāve seen. A couple features I really like is the spring tension on the needle can be adjusted and the entire head assembly can be pulled as unit to clean out the inside of the nozzle.
A good starter compressor is any of the compressors with a tank you find on Amazon. At this price point they are all the same generic Chinese made compressor. A tank damps out pulsing in the airflow at the airbrush caused by the compressor pumping and lets the compressor idle periodically during a painting session keeping it cooler. A step up would be looking for a siilent compressor, but I have no experience there since I switched to CO2 for the silence.
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I too went the CO2 route ages ago. Silent and dry.
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