I have a Paasche airbrush butnits quite old. Was looking to buy a new compressor and air brush. What do yall recommend, i usually paint with Vallejo paints but am starting to dabble with Mig paints now. Is there a certain brush and brand that works better with acrylics?
Which Paasche do you have ? Age shouldn’t really be a big concern, my Badger 200 is about 45 years old and still my go to brush. Paasche makes good airbrushes, parts are inexpensive and usually available and their customer service is good. Same with Badger and I’m sure Iwata. I’d stay away from knock offs because there is no parts source. where you have a Paasche now a decent argument could be made for interchanging hoses if you got another Paasche.
As to acrylic paints, it’s really more about technique, thinning, retarders, flow aids etc. than the brush. I can say I prefer a .5 needle/nozzle than much smaller ones, though on fine detail have gone down to .25. The Paasche H with the 3 needle ( .77 I believe) works pretty well too. Course if armor modeling is what you like and painting camo you might have other ideas.
Compressor really is about cfm and a tank. I wouldn’t suggest a tankless compressor… If you ever entertain the idea of large needles and nozzles then surely don’t go tankless.
Are you leaning toward double or single action, gravity or siphon feed airbrushes ? What do you want it to do for you that your present brush won’t do ?
I was looking at a gravity feed I’m not sure what all the other actions mean. I had an issue with a needle brush it was $30 dollars and didn’t work i wonder if it was because of me not thinning the paint well it was i believe a life color brush brand. The problem with my compressor is it’s tankless and it’s i believe a life color. It was cheap and affordable So i grabbed it.
I’m not familiar with LifeColor. But I can tell you that thinning properly is important. Seeing it has a needle then also, how much you open up that needle would also be important. No paint flow: think thinner paint and more open needle.
Gravity feed has the color cup on top.
Siphon feed has the cup or jar hanging off the bottom.
Single action is you push the air plunger down and you get paint and you adjust the needle manually.
Double action you push it down for air then pull back for paint flow. The more you pull back the more paint.
It sounds like you would benefit from some airbrush starter videos. There are plenty on youtube and plenty of reviews on each brand and model.
I like the sound of a double action, do they do double action gravity feed. I currently have the suction feed Paasche brush and i wonder if I’m not thinning properly, sometimes it takes hot minute for the paint to come up.
Yes they make double action gravity feed airbrushes. A Badger 105 is a very popular one for modeling for instance, with the medium tip and needle. That’s just an example, there are others.
How does your Paasche spray plain old water ? Does it pick that up easy and atomize it well ? What air pressure are you spraying at ? Have you given it a complete cleaning lately ?
I usually give it a cleaning with every painting. I haven’t done a water test lately, also i use a mini compressor here’s the link for it https://mixwholesale.com/collections/airbrushing/products/dual-action-airbrush-kit-with-mini-compressor.
I don’t know,is there really a best airbrush or compressor ? I mean what works for you may not work for me,modeling skills make a diffrence,just like top of the line golf clubs may not help your golf game,expensive airbrushes don’t guarantee top notch results.cheap ones could be real crap.Google Don Wheelers airbrush site and see what fits your skills and budget.
Based on the photo and if you have that little plastic box compressor that delivers .4 cfm of air, I can tell you outright that won’t feed enough air to most any serious airbrush with a moderate size nozzle on it. The airbrush in the kit has a .3 needle so you need to thin the paint well. In this kit you have no means of controlling air pressure or flow. You really do need more compressor imo. Acrylics spray nice around 25-30 psi working pressure, that is to say that amount of pressure can be maintained continuously for as long as you hold the valve down without pulsing or air flow dropping off…
I agree; that’s the same thing that went through my mind when I saw this thread.
As far as Paasche brushes go, which model do you have? I use a Paasche VL, and it works pretty well for me. It’s siphon-fed, double-action. I have been thinking about changing to a gravity-fed brush, though, because the way the paint cup attaches makes it a little clumsy to hold the brush while painting. But otherwise, it’s a reliable, rugged brush.
Beyond that, I second what the others have said about the other things to consider-the type of paint you use, how it’s thinned, and pressure settings. You might just need to tweak those factors. Experiment and practice.
About Lifecolor-I use some of their paints, too; they’re water-based acrylics. I didn’t know they made a compressor or any airbrush accessories. Or is that a separate manufacturer altogether?
Yeah i wondered if the air flow was part of the issue, it’ll spray the model air paint pretty well but it’s still a fight at times.
I don’t think his compressor could deal with a VL, I don’t know much about his but it looks kind of like one of those diaphram pumps for a fish tank, assuming the link came up right that he indicated being to his kit. It’s like the light duty tatoo kits for $30.
He needs an actual air compressor imo.
How are you thinning the MA paints ( with what and how much) ? You’re going to need them fairly thin to run through the .3 needle. Think like milk or 2% milk to start with and see how that sprays. If it works, then try a little thicker. But generally thinner is better as long as you get coverage.
It can be a number of things.
Air compressor hose leak.
You’re not thinning your paint enough.
Your tip keep drying out.
Your airbrush needs a good thorough cleaning - meaning you need to take apart your airbrush completely and clean it.
What thinner are you using?
BTW… there’s no such thing as the “best airbrush and air compressor” Choose what you can afford. Everybody has their own opinion of airbrush and compressor of their liking.
The other modelers who’ve responded have given you some ideas.
I’m not a great modeler but, in my retirement, I took up the hobby again at age 68. I’ll be 76 on the 30th of this month. I was probably into building Aurora, Revell, Monogram kits when I was 12 to around 15. The thing that grabbed my interest at 15 and got me away from modeling was probably … yep, girls.
When I revisited this hobby nearly 8 years ago I bought some cheap Chinese A/B’s and a small “toy” compressor. The airbrushes were, for me, crap. The compressor noise and its seemingly constant charging were getting on my nerves. I then bought two Badger brushes (the 155 Anthem and the 105 Patriot) and relegated my cheap compressor to a spot under my work bench. I bought the Sparmax TC-620 compressor and have not looked back. I’ve since added an Iwata HP-C Plus A/B for finer work.
If you’re going to stay in this hobby and enjoy it, my advise is to buy the highest quality equipment you can afford one time and enjoy it for many, many years.
I concur. The traditional Paasche models (ie. the H and VL) seem to need a bit more air than comparable brushes from other brands.
In fact, the description of the compressor says:
Yes, it appears it really is that gutless.
Sometimes you can tune up the knock off brushes to work well with a little polishing of the needle, some bees wax or other soft wax on the head assembly threads to aid sealing air leaks and some lube. Some models need a little filing and rebending in the trigger area. But if the compressor won’t put out you just plain need more air. It doesn’t have to be a real expensive compressor though. Of course “expensive” or not is kind of dictated by ones budget.
Keep in mind that you can get a small (3 gal) workshop compressor for about the same or less than a dedicated airbrush compressor. It might be noisier, but it would be a bit more versatile as you can run other air tools off it.
compare the following:
https://www.harborfreight.com/16-HP-58-PSI-Oil-Free-Airbrush-Compressor-60329.html
and
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-gal-13-HP-100-PSI-Oil-Free-Pancake-Air-Compressor-61615.html
there’s not a lot of difference in price.
Thank you all for the suggestions. I didn’t even realize that i was using a suction air brush and that the compressor wasn’t suited for such. I’m usually thinning the Vallejo paints with there retarder. But i don’t have any dedicated mixing tools. I just eyeball it. Are there mid ratios for certain paints? Usually i squirt it in and shake it up to get it To be less chunky.
I think I know what is your problem. A retarder is NOT a thinner. It’s an additive for flow. You need to thin your paint with their thinner.