What would you suggest for a persons first airbrush? I don’t need something to fancy or extra precise. I just need something that will get the job done. For a reasonable price of course.
Many will recommend as a simple, inexpensive brush like the Badger 350 or the Pasche H. I hated mine (I’ve had both) but i’ve seen many people get good results. I tend to recommend the expensive route. I’ve owned a lot of airbrushes and my Iwata HP-CS is far above the others in all respects (ease of use, ease of cleaning and quality) It costs quite a bit more but if you ever plan to buy another brush down the road, it makes more sense to spend the money only once. I comes down to your budget and needs.
I just bought the tamiya spray-works compressor + air brush too, I need to find a 7.2 volt converter for it though :(.
I bought a perfect grade wing zero custom Gundam model to try it out on…
AFTER i put together a few models with the air brush 
this is my first air brush after about 10 years of off and on modelling.
Instead of starting a new topic and cluttering up the forum, i decided to just ask my questions in this thread. At least it’s more or less the same question as Trekkie’s.
Okay, i now have saved enough to buy myself an airbrush and compressor… And i wanted to know what kind of airbrush i should be buying – single action or double action, gravity feed or siphon feed, etc… What should i be looking for in an airbrush? I really don’t need the brand just yet because there are critiques of those in the sticky Airbrush FAQ. I’ve never owned one and this is going to be a big investment, so i don’t want to muck it up. I was also thinking about buying the Tamiya sprayworks set and then buying one of the high-grade airbrushes… am i making a mistake? comments? [:)]
Nornicle…motors (compressors), by nature, will take a wide variation of voltage. A 9-Volt power supply will work. Excess voltage is absorbed by a little more speed of the motor and a little more heat. Not enough heat to effect the compressor life since compressors live in heat…like a cat?
Trekkie & Shrikes - first of all you need to define in your own minds what you want your airbrush to do not only right now but in the concievable future. What’s the smallest scale you’re going to work in? Are you going to attempt tight camo patterns? If you work in small scale ie 1/72, or wish to attempt type camo patterns, then you will probably need a dual action airbrush. If you work in 1/35 or larger and don’t do too intricate a camo pattern, then a single action would be just fine.
I’ve used a Paasche H for many years now … and it’s still all I’ll ever need.
nornicle - Your first post !!! Welcome to the forums !!!
I agree with Shermanfreak.
If you can answer the questions he asked then it will be easier to suggest a certain airbrush for your needs.
Also, how much are you willing to spend as this will determine also the airbrush and compressor you get.
No offense to anyone who owns one, but the Tamiya Spray-Works is not something I would buy as it is nothing more than a single-action airbrush with little control. It also has airflow the entire time it’s running which I think is strange.
Mike
Mike V has an important point regarding the lack of control. I can’t even imagine not having a double action. The initial concept may be intimidating but once you use one, you can’t imagine going back. Even if I’m only going to spray a square centimeter, I’ll still break out my HP-CS. I find it’s easier to clean than the Pasche H and Badger 350 (and every other brush I’ve owned.)
I am new in modeling and just got my first airbrush, a Paasche VL. It was relatively inexpensive on eBay ( I think about $65 to $75.) One of the things I like about it is that, although it is a double-action model it can be set to operate in a single-action mode. So far it has worked well for me, doing single-color armor. The hard part is getting the dilution right for the various paints.
I am running it off of a small Campbell-Hausfield air compressor. This isn’t a big one with a tank, but one of the smaller units that is used to air up tires and toys, etc. It seems to work fine so far, despite what others have said. Again, I haven’t done anything complex yet. It does have the capability to vary the air pressure, although it is difficult to regulate well. It is also really, really, loud. It is less expensive than a true airbrush compressor and the multiple uses makes it easier to justify.
jcheyney, I hate to bring this up but dixieart has brand new Pasche VL with free shipping for $59. Gotta watch out on ebay!
[#ditto]
Ebay has some good bargains then…well they make you pay for something that with a lil shopping and reading around you could find cheaper elsewhere.
I am by no means an Airbrush expert, but let me add my [2c]…
I have 2 Airbrushes, and since this past saturday 2 compressors.
I have a Paasche VL
and an Omni 4000G.
The Paasche VL is good, not great but not bad either. It’s down fall is the seemingly pain in the rear cleaning it requires. Its not hard, but just takes some work on how to do it thoroughly and quickly. Changing colors isn’t exactly easyily done either and the airbrush requires some cleaning before moving on to another color. I’ve found if you skip the cleanup in between your old color and your new you WILL wind up with a nice blend of the 2 on your model at some point. Theres lots of places for that paint to hide on the inside of the VL.
The Omni well I used it once last week mainly to do some testing with so I wont post any comments about it just yet. All I can say so far is cleanup is a lot easier and so is color changing than with the VL
Oh, and another thing… what do you mean when you say internal and external mix? is this even an airbrush term (i think i’ve heard it around…)?
on a internal mix airbrush the paint is introduced into the airflow inside the airbrush and come out as a single stream. External mix is the opposite where the air nozzle blows air over the point where the paint is released, outside of the body of the airbrush.
So it is a real term… phew! So what are the advantages of one over the other? does one spray a bit more evenly than the other, or maybe one is harder to clean than the other?
many claim that external mix brushes are easier to clean but I’ve had badger 350 and Pasche H and my Iwata HP-CS is far easier to clean. I’ll leave the quality opinion to someone else as I hated my H and 350 so I’m too biased. My Iwata is near perfect.
I don’t know much about the best airbrush to get but if you are looking for a place to get a certain airbrush really cheap I suggest:
The website is really badly made and there are no pictures or info on the products but if you know what airbrush you want you can usually get it alot cheaper then normal. I got my Paasche H there for 41 dollars and it usaully costs around 60. By the way may Paasche H works great for my modelling needs and its easy to clean.
I suggest Coast Airbrush, Dixie Art, and BearAir all as great places to buy.
If you want a place that helps you out better than anyone else then go with Coast Airbrush. http://coastairbrush.com/
Dave and his staff have forgotten more about airbrushes than most of us will ever know. [;)]
Their prices are competitive on most airbrushes and accessories too.
Mike
$65 to $75 seems pretty pricey, [:(] but it’s a good brush. Only $60 complete from dixie art and $45 for the card set shipping included.
I still use a “small” 1/2HP! Campbell - Hausfield compressor, but I have an air tank with a water trap and regulator. Works real well in terms of air supply but it’s a pain to pump up. You can go to Wally’s and get a tank real cheap, then you will have very good control on the air, no more pulses and no noise while brushing.
I checked some local stores for airbrushes, and i found a badger 150 for a little over $120. I’m paying too much, right? is the 150 any good?
Hard to say how much you should pay since you are in the Philippines. It’s definitely a lot more than what you would pay in the States. Maybe you can look for an Iwata Eclipse and compare prices. The Badger 150 is a good brush, but I think the Badger Anthem would be better for model builders. One tip does all the different spray patterns instead of having to change tips and needles for the Badger 150.
I just got 2 new airbrushes within the last two weeks, a Badger 360 and an Iwata Eclipse SBS. In fact the Iwata arrive in the mail about 10 hours ago. Haven’t used it yet, but these two brushes seem to have very similar designs, except for the feed which is unique on the Badger. The Eclipse feels a lot heavier. So far I really like the 360. I’ll do some comparison when I test the Eclipse out. The Badger 360 seems to be a little less complicated to disassemble.
I also have a loaner Paasche VL in the box. I’ll do some comparison when I get the time to try them out.