Was at the NJIPMS show 2 weeks ago and GREX was there showing their airbrushes and compressors. I was particularly impressed with the model (Tritium) with a ‘pistol’ style trigger instead of the conventional top finger tigger.
Has anyone have experiences with them? How does the pistal style work as a double action brush, as there’s only one single motion - pulling back vs the tradtional trigger that allows me to control air (down) and paint (back) separately. I’m not sure how that works in a pistol grip, sures looks more comfortable though.
I’ve been using a Grex brush for about a year now and am very satified. Mine is the model with the small paint cup mounted on top- I think the XG model. It has the top mounted button trigger so I’m sorry I have no experience with the pistol grip design.
Bgrigg, that’s what I don’t get, how can you control the air when you have to keep pulling to get paint. With a ‘regular’ trigger, how far down you go controls the air and then you pull back to get paint. But since there’s only one continuous motion with the pistol grip, how can this same control be achieved? Should have asked the guy giving the demo, but there were too many people around and I was impatient.
Well, there really is no “control” for air, the air is either on or off, there is no little bit of air, a bit more, then all the air. Pulling the trigger back halfway starts the air flow, just like depressing a top mounted trigger does on the regular DA airbrush. The second half of the trigger travel controls the needle position, again just like a regular airbrush does.
What I don’t get is how do you pull back the needle to clean out the tip in case of the paint drying prematurely. In my 100LG I can leave the air off, and pull back the needle with the trigger. That doesn’t seem possible with the Tritium trigger.
You paint with enamels, right? You don’t suffer tip dry like us acrylic painters do. What happens is the acrylic paint will start to dry on the spray regulator and build up then clog. By pulling back the needle without using air, you can use a swab dipped in thinner or alcohol to clean out the tip. If you watch a T-Shirt artist work, they just reach in and use their finger tips, but they pump out a lot more paint than I do!
With the Grex trigger controlling the air, you can’t easily pull back the needle to do this.
Bill, I have seen that. It is SINGLE action on my book. (Yes, it is different from the traditional single action such as the Badger 200 where the trigger controls only the air flow.) I just don’t understand how Grex justify calling it “double action”. What better than getting an expert opinion from a Grex user, Gerald?
Double Action usually refers to airbrushes on which the trigger controls both air and paint (down for air, back for paint). It allows for varying line widths while spraying. (No, I did not master this skill if you ask me.)
No, a single action’s trigger only turns the air on or off, and you manually position the needle, which cannot be adjusted (at least not easily) while using the airbrush. Dual action use the same trigger for both air and needle position. Push down for air and pull back for paint. The Grex trigger is pull back part way for air and pull back more for some paint and even more for more paint.
It actually looks fairly comfortable, and intuitive.
Are you then saying with a double action brush, the air is ether on or off? That the airflow does not increase as you press the trigger down? I was just doing some airbrushing this morning, and it sure seems like the more I push the trigger in, the more air comes through. I count on this sometimes to feather my finsihes, or have I been fooling myself all alone on how this works?
You may have some control over air flow with your trigger, but it was not designed for that. It is actually a poppet valve like you have in the valve stem of your tires. Normal use is to press the trigger all the way down and control paint flow by forward and aft motion.
Well, I’ve never heard of an airbrush that has a modulating trigger for airflow. An airbrush needs a certain amount of air pressure in order to atomize the paint and modulating the air could potentially lead to all sorts of issues with paint flow that I find it difficult to comprehend a use for that ability.
I just fired mine up to see if I could feel a difference in air flow with my Badger 100LG, and it sure seems to me that it is either on or off. Now I’m using the unscientific measurement of pointing the nozzle at my finger and depressing the trigger. I cannot adjust the trigger to a point where I feel only a little air coming out. The trigger has a mere 1/16" of travel in which to adjust the air flow in, and that seems too fine of an adjustment to attempt such control. It takes a certain amount of finger pressure to overcome the spring assembly that holds the air flow off.
It would be analogous to compare an airbrush to a handgun, pulling the trigger harder doesn’t fire the bullet any faster.
The only air control I’ve seen on an airbrush are the MAC control valves as offered by Grex, Iwata and others. That allows minute amounts of air pressure change at the airbrush without going to the regulator. A dubious ability for modeling IMHO. Being able to adjust air flow in tiny increments may be of some value for airbrush illustrators who use inks and non-pigmented media, but I can’t see the need to adjust between 12 and say 12.25 psi for model paints.
We have many Badger users on this forum. I will use some direct quote from this page.
SINGLE ACTION refers to airbrushes on which the trigger controls only the air flow. The amount of fluid is regulated by turning the needle adjustment screw. When the trigger is depressed, a pre-set amount of fluid is sprayed.
This applies to the Badger 200 and said trigger controls “AIR FLOW ONLY” by design. It is 180 degree opposite to what Bill and Don said. I don’t have one so I will let the Badger 200 user to describe how their airbrush works.
From the same Badger page:
DUAL ACTION refers to airbrushes on which the trigger controls both air and color (down for air, back for color). This style airbrush allows for varying line widths while spraying.
This applies to the Badger 100 series. Modeler may work differently than a fine artist doing painting and do not need Badger’s intended purpose. But it still does not make a Badger trigger an “on-off” only switch.
I know these facts without haveing to look at the Badger page. I just push the trigger on my Iwata in and out and can feel the distinctive difference in air flow. No paint comes out until I pull back the trigger.
We all know that the “trigger” Grex is different. Can we let a user like Gerald to explain it instead of jumping to conclusion. This is the original question asked.
why would you always press it fully down? especially for doing fine line or camo patterns where you want low pressure so you can move in right up close to your part and have full control
most of the time i use my airbrush i barely even push the trigger part way down for low pressure or if im painting a car and want full spray pattern I’ll use full pressure.
i thought this was the beauty of a dual action airbrush…
