I personally find it much easier to use and much easier to clean gravity-feed AB’s (I have an Iwata HP-CS & HP-B+) than siphon-fed AB (I have an Iwata SAR). As I become better at airbrushing, I really dislike dealing with paint bottles.
The only reason why I might keep using my SAR is its ability to hold a large volume of paint. However, since I build only 1/35 armor and 1/48 aircraft, I’m not sure if I ever need more than 1/3 oz (9 ml) of paint for a single session (The HP-CS has a 1/3 oz cup). What do you think?
I switched from siphon to gravity feed a number of years ago and don’t remember the last time I used my Paasche Model H or Binks ‘Wren’ or Badger 200.I’ve kept all three of the above for sentimental reasons but sold other siphon feed I had acquired over the years. I, too, find cleaning bottles a hassle. And, I often use the smallest cup (1/2 ml?) on my Evolution. I don’t find the 1/3oz cup a problem at all for even larger areas…
I have a Badger 360 that’s seldom used anymore but it isn’t eating anything and I already have a drawer full of bottles and caps. It comes in handy at times like, painting a car body or priming. I keep a tub of Castrol SuperClean under the sink and when I use the 360 I just drop the bottles and caps in that tub, let them soak a day or two and then rinse. True, a little more work than cleaning a cup but no big deal. Tony
Yes, I find the small gravity feed cups plenty big for most work… I never use the siphon feed jars anymore. If I need that much paint, I’ll use a spay can.
I hate cleaning the bottles, but I still use a siphon feed brush. Biggest reason is that if I mix paint, and need to use that color later, I need to put it in a bottle anyway, in order to be sure the color matches (not confident of abililty to mix the same exact color on seperate occasions. The other reason is I find myself turning the brush on its side periodically. With a siphon feed brush the paint only dribbles out very slowly and I can see that happening, and straighten brush out long before all the paint has spilled out
My next build will be a 1/35 Tamiya Elefant, which is big. If I manage to apply a base coat using less than 1/3 oz of paint, it means that I won’t need my siphon-fed AB.
One thing that can cut down on the amount of paint needed is to use a good primer that is close to color of paint you will use. Even just matching gray value helps a lot.
ever since he posted this last week or so, I have adjusted my target for using my airbrush,I thought I had the volume and pressures down low, but, not like this
I’ve always said, using denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner, you can thin Tamiya acrylics way down and still get good coverage because the paint (typically the flats) has a fairly heavy pigment load. The video more or less proves it. One drop of paint plus 3-4 drops of thinner will typically cover about 3-4 square inches, depending on your technique.
I am working on a 1:350 scale heavy cruiser and it looks like it will need another jar of the dominant color, but this is unusual. Usually a bottle does a model easily.
