A couple of my neighborhood hobby store owners claim that this is the best all round double action airbrush. Their claim is supported by the Paasche website which says that this is the best selling of their products.
Personally I tend to be attracted to popular and best selling things-rather than items with the highest price tag.
Anybody agrees or disagrees that this toy is worth having?
I’ve never used one, but I’ve heard good thing. I got my Iwata Revolution for a hair cheaper than I could have gotten the Pasche VL locally, and my Iwata is gravity feed, very very easy to clean, and laquer safe. More than anything, I think it would be a judgment call, based on personal preference.
If I’d add anything at all I’d say to go with gravity feed as it will allow you to work with less pressure and have more control. You’ll be able to make smaller spots and thinner lines with less overspray than you would with a siphon feed. You can always dial it up some if you need to as well.
madda, I just looked at a picture of the gravity feed Revolution and am wondering how long that tiny reservoir lasts? Do you have to refill a lot?
Monster Zero
Will this be your first airbrush or are you replacing one?
I am by no means an expert on Airbrushes, but I will venture to say this…The VL was my first airbrush. It has served me well, and still serves me to this day,(11yrs and all Ive replaced is one needle the #3) though it took a 4yr slumber. I am off to bigger and better things with my Thayer&Chandler(Badger) Omni 4000G.
Every airbrush I have found or read about has both its advantages and dis-advantages! Some people who love them and hate them. In the end you have to make the decision that best suits your needs and budget.
The LHS guys are big on the Paasches VL’s especially here in the states as that is what most of them carry. It is very well rounded and good for many things. It requires needle/nozzle changes though for different types of work. It also can be a bear to clean and requires some involved cleaning even when switching colors. There is no shortcut with this AB when switching colors. You either clean it thoroughly or you run a good risk of having two tone paint where you dont want it. LOL
In the end you really cant go wrong with the VL though there are “better” brushes out there. I hope this is of some help.
Chris
Best bang for your buck? My opinion, it’s the Paasche VL-Set. I’ve got one, and it works great. With the cups, bottles, hose etc. that this brush comes with, you’re probably not going to find a better deal as far as price/performance goes.
I hear great things about the Iwata Revolutions, which are similarly priced, but do not come with many (any?) accessories or a hose, and the prices for replacement parts are a litter higher. If you’re looking for a good brush this one will do you fine. There are better brushes, but I don’t know of one for the price that will give you more.
That is the most popular siphon-feed double-action airbrush of all time and they are good, but I prefer a slimmer designed airbrush.
The VL also has a trigger that I don’t like and since they put a pivot pin in the bottom of the trigger to operate the air valve it can be a pain to get back in if it falls out when you remove the needle, which it will, trust me. [;)]
They are a good all-around set because of the different bottles you get with the kit and so forth although I doubt you will rarely, if ever, use the 3 oz. jar that comes with it as well as the #5 tip and needle.
I would debate whether it is the best “all-around double action airbrush” whatever that means though. [:)]
Out of the siphon-feed airbrushes the most popular these days are the Badger Anthem, Omni 3000, and the Iwata Eclipse, but there are still many who like the Paasche VL and Badger Crescendo also.
I, like HistoryinScale mentioned prefer the gravity feed airbrushes and the Omni 4000 has a 1/3 oz cup which holds plenty of paint for most anything you would want to paint.
What is that LHS charging for that VL set? It sells for $59 most places on the web.
Mike
I too have the Paasche VL set. Is it a good buy for the money, absolutely. Are there better airbrushs, sure. Previous statements above pretty much sum it up. It’s not without it’s problems, but hey, which one isn’t. It does the job for me.
Not once have I ever run out. I painted two light coats over my 1/48 F-18 with it and still had paint to spare. I guess if I was doing some heavy painting it’s possible, but not too likely I don’t think.
Maddafinger,
That Revolution has a 1/3 oz cup like the Omni 4000 and I agree, the paint lasts a long time. I was cleaning mine tonight and I kicked the air pressure up to 40 psi while spraying a color cup full of water through it and it took probably 90 seconds to empty that color cup at that pressure with the trigger all the way back. That is the reason I bought the 4000 Omni over the 5000 so that I would have enough paint to do even the largest models without having to stop and refill like I had to do with my Vega 1000 which has the same 1/8 oz size color cup as the Omni 5000 and the Iwata HP-BS Eclipse.
Mike
I also have one , I have no basis for comparison since it is the only one I have owned but I have had no problems with it , In fact have found it to be very good.
Second. I already own a well equipped Aztek fed by a compressor The Aztek is very good most of the time but its replacement nozzles last no longer than a single model. Because all of the nozzle parts are plastic (except the needle which is plastic coated steel) they become sticky from paint even with persistent and powerful cleaning and eventually the needle stops travelling back and forth as it should. Any attempt to losen up the needle only result in additional abrassive plastic scratches inside the nozzle assembly that will further hinder the free travel.
I heard the manufacturing of this line of airbrushes is ending and there already are shortages of nozzles, pretty soon it may be impossible to get them. People told me they used the VL for 10+ years without any parts replaced and that’s impressive.
OK, then tell me what you think about the Badger universal (top and bottom feed) model 360? Twice the price but all the features are right, it seems.
Twice the price? It’s only $28 more than the VL set at Dixie Art.
The Badger 360 is a good airbrush and its basically just an Anthem 155 with the ablility to spray either gravity-feed or siphon-feed. Omni also makes one called the Matrix that is about the same thing.
If you need an airbrush to be both a gravity-feed and siphon-feed then this is a good choice. The color cup is small though at only 1/8 oz. so you won’t have a lot of paint to work with in gravity-feed mode.
Tell us exactly what you want an airbrush to do for you and what things you would like it do in the future. That will tell us what airbrush you really need. [;)]
Mike
OK, got ya.
I need my airbrush to spray acrylics, enamels and laquers without being picky about its diet. The option of owning several airbrushes, each reserved for a different type of paint is not an option for me; they cost too much.
I spend most of my time spraying medium and large areas (usually 1/35 armor models) and for finer camouflage patterns I expect to use paper stencils and masks.
HOWEVER I’m considering learning to shadow and highlight the recesses that normally get highlighted with washes. For this application I will need a very fine line in addition to broad patterns.
Spatter patterns are too rare and specialized to interest me and my old Aztek has a special nozzle for this purpose so never mind the spatter ability.
I want my airbrush to clean reasonably easily and, most of all, thoroughly. When I look at the design of the Aztek I conclude that the way they made those nozles-it guarantees steady build up of old paint that will eventually render the nozzle useless and force you to buy a new one; maybe as early as you complete the very first model. There is nothing that can be done about this buildup.
MonsterZero,
For what you described I would go with either an Omni 4000 gravity-feed or if you feel you need more than 1/3 oz. of paint at a time then I would buy the Omni 3000 or the Badger Anthem siphon-feed models.
All three if these are going to spray almost exactly the same pattern of both thin and heavier patterns of spray. If you like the idea of the Badger 360 you mentioned earlier that would also be a good choice but I think I would just buy a gravity-feed or a siphon-feed and forget about those hybrid models.
Mike
Gotta put my two cents in. I hated my VL. I couldn’t get it to do anything well while my aztek did well after much practice. Now I move on to forcefully recommending the Iwata eclipse HP-CS. If you’ve used a double action there is almost no learning curve. I got near perfect results on my first spray. If price is a concern then the Iwata Revolution CR has the same Gravity feed cup design (breeze to clean, far easier than Badger’s cup designs) and larger nozzle which should handle anything you put through it. I recently bought a C&T Omni 4000 because MikeV speaks so highly of them and I wanted to try it so I’ll spend a week comparing it to my HP-CS then post my thoughts.
I am thinking of upgrading my paasche H to a gravity feed not sure what Ill get yet still deciding between iwata revolution cr and the c&t omni 4000.
Uh oh, now if you don’t like it as much as the Iwata I am going to be publicly humiliated. [(-D] [;)]
Does your Omni 4000 have a rough finish in the bottom of the color cup?
Mine did and although I was told it doesn’t matter, I went and put some fine scratch remover for cars on a rag and polished it up a bit in the bottom just to make the paint not stick as much. It may not have helped any but I do think it looks better. [;)]
By the way it is T&C for Thayer & Chandler not C&T. [:p]
They were the oldest manufacturer of airbrushes in the world, it’s too bad they went out of business. At least they are in good hands with Badger at the helm.
Mike
I should get my omni this week. Dixie art is a long way away. Stupidly, I didn’t check bear air. To be honest, I can’t imagine how anything could be better than my Iwata. I’ll end up giving the one I like the least to a friend.
If you don’t like the Omni 4000 I’ll take it off your hands. [:D]
Mike