buying an Airbrush

skelliser

im looking to buy a airbrush!
im new to airbrushing so i would appreciate any advice ppl have. Which make are good? what type should i get? etc

Also if someone has one there not using anymore i would be interested in buying it.

Cheers

The Doktor

how much do ya wanna spend?
Is it for detail (eg fine lines) or just large areas (eg car bodies)?

skelliser

not sure how much i wanna spend!
from some brief research on the net im guessing a decent setup, brush and compressor ~200/300 euro maybe
and it would need to do both, say cover 1/35 scale tanks to 1/700 ships cause i have a wide area of interest! and im quite keen on the detail aspect which brushes seem to ruin!

The Doktor

Ok.. well i will give ya some advice based on my exerience.
What I did:
I build, tanks, cars, bikes, planes, the odd ship. I bought an Aztek airbrush. Its a side feed with detatchable cups, different nozels etc. It was great. In fact I bought a second one when the first wore out (dropped it and stood on it)
then i decided to buy a Tamiya airbrush (hight grade, super fine)
using the tamiya airbrush is brilliant. Its more comfortable to use, it does fine line brilliantly, and ya can even do nice shiny finishes on car bodies.
I have gotten to the point where i use this exclusivley.

What I would do now:
If i was starting again, and knew what i know now I would buy an Iwata airbrush. I am going to buy one of their custom micron ones, at about £250!!
But this will be kept for special jobs!
I will also buy a cheaper Iwata brush. which is what i would advise you to start off with.
http://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_9_46&products_id=1430&osCsid=9d7da49e38b40fbb15e5b1b148cca9f8

The above airbrush has the same specs as the tamiya one I have, and is infact made by the same company.
From that point on you can always use that airbrush for your main work, and if you want a top quality finer one you can go for it. Or if you want one that will do large areas you can go for that. But as I say from my experience that airbrush will do pretty much everything you need.
The only reason i wouldnt buy the tamiya one, is that spare parts are impossible to get. But as i say.. they are pretty much the same brush.


Now.. compressors....
You can buy an "airbrush compresor".. and bend over and let them ride ya while you are at it....
I use one I bought in mcquillans about 8 years ago..I bought a water trap with adjustable pressure guage, and it is perfect for the job!
Sometimes Aldi/lidl have them.. and I dont see anything wrong with them.

Somthing like this is what i have
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/bandit-air-compressor/path/diy-semi-professional-air-compressors-2

You can spend more if you want a quieter one, but thats up to yourself...
Hope I answered some questions

Ciaran_Dub

Listen to the Dok he knows what he is talking about and just look at some of his finishes!!

I would agree with the Iwata recommendation (not that I have used one) but you dont need to drive a Ferrari to know how good they are. Can I also add Badgeras a recommendation, this is the one I have http://www.dixieart.com/Badger_Crescendo_Model_175.html
and the place I ordered from. It is the set I got and I am very pleased with it. I dont use it to do large areas though, I use spray cans for that.

I have it into a compressor I got in marks models, (along thelinesof this one except more psi http://www.candylandcrafts.com/kromajetsystem.htm)does the job but wouldnt highly recommend the regulator though as it is something I do miss.

Not really sure what else to add but dont buy a cheap one. I did and regretit to this day should have just splashed out. If you are doing more military/naval model building I would recommend going for a Dual Action, you will be thankful for it.

Oh and Dok, lovely turn of phrase

The Doktor wrote: »

.. and bend over and let them ride ya while you are at it....

The Doktor

oh yeah! i forgot... as ciaran says.. get a double action one!

skelliser

cheers for the advice lads

i think i might go with the badger one, iv read good reviews of them on other sites etc
iv never used one before and never mixed paints/thinned so is that fiarly straight forward?

Ciaran_Dub

skelliser wrote: »

cheers for the advice lads

i think i might go with the badger one, iv read good reviews of them on other sites etc
iv never used one before and never mixed paints/thinned so is that fiarly straight forward?

If I had a choice I would go for the Iwata but if you are on a budget like I was the Badger is perfect. Nice weight in it too (I should know I dropped it on my big toe and nearly broke my toe!).

Thinning of paints is pure practise plus it depends on type of paint, effect you are looking for, pressure being used and lots of other factors. So yeah practise a lot and experiment (But not on your model!!!)

One huge bit of adive which neither of us has mentioned, please learn from my mistake. Look after the airbrush clean it after every use, I didnt and screwed it up ended up having to order a new one. Was sick with myself! I did order some airbrush oil which i put a small bit on the needle before putting it in the airbrush, plus I dont leave the needle in the airbrush. Mine got stuck after not cleaning it out and i screwed it all up trying to remove it!!!! Parts where expensive to get hold off unfortunately but if you look after it you wont need parts

The Doktor

If I was you and could afford it.. go for the Iwata..
I read Tamiya Model magazine international and their 2 sister magazines. It seems to me all the guys in it reckon the Iwatas are the buisness. Lots seem to be getting their hands on em and throwin the badgers etc aside...

anyway.. cleaning..
I got a little yoke for spraying the cleaning solution (water, thinner etc) into. Means ye dont get heaps of fumes.
http://www.netmerchants.co.uk/product.php/5039/0/airbrushcleaningstation

Now i didnt pay 22 sterling for it! i got it for a tenner.. but cant remember where. I think its great!

after finishin me latest model I have just spent the evening cleaning my airbrush. If ya dont.. well.. I have been where ciaran was too:rolleyes:

FiSe

Iwata is the best you can get, have 4 of them , different nozzels, different cups, different types for different jobs... This is for money making, for my hobby I have 2 Badgers, fine and medium nozzles /building 1/35 German WWII self-propeled guns and 1/48 IAC relics, so need to be pretty versatile/

I would disagree with Doctor in only one thing:
- if you are starting, single action gravity feed 'brush is perfect for you.
- once you feel, that learning process is gone /year or so/ get double action, but keep your single action brush handy.

Have bought Badger 200/compressor combo in Mark's Models few years ago for cca 200 yoyos, nothing too sophisticated, but perfect for starting-up.
I made some compressor modifications, added moisture trap and pressure regulator and changed few bits I can't remeber as I passed this machine to one of my younger modelling friends.

Anyway go to www.airbrushes.com, as Doc said and browse through their offers. I am using them very often and they are 1st class company.
Another interesting webpage is www.aerart.co.uk They have nice range of Grex airbrushes and aircompressors, which supposed to be very good even for proffesional artists.

uffff

Ciaran_Dub

Lads to be honest that website http://www.airbrushes.com dont really have great prices. For example the Crescendo 175 set that I bought from http://www.dixieart.com for approx €130 delivered iand including import duties (you may get lucky and get away with it as I did the first time) is £124 sterling excluding delivery! That is a shocking difference. Yes I know its a longer waiting time from the US but not much of a difference.

FiSe to be fair the Dok was agreeing with a statement I made and to be honest I still stand by it for 2 reasons.

(A) Learning to use a double action in my opinion is like learning to use an airbrush for the first time again even if you first used a single action. I know this because my first airbrush a very cheap one on Marks which was a copy of a Badger was a single action, I then got the double action and felt I was starting from scratch again.

(B) The second point is I suppose a continuation from the first. The original poster has stated that part of his interests were 1/35 scale tanks and 1/700 ships. Again in my opinion for camoflage (sp?) patterns having a double action makes for a much better finish. And like I said learning to use a single action airbrush for that type of thing then having to learn with a double action doesnt make sense to me.

Now I dont disagree having a single action as a second airbrush is not a bad idea, especially for someone like myself who generally makes cars so I am looking for a glass smooth finish a single action would have been much better for me but I decided to go straight for the double.

mcgarnicle

Looking to pick up an airbrush myself. It seems Iwata is the way to go but there are so many different types... my budget would be about 350 for brush and comp and it will be used for tanks and planes... any recomendations?

The Doktor

http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/Airbrush_Kits.html

see.... AB-AS-18 Airbrushing Kit With Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH Airbrush

or for 30 quid extra for a comprssor with 3l tank....AB-AS-186 Airbrushing Kit With Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH Airbrush

billyblanks

Hi All,
Have not posted on this forum in a long time but do read it most days.
I run a website based in wicklow, we were a shop but since have gone web based.

We stock a range of airbrushes from €16 to €250 (including dual action!!) and also stock a lot of accessories, compressors and paints to go with them. we are a new site so I'm only getting around to putting up the paints and accessories this week.

I'm not going to post the site address as I;m sure it;s against the rules? but If I get permission from a mod I can pm the web address to anybody interested.

I would never usually try post a link to our site on this one but I am into airbrushing myself and have always found it hard to find airbrush products in Ireland.

Cheers.

BB

mcgarnicle

Got a good deal on one of these guys...http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/airbrush/micron/cmc_info.jsp

Anyone any advice about getting started... I've never used an airbrush before, I know that's a tough one to start with but I thought it would be better to buy a good one now than end up buying two.

Tayto2000

The Doktor wrote: »

http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/Airbrush_Kits.html

see.... AB-AS-18 Airbrushing Kit With Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH Airbrush

or for 30 quid extra for a comprssor with 3l tank....AB-AS-186 Airbrushing Kit With Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH Airbrush

I got an excellent dual action AB-132A of this guy a few months ago, he does ebay auctions on a regular basis so I got mine for only £19. It's basically an Iwata knock-off but seems to be high quality nonetheless, perfect for the beginner...

I'm running it with an inline moisture trap and filter off one of the Aldi compressors they were selling a while back... noisy, but cheap. Whole setup cost about €150 altogether.

mcgarnicle

mcgarnicle wrote: »

Got a good deal on one of these guys...http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/airbrush/micron/cmc_info.jsp

Anyone any advice about getting started... I've never used an airbrush before, I know that's a tough one to start with but I thought it would be better to buy a good one now than end up buying two.

Anyone got any recomendations for any books/websites explaining how to get going?

The Doktor

mcgarnicle wrote: »

Anyone got any recomendations for any books/websites explaining how to get going?

What kind of paint do you use? (brand/type)
What kind of models are you painting?

mcgarnicle

The Doktor wrote: »

What kind of paint do you use? (brand/type)
What kind of models are you painting?

I use acrylic... I don't have a particular favourite type of paint so any suggestions on the optimal type would be great.

Models are mainly tanks and some (whisper) Warhammer miniatures (whisper)

The Doktor

mcgarnicle wrote: »

I use acrylic... I don't have a particular favourite type of paint so any suggestions on the optimal type would be great.

Models are mainly tanks and some (whisper) Warhammer miniatures (whisper)

Right, Paint..... personally I use mainly Tamiya Acrylics. Though others use the likes of vallejo model colour/model air. But really the same thing for what ever paint you use.
With everything set up, set the pressure of the compressor around 25psi. This is not critical, and you may change this to suit your needs.
Mix some black paint, maybe 50/50 paint and thinner. This can be a personal prefrence thing somtimes, but 50/50 is a place to start. (i usually use around 70% thinner on things like tanks)

Now, remember how the airbrush works. You press the trigger and the air comes out. You pull it back and paint comes out, the more you pull it back the more paint comes out.
There is also a screw on the back which limits the amount you can pull the trigger back, thus limiting the paint. Leave this all the way back (for now)


Now, take some paper, and start airbrushing. ...
press down on the trigger then slowly pull it back. You will see paint come out it should be a nice fine spray, not "lumpy". If its lumpy, either thin the paint or turn the pressure up. You shouldnt have to go past 40 psi.
Now happy that your paint is thin enough.....
limit the trigger to about half so it doesnt get too messy, and start to paint lines, circles xs etc on the page. Just practise this for a while....
Next... Draw lines, circles etc on the page with a pencil, and follow these with the airbrush....
Next, Draw a line on the page and follow it making it light to heavy by using the pulling back action.

Now, while doing these things experiment with what happens moving the brush closer and further from the page. What happens when you move it slowly along, or faster. GET THE FEEL OF THE AIRBRUSH!!!!

Once you think you got it, try a tank.....

Personally, I bought heaps of books about airbrushing, and learnt nothing.
Nothing will beat putting paint in it and trying it out. I think I drew lines on a page for 10 mins before I got bored and did a tank...

Lastly... MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN IT PROPERLY!!!!!
Either use airbrush cleaner, or thinner. Empty out the excess paint, give the pot a clean with some thinner/cleaner and an old paint brush. Then spray thinner/cleaner through the airbrush until it is clear.
You can take somthing like a plastic 2l milk carton. Stick some kitchen paper in it. Put a little hole in the lid, stick the nozzel through the hole, and spray your cleaner into it. (means its not stinking out the place, or going all over the place). Lastly, wipe the brush clean with kitchen paper.

Personally I dont think there is anything difficult in being able to use an airbrush (to a decent level). The best way of learning is to do it.
Also get yourself onto the IPMS forum, lots to learn over there!