elvinKee

i decided to buy a tamiya airbrush compressor and airgun,which is the best for a beginner??izzit easy to get good work on the model when i use the airbrush??it need to clean it up after every color?
how to clean it?just wash the cup??thk y'all

Martbee

Huuum, never worked with Tamiya airbrushes but they seem to be like the Iwata or something like very close of it ! Well, the double-action it is.

I know the Tamiya quality so I don't have any doubt about those instruments. For the cleaning, it'll be like every airbrush... long and painfull if you used lacquer or enamel but easy if you used acrylics and you don't let it dry.

For lacquer and enamel, after you airbrush your model, take an airbrush cleaner (like a lacquer thinner) and fill the cup, shoot the cleaner through several time... then shoot again. When the liquid at the end seem to be transparent and no color pigment is left, take water then redo the same... it's for the cleaner to get out, because the cleaner tend to eat the Oring. Then, you take apart the airbrush to clean up and dry every part of it... needle, nozzle, trigger.... when it's done, put everything back before you forget how to do it.

For acrylics, after you shoot your model, put water in the cup and shoot for a long time... play with the trigger while you do this so you complete the processus of learning how the airbrush work at the same time. When the liquid is back to transparent, you can take it apart to clean everything or if you feel confident enough, leave it that way. I'm not taking apart everytime I shoot with acrylics... especialely when it didn't have the time to dry.

If acrylics have the time to dry, you have to follow the same processus than lacquer... painful... and you loose the advantage of acrylic.

Mart

ae86_takumi

I used to build military kits. Many of them need masking and camouflage which is the reason I bought an airbrush.

I truely think you can do without an airbrush for car kits. I found out that Tamiya or Gunze spray cans work so well on glossy body painting. It's easier for me to use cans on auto body. Cans are not necessarilly more expensive than acrylic jars since one spray can will produce 2 or more cars.

I do still use airbrush when the color is not available on spray can or when I'm painting smaller parts with masking.

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larrygre

A good book or two about airbrushing is a good investment. May I recommend "How to Use an Airbrush" by our own Bob Downie aka ZoomZoomMX5. Bob's very knowledgable on the subject and his book covers it very well. And, its good for beginners too.

Best regards,

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Larry A. Greenberg
Feature writer and columnist. MODEL CARS Magazine
Editor and webmaster, MODELGATE.COM for the SCALE MODEL ENTHUSIAST