another airbrush newbie....

hey all... i know this gets asked a lot... but im gonna start looking for an airbrush kit... so i want to know what to look for. i've read up a little on the forum and what i have come up with is that i need a double action, internal mix airbrush...

does anyone have any real reasons for me to get a top/bottom/side feeder, or is it all opinion.

also, im looking to spend about $200 for the brush and a compressor(ebay), so what kits should i be looking at.

i know there will be recommendations for compressed nitrogen and propellant cans, but i would rather get a compressor, since it is always feeding and i dont think i will need the large compressed bulk nitrogen (plus i have nowhere to put it).

so any help would be appreciated, im only gonna be using this thing for model cars, so i dont need it to do more than that.

~Mike

I got a Testor One (not the cheapest) Dual Action... it's ok for the price (about 40$US)

I already got a Compressor for my bike tires so I just bougth a Big cann ("bombonne" in french) (like the one for propane on a BBK) and I give 120p in it.. it's ok for 2-4 model then I fill it again... That cost me praticly nothing and you don't have any noise when you work on your model. You can also fill it on a garage where there is a system to inflate your Tire.

But sure if you can live with noise and have the money, I would Sugest the Tamiya Airbrush/Compressor kit.. that cost about 150$US and it look very good....

Sorry for my english

how hard is it to learn to use a dual action, i assume it is going to take some practice.

but is it difficult to learn to do the pushbutton down and back to do both air and paint seperately...

~Mike

I don't have too much experience with other airbrushes, but i own a Paasche VL (dual action) Series air brush with an air compressor made by badger, it's small, not too loud and it has a nice auto-shutoff when it's not being used(though, not all of them do this).

When picking out an airbrush, you get what you pay for, if you go cheap, you get cheap. you can get a nice dual action airbrush for about $70

Dual action isn't that hard to get the hang of since you probably wont be doing too much working dealing with fading and such.

nika

For car modelling, you most likely won't need the capabilities of a dual action, but it is nice to have. It will be hard to learn at first but trust me you'll get used to it.

GRAVITY FEED vs. SIPHON vs. SIDE

Gravity and Side operate on a need basis, you can put in as much or as little paint as you need, so these two options save the most paint. Siphon feed feeds through a bottle that must be filled to cover the siphon straw, so it's a bit more wasteful. It's better to get a siphon feed (also known as bottom) if you're going to be painting large areas. Ideally, you'd have a gravity AND bottom feed airbrush...

Dual action VS. Single Action

You control the paint more with a dual action, a single action is like a spray can where you control how much air comes out, a dual action is more like a pen. In the world of model cars, you're mostly going to be dealing with simple, straight line demarcations - you don't need to make the complex camoflauge patterns aircraft & armor modelers need. A single action will take care of all your needs, but a dual action is nice to have.

Iwata VS. EVERY OTHER BRAND

Iwata's are the best airbrushes you can buy, period. Each one of them comes with a one size fits all needle - you dont' have to change needles to get wider/narrower spray widths like other brands. They are VERY VERY easy to clean (often running a cupful of thinner will be enough), and each one of them are made entirely of chrome metal, and have a nice solid feel to them.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS:
Single Action Paasche H: www.dixieart.com for cheapest price
Basic, single action, cheap $40 brush that will cover all your basic needs.

Double action Paasche VL: www.dixieart.com for cheapest price
A little more ($56) will net you this double action beaut. However it's strictly a love hate affair with this. I haven't come across one person who's used it and hasn't either completely hated it or completely loved it.

Iwata Revolution Double Action: www.coastairbrush.com for cheapest price
At $60 its a bit more than the Paasche VL but is a good beginner's dual action airbrush. It's what I have and it comes in siphon or gravity feed. I highly recommend it, it's very easy to clean and maintain.

Iwata Eclipse: www.dixieart.com for cheapest price
Around $75-90 (depending on the model you get) this is a step up from the Iwata Revolution. With a narrower tip (0.3mm versus 0.5mm on the Iwata Revolution) you will get the ability to make narrower lines.

COMPRESSOR
Wal-Mart Compressor: Just go to www.wal-mart.com and search for the Campbell-Hausfeld FP2003. It's noisy but not too noisy and comes with a 2 gallon air tank. More than adequate for any airbrusher needs. Only $100

Finally, be sure to purchase some airbrush lube, to keep your parts working efficiently and smoothly.

Hope this helps

wow!!!
thanks for the in-depth explanation.. i have been looking at the paasche millenium airbrush, but i think i might investigate the iwata now that you have given me another option...
is there anything available with both a bottom and top feed???

should i get several paint cups/bottles so i can store a couple frequently used colors for the model im working on... like having a container dedicated to the chassis color and one for and interior color and then one or more for random needs... or is it better to just have a small number of containers and try to spray all the parts that need that color...when im brush painting i find myself switching colors quite often...

~mike

It all depends...

I personally like to have atleast 5 or 6 jars to use and one siphen. One jar has only water in it, the others the paint i'm going to be using for the model, (body, interior, chassi, details) and the siphen for the alchole.

I have one for just water because when switch colors, i first spray a large amount of water through first, then i put hte siphen on and spray through some alchole until no more paint comes out, i find this way to be the quickest (though i do a different setup for when i'm done spraying for the night)

Another advantage for multi-jars is that you don't have to keep pouring the paint in and out of the jars (alot faster)

Nika

okay... so to resurect this thread...

im looking at the paasche millennium and the paasche VL...(the "combo set" for each brush)

any recommendations on which to get? they are both pretty close to my price range at the moment... i dont want to get something too expensive, but i dont want to skimp on it and not like it cuz it is low quality. i think these seem to be general mid-range AB's.

anyone???

thanks a bunch
~mike

i am cheap!

i'm buying a Tamiya Spray-work Basic Air Compressor with Airbrush from Hong Kong! 100 CDN!

Well, i can't tell which one to go for because i've only used the VL(i own). However, the VL has a nice, firm feel to it, mine came with a siphon feed(similar to gravity) and jars. It's fairly easy to clean, when changing colors, just shoot water onto a piece of paper until you don't see anymore paint, then shoot through some alchole until you think you've got all of the remaining paint out then continue on with airbrushing. To clean it when you're down it also simple compared to one of my friends badgers...
http://csc.smsu.edu/~jack/customs/ab/ab-dis.html

Hope that helped you out a little:)

nika