Tamiya Airbrushes or something better?

[krebs128]

a little off the topic, what's the difference between single and double action brushes?

*EDIT* found the answer

[hirofkd]

> vladaruz
If you are in Japan, you can't go wrong with Tamiya. You should be able to find it at pretty good price like 10-20% off easily, which makes it even better deal.
Or, check Yahoo Japan auction. That's where I got my Tamiya airbrush for 30% off.

[krebs128]

alright, since my brush recently perished, i'll be getting a badger 155 anthem and a 250 (thank you martbee!). sounds like a good match-up to make sweet cars. i will also be accepting any and all donations to buy these airbrushes at the following address.....

[vladaruz]

Thank you for all your replies.
I still cant find a web store that sells Iwata airbrushes in Japan. So its ok of I get Tamiya airbrush?
As krebs128 posted, what is single and double action brushes?

[Martbee]

Single action: The airbrush allow you to control the pressure you'll have at the "air tip" (in fact most of the single action are kind of on/off you push the trigger and the air flow arrives). This air will pull the paint through a straw which will be lead to a metal or plastic tip (I'll call that a "paint tip") that you can screw up or down to have a less or more paint contributing in a finner or a wider spray (this is a external mixt/bottom feed classic airbrush, there's other but will stick to this one for a start). Most of the time this is good when you want a "same larger" kind of spray. Like a body shell or a big surface to cover... or even little "air line" spray but to change the patern of the spray you'll have to turn you airbrush off and turn (screw or unscrew) the little "paint tip" or you'll have your hand pretty sticky by the end of the process !! OK, you can also bring the airbrush closer to the surface and back and "kinda" control the spray patern but it won't do what a double action will do OK?! The single action is, in my opinion, a charm to clean. They are easy to put together or in pieces because there's less piece in it. The airbrush is quite simple and will let you enjoy this art for a long time because of it's simplicity. Especialy if the "paint tip" is in metal... unlike the Aztek or Testor airbrushes(don't get me wrong here, they are good airbrushes but...). Plastic "paint tip" sometime react with solvent or paint and once the are ruined, you'll need to replace it or you'll have a fuzzy kind of spray and the airbrush will be useless.

Double action: Well... like the name said... it gives you double of the action ! At the trigger, you'll be able to control how much air (the air pressure is often more controlable than the single action) and how much paint you want at the end of the airbrush. Generaly, the Double Action will be internal mixt (it has to be?!) and controled by a slim needle in Stainless Steel and different setting of that needle. When you push the trigger straight down (in a neutral position), very little paint will be push through the "final tip" (or no paint at all depending of the setting) but a lot of air. If you're still push all the way down and pull that same trigger in your way (toward the end of the airbrush), the needle will travel and will let more paint entered the internal mixing chamber resulting in a increase of the spray area because it have the full air flow to work with. So you can play a lot more with your spray, a 50/50 mixt of air/paint, a 70/30 or a 30/70... everything is possible and every setting will give you different result. You're the "spray boss" ! Double action are the way to go when you want to change drasticaly your spray patern while you're spraying. But with all power comes great responsability and the Double action are (compare to a single action external mixt/bottom feed) a pain to clean. Beware of that little needle... it's pointy and have to be... if you give it a tortion or if you bang the tip of that needle, you'll need another one. There's a lot more pieces in a Double thant in a Single action airbrush so be carefull when putting this apart. Double action are mostly in metal and can carry a little more weight than a single action but with all the fun you'll froget this.

[Martbee]

Hoooooooouuu man, I hope I made myself clear... reading back at this and I'm not sure !!??

Well, at least, when you'll have both in hand it'll be clearer and I hope you'll say..."Ok, that's what that weird guy was trying to explain !!"

[Vric]

Martbee, you can't be clearer than that...

except when you talk about needle (Aztek don't have this) and different setting of needle (beside Paasche andBadger Crescendo, must of the other have a single nozzle and needle (like Iwata and Badger Anthem and 360)

[mobilebucky]

Check out this link.

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/...air/tamair.htm

Looks like Iwata, Tamiya and Mr. Hobby are made by the same company call BB Rich. Personally I owned 2 Tamiya Airbrushes (HG Trigger and HG SF). Essentially they are equivalent to the Iwata HP-Plus series. Since I can get the Tamiya airbrush cheaper then the Iwata one (about $20 difference) so I went with the Tamiya one. As for Mr.Hobby airbrush, I only saw them when I was in Hong Kong and they looks similar to the Iwata Hi-Line series ($$$$).

[Martbee]

Originally Posted by Vric

Martbee, you can't be clearer than that...

except when you talk about needle (Aztek don't have this) and different setting of needle (beside Paasche andBadger Crescendo, must of the other have a single nozzle and needle (like Iwata and Badger Anthem and 360)

Did I say Aztec had needles ?? houuu, my head hurt then !

I was refering to the exchangeable spraying tip... 1 for different setting of spray patern. Well, that's the Aztec that I know... maybe there's other one out there without this configuration.

For the needle setting... well, I don't know if I want to try to explain all of it but it's that little 2 way screw that lock your needle and control the distance that the needle will travel... it can be set to travel less and is a way to control the ratio of mixt paint/air.

That's about it... hope I help somebody to do a wise choice. If not... then I'm a trying to explain something that can't be explain in my own words !!! But like I said... if you have it in front of you maybe you'll know what I'm talking about.

A last advise for those "big bucks/high quality" fan... don't settle for a cheap hose. Go for the good braided hose with a moisture trap if you can afford it...

[360spider]

I heard that Tamiya airbrushes are made by Iwata, so there is no difference between the two, basically.

[Martbee]

Originally Posted by 360spider

I heard that Tamiya airbrushes are made by Iwata, so there is no difference between the two, basically.

Basicaly yeah... except the price of it !! But if you find it at a price that can compete with other brand then go ahead, I'm sure Tamiya is grade "A" quality stuff like almost all their other products.

The other thing is spare parts... you'll find Iwata all over the world (even in a little art store) and the Web... getting a Tamiya is more complicated and MrHobby even more... so think twice... 'cuz in the end, you'll be the one resolving with your approvisation problem.

But maybe the part are so alike they all fit together ??

Think so ??

[hirofkd]

> vladaruz
Why don't you stop at Mr. Craft in Ebisu? I believe you can try using some of them.
The difference between cheap and expensive airbrushs is that the high end ones (like $150-400) are hand assembled, and hand tuned by master craftsmen, while the cheaper ones are assembled by a machine. That's why expensive ones perform so well and lasts for a very long time. My Olympos (another quality brand in Japan) is 20 years old, and shows no sign of deterioration whatsoever.