So, with GW puttin out a paint sprayer, we're seeing alot of people getting interested in being able to spray lots of paint onto many figs all at once. I'll start with a disclaimer on the GW sprayer-unless you want to pay out the nose for the toy flamer handle- its a waste of money. You can go to any craft store and buy a Badger sprayer for about 15$- its the exact same setup=minus the flamer handle. If you're near a Harbor Frieght-you can get one for 8$. However- even at 8$, these things suck. They might be useful for doing some grade school art project, but for modeling purposes- they are a waste of money and paint. Which is why GW is selling it- so you'll piss through more paint, and buy more paint and propellant. The results from these sprayers is erratic at best, and poor on average. They dont coat evenly and clog quite often. Its not uncommon to spend more time fighting the sprayer than actually using it.

I learned all this about 10 years ago when I realised I was too lazy to base coat lots of figs by hand, trial and error, and alot of very trying errors that also made me learn how to strip paint

So onto the useful info. Im gonna tell you about real airbrushes(not toy sprayers), Im gonna tell you some basicas about what they can do, where to buy, how to feed them, and point you to some other resources.

Ok, first up is what can an air brush do for your miniature painting? Well, the obvious is base coating. A sprayer basically spits out paint, some of which lands on your figs. But an airbrush, with properly thinned paints, and the right air pressure puts out a very fine and controllable stream of paint. My preferred brush has a max spray pattern of about 1.5 inches, which will cover even the largest models with several passes. This can be dialed down to 1 inch or so for infantry, as a smaller pattern means less overspray. Less overspray means less wasted paint. High quality brushes with fine tips can even be dialed down to do 1/32" lines, which means detail work is possible. However, you wont be painting eyes, or likely even faces with an airbrush. Some things are just more efficiently done with regular painting techniques. With the finer control, and superior atomization of paint air brushes have- they use alot less paint than the sprayers do. The thinner layers might mean an extra pass or two, but it also means that the paint wont be gunking up the finer details on the figs. This also means you dont have to spray half your desk to base coat a squad of guys

The next major use for an air brush is weathering effects. Using a minimal paint flow and a fine nozzle- you can use inks to get those really nice burnt metal looks on exhausts, flamer nozzles, melta guns, and stuff like that. With a broader spray pattern you can dust a model with earth tones to make it look dirty, or add rust tones to make the model look older and worn. These techniques all combine with traditional brush methods for aging & weathering, but give you more options for different results that are often easier- and better once you learn how.

And, an often over looked use of air brushes- is very similar to base coating. You can use them to seal/varnish your figs. I prefer this method to using the various rattle-can sealers, as if you've painted for any period of time youve had minis get ruined when a spray sealer does something funky and clouds up, goes on fuzzy or cloudy. With the control an airbrush has, you can apply several thinner layers which minimizes any mistakes compared to the heavy layer a spray can puts out.

There are other tricks and techniques you can use an airbrush for- but they're pretty lengthy to get into here. If theres enough interest I can do tutorials down the road.

Now- many of you are saying 'Ya, all that crap you just said is cool- but airbrushes are too expensive!!'


To which I reply- never doubt the power of a woman when shopping is involved!

Quality air brushes can be had these days for 50$ or less- and I do mean quality. But, before I get into prices, lets look at the two types that are available.

There are single action, and double action.

With a single action- only one thing happens when you push the trigger- air flows out. Just like the sprayers we talked about above, its just an off/on switch for the air flow, the paint flow is adjusted at the nozzle up front. A Paasche Model H is a good example of a decent single action brush. Ive had one of these for years, and they can do some good stuff, but it takes alot of practice to figure out how to set all the fiddly bits just right. I havent used my model H in years because of that.

Now, double action-means the trigger can do two things. Push down and air comes out. But, it also slides back and forth- and this controls the paint flow volume. This is why double action brushes are pretty much the only thing artists are using since you dont have to stop painting to adjust the paint setting. You can use a lil paint for shading stuff, or alot for solid coloring just by moving your finger.

Now- for the shopping portion regarding air brushes, Im only going to focus on double action brushes. Many people think they're super complicated and hard to use. But honestly- if you can put a rhino together you can use a double action brush

I just bought a new double action airbrush off ebay for 50$. Free shipping too. Some people will tell you that only the big three air brush makers Paasche/Badger/Iwata make quality air brushes. And thats a bunch of crap. The 50$ brush I got this week is pretty much a knock off of the high end competitors, mostly Iwata , which is about a 170-200$ airbrush. Mines an 'Air Pro Tools' PS 900, and so far I really like it, more than the Iwata I have(and paid alot more for). So, look around, shop, if you see a good price on a brush somewhere do some research- google it- hit up airbrush forums and ask about it. And make sure you can get parts for it

Now, getting a good brush is only half the battle. You need to feed it, they eat lots of air. We have a few options here, most assume you have to use an airbrush compressor for an airbrush. But, thats not the case. I really dont like those lil dinky toy compressors, theyre alot better than propellant cans, but the only thing they are good for is running an airbrush. And the generally arent cheap. But- they are small/comapct, and arent super loud (but they arent quiet either- turn one on at 3 am and you WILL piss off your roomies). The biggest hindarnce on these lil guys is cost, they can be pretty weak(some only handle 30 psi) and many have a weird airflow- since they have no storage tank the air is pumped right through the hose- so it pulses sometimes and that can mess up fine lines & such. You can spend anywhere from 40-250$ on these things, Harbor Freight has decent ones on the cheap- but they are pretty low pressure, and I have no idea how loud they are. Higher quality ones are usually a bit quieter. But, they get annoying, as they have to be running the hwole time you use your brush.

Now, my preference is a real air compressor. The type you can air up car tires, basket balls, air mattresses, and even dates for your lonely freinds One would think getting something thats bigger and has a pressure tank would cost more than the airbrush compressors, right? Ironically, a little 2 gallon, 100 psi(more than any airbrush ever needs btw) compressor from harbor freight will set you back 70$ with a 5$ set of adapters your airbrush hose connects right up. The most important feature to look for when using a full size compressor is a Pressure Regulator. Some compressors have this built in, and it lets you dial in the air pressure thats coming out of the hose to what you want. If you find a compressor without a regulator- and you know how to use a wrench or two, you can pick up a 5$ regulator and attach it your self. Airbrushes usually run anywhere from 15 to 90 psi depending on the gear and type of paint- so a 100psi compressor will cover that no problem. Now, the biggest benefit of this is that these compressors have air tanks attached- which means you can fill them up- turn the compressor off- and spray away using the pressure in the tank. And jsut turn it back on when your pressure runs low. Down side, this type of compressor tends to be pretty noisy. So using it in a garage is fine, but at 2 am the people in the next apartment might not like you anymore. You can work around this, jsut air up the tank in the afternoons or something similar if you live in a congested area. You can also spend a bit more, and get a compressor with a larger tank. More tank naturally means more air, and longer praying times. My 10 gallon tank at 125 psi spraying at 50psi will last well over 2 hours of work time before it dips under 50 lbs. So, for a smaller 2 or 3 gallon figure 20-30 minutes of work time.

And, one last trick. If you want to paint in peace, and jsut cant run a compressor where you live, we can get an air tank. These come in 5 and 10/11 gallon sizes. Theyre sold at auto parts stores and even walmart for about 30$. Theyre intended to be used to air up car tires, so usually have a lil 2 foot hose with a tire thingy on the end. Grab a wrench, and take that hose off. Take that hose down to the hardware store- and find a pressure regulator thats the same size as the fitting on the hose. Now, the pressure regulator will have a hole for the outgoing air- you need to buy a 'male coupler' to screw into that. The easiest thing to do is just buy a 10$ coupler kit, they usually come with a tire inflator doohickey and a blower attachment- as well as several couple pieces the will fit your air brush hose(most brushes have 1/4 fittings- so the 'male' couple fits right in). If you have an oddball brush you might have a 3/8's hose fitting and will need a 3/8's to 1/4 adapter. It sounds alot harder than it is, most guys at a hardware store or autoparts store can tell you what parts to grab one you tell them what you're up too. Oh, use the teflon thread tape too- otherwise your air will leak out :( S0- you got an air tank- but its empty. Take it to your local gas station/convenience store. Ideally find one with free air. These lil tanks have a valve stem just like a tire. Fill it up to near the tanks recommended max pressure. It might take a lil while, 10 minutes is pretty boring when you're holding a hose on an air tank and its really cold or hot out But, jsut think of your minis, and getting to air brush them for a couple hours with all that air And free air, quiet painting, for about 40$ isnt too bad a deal.

I didnt cover basic usage and cleaning of an airbrush- as alot of it would take a ton of text, and there are dozens of tutorials online covering that stuff now. Youtube or google it and you're all set

Also- two great resources I found, while not really oriented at the scale modeling crowd- they are excellent airbrushing sites:

www.airbrushtricks.com has lot of wicked video tutorials and demos, again, not geared towards our usage, more about case modding and such- but still cool stuff that will give ideas.

www.airbrushtechniques.com Has a really active forum with people that seem really helpful. They may not know GW paints and all, but they can tell you how to make your brush work better and give you ideas.

For those of you out there with airbrush experience feel free to add to this. Those with questions feel free to PM or post them too. I realize this is a pretty basic guide, but its info I answer alot. So at least now I can reply with a link to this thread ^_^

Keep an eye out in the painting & modeling thread, as I'll start puttin up pics of what Im doing with airbrushing so you can see first hand the results and benefits( and if any problems pop up you can listen to me whine about them!).

Edit note: I'll add some pics of the rig I use to help illustrate some to the items Ive mentioned above.

This is looking like another great airbrushing thread.

You sound like you have a lot of experience with airbrushing minis. I would personally like to see some WIP pics so I can start to get a better idea of the techniques. I spray painted for around 2 years, although most of my time was spent painting in books. Spray paint is ridiculously overpriced in most situations, and I have absolutely no desire to buy some god-sent Montana spray paint to base coat my models.

One thing I would be interested in would be metals, bronze and copper to be exact. I will be getting an air compressor and airbrush set for my next tool, ooh the precious . My first project will most likely be the hood of my car, because it needs some new paint and a nice mural. I will make sure to share my experiences when I begin to use the air-brush on minis.

Im seeing alot of views, but no feed back.

Is it too much of a text wall?

Gave it a quick read over at 12:03 AM; however, for what its worth I think you hit upon the most common topics and gave solid advice.

Yes the wall is intimidating lol . It is a lot of reading but it will separate the serious from the curious . There really is a lot of "need to know " tips in there and general info . With I. G. being the flavor of the month many would love a camouflage air brush tutorial for vehicles . It's funny that in order to make a comparison between knockoff and big name brands is you have to have experience using top of the line . And sharing what you think performs just as good saves new air brush fanatics from spending the money on the flashy stuff . Thank you for sharing .

Thanks very much for the post i have been looking into getting an airbrush for a few months and now i have a little more confidence on the issue of actually buying one.

Great post, I would love to see some pictures. How much do you thin the GW paints to use them in your airbrush? How do you keep it from getting to runny?

The rule of thumb for any paints you stick in the airbrush is consistency of milk. But like the OP stated. It's best to put it on in thin layers to prevent drips and save detail.

Wow, this a fantastic post, covering everything a beginner would want (and need) to know about airbrushing.

One thing I'd like to see is your take on "canned air".

I've often read that serious airbrushers won't touch them with a 12-foot pole, but their price makes them look very attractive for beginners with a tight budget.

Getting a real compressor (or air tank) would naturally be much cheaper in the long run, but I think beginners would want to know how long that "run" may be.

Just my 2 cents!

THanks for that , I bought an airbrush off ebay with a small compressor. I haven't made best use of it yet due to poor results. But you've inspired me to give it another go . I'll try it on my new valk.

Just keep in mind airbrushes are an art tool- just like a brush. You didnt pick up a brush and get the paint on your figs just right the first few times- it took practice. learning how to work different colors and all that.

Airbrushes are the same thing, practice=improved results.

And canned air.....*sighs*

If I for some reason wanted to carry an airbrush in my purse....you know, for painting emergencies.....I would probly use a can of propel. It works ok for toy sprayers. If for whatever reason you just gotta have portable theyre ok. But given the option I'll lug my 5 gallon tank around with me(or bribe someone into carrying it for me....) Seriously- canned propellant is wasted money if you plan on doing more than a few sprays- an air tank is 1 or 2 boxes of figs, a compressor is about 3 or 4 boxes.

So, if i wanted to just airbrush a base coat (other then black,white,grey) onto models - what Airbrush would your reccomend? note that i wouldnt be using it on a serious note - just a way to fasten my painting blocks

and to the wall of text - the detail is great and it goes in-depth about the properties of an airbrush - how to use it etc. 5/5

Solid advice.

+1 to everything you said. I agree wholeheartedly.

I learned how to use mine from an expert (Pro SFX modeller). Books helped, but nothing beats good old hands-on experience.

This is much appreciated. I shall start looking into aquiring an airbrush and compressor!

Can you perhaps link to a few good tutorials online?

Hi !!
And thank you !!

This was great and couldn't have been more timely for me ... I was about to decline a free airbrush and compressor because I thought it was too complicated a process. Well, between free equipment and your information, I'm going to jump into the pool.

The kit I got is an Aztek Dual-Action with a Speedy compressor. Know anything about them?

Thanks again !! I hope you will post more airbrush techniques and pics.

Adding to others, I would aslo like to thank you for this guide as it's swayed me more towards getting an Airbrush, something I've been mulling over for a little while now as I can see the uses, especially to stop some of the side effects of sprayers. The information will be proving very useful in my considerations, and your shopping guide is nice for those of us of a masculine persuasion.
Will definitely be nice to see some pictures of products produced from this method.

Thanks once again.

This is a way helpful thread. I'm glad I've held off from buying the GW sprayer... didn't even like the flamer looking handle.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I'll hopefully get some pics up over the next few days, of my gear and the maybe some WIP stuff started.

Im in the process of turning a spare room into more of s studio space so I can get all my modeling and gaming stuff in one place.

Once thats done I'll be able to do pics alot more easily since everything will be at hand rather than scattered about

For those asking about tutorials, tutorials take up alot of time. And doing a tutorial myself, when there are likely already several out there with similar information seems kinda silly Use the websites I gave info for and look up thier tutorials, and use google and youtube also. If you find some good ones link them here! We can all learn from them

If, a few months down the road theres an obvious need for tutorials on specific techniques I'll think about setting some up based on what everyone needs.

That was a good read, nice job.

I have been using my airbrush for a couple of years with a tank less compressor, and I can safely say, buy one with a tank. The pulsation effect is annoying at best, and disastrous at worst.

The winking orks, THEY BLIND ME!!!

I am looking forward to seeing some WIP progress pics. With both you and Tallamantim dropping photos I am sure to learn quite a bit.

Thanks for the nice writeup. I'm learning to use an airbrush for vehicle weathering. I just bought the PS900 that you spoke so highly of b/c I like the idea of having a dial to regulate air flow - seems like a handy thing to have for a beginner. Got it off eBay for the same price you mentioned... probably from the same guy.

Nice tutorial. Long, but thorough and enjoyable to read. I’ve had a double-action Badger for over 20 years. I bought it to paint military models. When I got into GW painting, the airbrush probably sat in the closet for 10 years. Then, it came out for a little while 5 years ago, and it did some outstanding work on Eldar vehicles. Then was put away again. I’ve pulled it out recently to help paint a Stompa, and am also using it to basecoat some Marines. I’ve painted a lot of 40K armies over the years, and as you can see, I have not really used the airbrush all that much. I think many GW’ers might find that to be the case, unless they are painting a bunch of vehicles. I’m certainly not advising against buying one. An airbrush and a good compressor can be had for a reasonable price. But, most people in this hobby will find it has relatively limited uses. On the plus side, once the paint is properly thinned, and the spray is properly set, airbrushing is both fun and efficient. Also, some very nice things can be done with one.

I've long thought that good airbrushes were really cost prohibitive...its kept me away from the technique.

This past weekend, Michaels ran a coupon in their paper/junkmail for 50% off any item in the store with very few exceptions. I specifically asked if a $180 airbrush could be purchased under that discout...one I've been drooling over. The manager I talked to said that it was definatly included in the offer.

You just have to keep your eyes open for the good deals. Arts/Crafts stores that are destination locations frequently run "deals". I'm keeping my eyes open for another coupon where I'm ready to finally pick one up.

GREAT tutorial by the way. I'll definatly be keeping my eyes open here.

Hmm. Very little to add, I've been using an airbrush for non-28mm models for ages and I agree with everything the OP says more or less. What I will say is that I actually love my Aztec/Testors A320 AB more than any of the more expensive double-actions I have as it's a single-action brush where you can specify the spray size, and it's incredibly easy to maintain. My other most-used airbrush is a Tamiya spray-work single-action one that I only use for rough sprays of primer and occasionally base coats, anything that's for a large area. My more expensive double-actions don't really get any love at all!

Gobbla wrote:Nice tutorial. Long, but thorough and enjoyable to read. I’ve had a double-action Badger for over 20 years. I bought it to paint military models. When I got into GW painting, the airbrush probably sat in the closet for 10 years. Then, it came out for a little while 5 years ago, and it did some outstanding work on Eldar vehicles. Then was put away again. I’ve pulled it out recently to help paint a Stompa, and am also using it to basecoat some Marines. I’ve painted a lot of 40K armies over the years, and as you can see, I have not really used the airbrush all that much. I think many GW’ers might find that to be the case, unless they are painting a bunch of vehicles. I’m certainly not advising against buying one. An airbrush and a good compressor can be had for a reasonable price. But, most people in this hobby will find it has relatively limited uses. On the plus side, once the paint is properly thinned, and the spray is properly set, airbrushing is both fun and efficient. Also, some very nice things can be done with one.

Gobbla, I do very much agree that there are alot of things that cant be done on the 28mm scale with an airbrush, our bristle brushes arent going anywhere Part of this tutorial is with the intent of showing people the pros and the cons of having one

But, there are alot of things an air brush can do, its just another tool that opens more options. They are too big for alot of detail work on regular infantry, but on tanks, monstrous creatures, and terrain theyre wonderful. So, to use them on the lil guys we have to get creative

Ive got some wip stuff for doing up custom SM shoulder pads for example, the technique will likely work well for any army that has squad markings since its basically a stencil sort of arrangement anyone with some green stuff should be able to make.

Thats one of the reasons Im urging people to checkout other airbrush sites, as I cant look at all of them, and Im sure there are other ideas/techniques out there that can make pianting our figs alot easier, and hopefully get us better results ^_^

Great read thanks.

I've just started with an airbrush (my experience here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/244125.page) and found it reasonably easy to get into (without really reading or watching much in the way of tutorials - just jumping in with both feet!)

In regards to the tankless models, I would have though a regulator with a water trap may have helped with the pulsation - as it effectively holds the amount of pressure you dial in on in the chamber and hose, it should (in theory) be able to avoid much of the problems suggested with the tankless systems?

Cheers

tallmantim wrote:Great read thanks.

In regards to the tankless models, I would have though a regulator with a water trap may have helped with the pulsation - as it effectively holds the amount of pressure you dial in on in the chamber and hose, it should (in theory) be able to avoid much of the problems suggested with the tankless systems?

Cheers

In my experience it helps a little, but isn't as nice as the models with air tanks I've used but sadly don't own. It's an improvement compared to not using one at all though.

Thanks for the info, will do my research and ask Santa for one I think! :-)

Thanks,very nice read.And helpful to.
You should make an article about it.

Mistress of minis wrote:So, with GW puttin out a paint sprayer, we're seeing alot of people getting interested in being able to spray lots of paint onto many figs all at once. I'll start with a disclaimer on the GW sprayer-unless you want to pay out the nose for the toy flamer handle- its a waste of money. You can go to any craft store and buy a Badger sprayer for about 15$- its the exact same setup=minus the flamer handle. If you're near a Harbor Frieght-you can get one for 8$. However- even at 8$, these things suck. They might be useful for doing some grade school art project, but for modeling purposes- they are a waste of money and paint. Which is why GW is selling it- so you'll piss through more paint, and buy more paint and propellant. The results from these sprayers is erratic at best, and poor on average. They dont coat evenly and clog quite often. Its not uncommon to spend more time fighting the sprayer than actually using it.

I've been using one of those starter badger sets for basecoating with valejo model air and it's been perfect. After a few practice tries and adjusting the dials it was fine. Obvuiously it aint gonna dot the eye on a marine but its perectly fine for basecoating. Perhaps like most things, its the person using the equipment more than the equipment itself?

Mistress of minis wrote: Seriously- canned propellant is wasted money if you plan on doing more than a few sprays- an air tank is 1 or 2 boxes of figs, a compressor is about 3 or 4 boxes.

Or you just go to a petrol station and fill up a spare tyre with free air, works for me.

whatwhat wrote:I've been using one of those starter badger sets for basecoating with valejo model air and it's been perfect. After a few practice tries and adjusting the dials it was fine. Obvuiously it aint gonna dot the eye on a marine but its perectly fine for basecoating. Perhaps like most things, its the person using the equipment more than the equipment itself?

/sarcasm: Ofcourse, all this time Ive been using a much more complex brush because the sprayer types were obviously beyond my meager comprehension. O.o

You're using a simple device with top of the line specially formulated airbrush paint from a premium manufacturer- is it any surprise it works? Step into a dry desert, drop some GW paint thinned with water into your sprayer and watch what happens

And a question- have you ever used an airbrush besides that lil badger you got? If you havent- you really should try one as it will give you a bit more perspective.

Mistress of minis wrote:

whatwhat wrote:I've been using one of those starter badger sets for basecoating with valejo model air and it's been perfect. After a few practice tries and adjusting the dials it was fine. Obvuiously it aint gonna dot the eye on a marine but its perectly fine for basecoating. Perhaps like most things, its the person using the equipment more than the equipment itself?

/sarcasm: Ofcourse, all this time Ive been using a much more complex brush because the sprayer types were obviously beyond my meager comprehension. O.o

You're using a simple device with top of the line specially formulated airbrush paint from a premium manufacturer- is it any surprise it works? Step into a dry desert, drop some GW paint thinned with water into your sprayer and watch what happens

And a question- have you ever used an airbrush besides that lil badger you got? If you havent- you really should try one as it will give you a bit more perspective.

Funny that, you didn't say in your first post the starter airbrushes were gak because of the paint you use. And why would I want to buy a more expensive airbrush when I can get all I want out of this one.

Basicly all that crap at the start of your post claiming you can't airbrush unless you want to throw a ton of money at it is balls. Honestly, starter airbrush, decent paint, spare tyre with free air from a petrol station, bit of practice, and you can do basecoating and much of the simpler stuff like camo patterns.

whatwhat wrote:Basicly all that crap at the start of your post claiming you can't airbrush unless you want to throw a ton of money at it is balls. Honestly, starter airbrush, decent paint, spare tyre with free air from a petrol station, bit of practice, and you can do basecoating and much of the simpler stuff like camo patterns.

I am not sure I follow you whatwhat... I don't recall her saying that airbrushing was expensive. Perhaps I missed something here. I can chisel a mountain through sheer determination, although I will end up a very bored person . Nothing wrong with having your "special" six-shooter though . On the other hand why chisel when you can nuke the son uv a #%$@. Try some of the different brushes when you get a chance, Mistress even recommended a cheap "knock-off" that performed quite well.

I am interested in your air tire method, as I could easily achieve it w/o annoying anyone with the racket of an air compressor. Or perhaps I could use a compressor of my own to fill a tire every few hours or so.

She claimed the cheap kits "suck" as I recall. And also claimed the cheapest thing you can do for air is buy a compressor or a gas tank.

I don't know about america but in the uk petrol stations provide free air, so you can go down there get fill a tyre. The atachments on my airbrush fit to the tyre. Badger even sugest this themselves.

Most of the stations actually charge out here, although the gas is quite a bit cheaper.

How long did you say you can paint with the tire tank?
Have you ran into any problems with the tire tank?

Overall I don't mind spending 20-30$ on a small compressor, the smallest construction grade one the hardware stores carry run around this price. The noise is the only real problem, I could care less, my music can be much louder. My roommates and neighbors wouldn't be huge fans of the friendly racket of my adventures in airbrushing with a machine-gun soundtrack.

I think your attitude kinda sucks, and your reading comprehension seems a bit off. If you're jsut posting to be contrary, I really dont see the point.

First off- Im trying to save people money- the badger you have does the exact same thing as the GW sprayer for far less than half the cost.

If thats all you want- good for you.

My post is aimed at the guys that want more options.

I dont mention the tire thing, as the kit isnt commonly available here in the US. Tires only hold about 40-50psi max, which is fine for short projects. But no one really wants to hump a tire up and down the stairs to refill it too often. Note#2- not everyone has a car- so a spare tire will cost just as much as the air tanks I suggested. And how stupid would someone be if they get a flat on the way to work- and realise their spare is at home hooked up to their air brush?

Mistress of minis wrote:I think your attitude kinda sucks, and your reading comprehension seems a bit off. If you're jsut posting to be contrary, I really dont see the point.

First off- Im trying to save people money- the badger you have does the exact same thing as the GW sprayer for far less than half the cost.

If thats all you want- good for you.

My post is aimed at the guys that want more options.

I dont mention the tire thing, as the kit isnt commonly available here in the US. Tires only hold about 40-50psi max, which is fine for short projects. But no one really wants to hump a tire up and down the stairs to refill it too often. Note#2- not everyone has a car- so a spare tire will cost just as much as the air tanks I suggested. And how stupid would someone be if they get a flat on the way to work- and realise their spare is at home hooked up to their air brush?

Erm, I was at an implement sale yesterday where stacks of tyres were going for about 5 quid. Wern't in too good a nick for driving with, but perfect for use as an air tank.

By all means- if a tire works for you, have fun with it. But, if its not good enough to drive on, Im not sure I'd want to pump pressure into it.

On a practical level of comparison- you're justifying 5 quid for a used tire.

Im suggesting 20(not sure on conversion rates- but close enough) for an air tank, at 5 gallons which holds at least 3 times as much air (Ive aired up three flats and had some pressure left over). The tank is alot safer, as they have safety valves to keep the pressure from being excessive. And a tire has no regulator, so theirs a lack of control there which would hinder precision spraying.

And again, I'll point put, you jsut cant find the tire adapters kits here in the states. Im sure they are out there, but theyre pretty obscure. Might have something to do with the media hyping up all the SUV tire blow outs several years ago, who knows.

Edit-

Could we maybe point this thread back in a useful direction, arguing over a preferences isnt accomplishing much. I havent used the Vallejo Air paints yet, how would you compare them to thinning the Game or Model colors when using them?

Lots of views and no one speaking is a common occurrence on dakka. I loved it by the way. Ive been kicking around the idea of getting an airbrush, and honestly I think you nudged me in the right direction. Shoot Ive even go an old air compressor sitting out in my garage. Presto Ive got have the problem lol.
Nice, tutorial of sorts

Tires are perfectly serviceable air sources for airbrushing. They're cheap and they're silent. The treadwear level has no bearing on the tire's ability to hold air, only maintain traction on road surfaces. Badger sells a tire adapter that is readily available in the US. They are a US company after all.

Single Action vs Double Action. I'm a fan of single action brushes. The brush I use the most is a modified badger 200. Rarely do I have the need to change the paint flow in the middle of a stroke. The badger lets me dial in my desired spray width and off I go with any worries about accidentally spraying too much. I think it's unfortunate that single action brushes get a bad rap because the cheapest brushes on the market are single action. The badger 200, Tamiya HG single action and Grex XA are all quality tools that deliver great performance.

The only other point I would make is that for the small paint volumes you need for 40k models, I recommend a gravity fed design. Vallejo Model Air paint works very well with the gravity feed brushes. They use the paint more efficiently, spray at lower pressures and adding paint to the cup couldn't be easier. For 40k no one need a big jar of paint under the brush.

to the OP: Great advice, I always like to hear about airbrush work, its a lost love of mine. I had a $250 oilless 3 gallon air compressor stolen from me, and now i cant afford to replace it.

Good breakdown on Airbrushes. I've used a really old single action from Harbor freight along with one of their airbrush compressors for a long time to do the simple cammo on my IG tanks. Been debating on wether to step up and invest in a better brush and this has been helpful along with some tips that you gave.

I'm very interested in the idea of using an airbrush. However I'm wondering to what extend others use it when dealing with smaller models like troops. Naturally it works well for basecoats, but do you airbrush masters have the calm hand to do any detail work? Or in general does the airbrush gear strictly more towards larger models?

My other question is in regards to air.

I know compressors are being advocated (I do have one at my home home, but it would be unreasonable to bring it to college). I'm wondering if airbrushes can run off the same air tanks that paintball guns use. If they can, that would be actually fairly convenient for me.

I would be interested in hearing other models that fit in that category of not being the "brand name" airbrushes. Something that would serve well to learn on, is still quality enough with access to replacement parts to develop some useful techniques with models and terrain, and not break the bank paying extra for the brand.

Thanks for the writeup and discussion.

"Sparmax" make generic airbrushes that can use replacement needles and nozzles from (IIRC) Iwata airbrushes. I used to use a double-action Sparmax and replaced the needle and nozzle with Iwata parts when it broke. I also hear that in the US you can get even cheaper generic airbrushes in "Harbor Freight" stores.

Im currently working on a squiggoth, and a land raider, both are the bigger type of model an airbrush can be really useful for.

So, once I finish getting my work area/studio set up I'll start posting WIP pics. There will likely be a thread just for the conversion aspects, but when it comes paint time I'll post links here.

I'll admit I haven't paid real close attention to everything on being posted on this thread, but I'll tell you what I know about my airbrushing I done. I've been using an airbrush for about 20 yrs. My first brush was a hand-me-down Badger single action. It's great for whole car bodies or tank hulls or fuselages or wings.(i use to do lots of scale modeling) Later I wanted to do more complex camo schemes. I also didn't have much $$$. I bought a dual action brush from harbor frieght for less than $20. I've had it for about 7yrs & it works great!! I can do shading for camo schemes & with the right mix & practice I've gotten some weathering to turn out OK. The needles for both my brushes & a few minor part interchange.
On anther subject in this thread a few years ago I saw an article in Fine Scale Modeler about air sources. The author uses his CO2 tank from his paintball gun w/a homemade regulator. IMO that would be perfect to prevent moister ffrom getting into your airbrush & ruining your paint & think about it how much does it cost to fill a 20 oz. paintball tank now a days? There is IIRC like 1800 psi in there so w/a regulator that should last a long time.

A co2 tank could be a nice portable supply too. But regular off the shelf compressor regulators wont handle 1800 psi, have to get into industrial supply stuff there I think.

If anyone with paintball know-how is keepin tabs on the thread- any info on those tanks and refill costs would be appreciated

I believe if you wanted to make your own tank you could go to a local welding supplies store and get some really good advice. In terms of compressor regulators that would be one of the first places I would check, and a paintball tank is no where near as cheap as one of the huge tanks that may be more than some could handle, but perfect for others.



A nice tank can produce enough pressure to last a week or more of constant use. Welding stores sell all types of gases and they will "lend" you a tank through a deposit, so you ever actually have to buy one if your regulator/adapter will be able to just click onto generic tanks. As a matter of fact if you weld already I would see this as one of your best options, rigging adapters and all that is usually quite easy. Anything you can't build you can buy, but it won't be very cheap.

"Tangent"
Here is an interesting guide airbrushing models, and how to use different paints.
http://www.howtoairbrush.com/index.php/site/lesson/airbrush_paint_for_models/

tanks that large most not be cost effective to fill up, not to mention heavy. But it is an option if anyone has one lying around, or could steal one from their dad or something

C02 is quite cheap, I would think it would be very cost effective. You can use the smaller tanks to avoid having to move the big ones around. Like I said before I feel that I would piss a lot of people off if I used an air-compressor all weekend... and oh, yes I would . I have to think about this one, because if you don't weld it is probably a bad idea to do this. You will end up paying for the use, instead of just saying , and using the compressor.

This is the compressor size that I would get, and it is a fantastic intro to using an air compressor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMSDYchLFSI

Here is another, audio isn't great though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wel-EBePfMU&NR=1

VERY IMPORTANT, and part of the reason I have considered using a separate tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0uYpuCYFwg&feature=channel

Pretty gross huh.

Oil-less compressors goop up less with condensation, luckily I live in the desert so moisture is a minimal concern for the compressor (but can be an issue with paint drying in the nozzles).

Good links on the air compressor stuff. I sort of take for granted that people already know how to use an air compressor I guess. I figure if I can change my buicks oil, flush the radiator, and rotate the tires without breaking a nail- the advanced hobby guys should be able to run an air compressor ^_^

I'm the one who started asking about using a paintball CO2 tank, I've done a little browsing to find out.

My dad (who's a bit of a master of all things hand made) told me it would get expensive to refill this over and over. It wouldn't be too hard to get a regulator but in the end you'll pay more in refills than you would of to get a compressor so unless you must have portability there are more viable options. On top of that, I was thinking about the weight issue. I'm sure over time you would learn to counterbalance it but even using a 16 oz tank like I have you would definitely lose some ability to maneuver. If anybody is still interested in this but does not have experience with paintball, you can also get compressed air. That would definitely be cheaper than CO2 refills, and come at a lower stock pressure.

It was a good thing I asked him about that, because then I found out he has an airbrush already that I can use . He even said I could use his compressor to mess around and we could get a smaller one for me to take to college with me. Looks like I'll be doing lots of practice this summer.

Looking forward to seeing your airbrushed models Mistress.

Is there any way to make a compressor quieter? Can I build some sort of ridiculous muffler? I don't have one in front of me and I haven't used one in a while, so I can't recall why they are quite so loud. I could try to look up schematics of some sort.

First search... Yes you can apparently

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/how-quiet-air-compressor-82039.html

I am incredibly surprised I can't find some sort of product for this. Hmmm.... I wonder why. I'll grab a compressor soon, before I get my air brush.

Thanks for some some research Wrex, I'll be interested in something along the same lines. The link you provided seems to be extremely large scale though :-\ I'm planning to get a smallish compressor maybe it won't be too loud.

There are several small hobby compressors available that aren't very loud at all. All the major brands sell them (badger, Paasche, Aztek, Iwata etc). I use an Iwata smart jet.

I have a Mr Petit Linear Compressor that's quieter than my laptop, but it also only puts out a fairly low PSI. There are quieter compressors out there if you want one.

First off, great job on the thread! I've also been toying around with the idea of buying an airbrush before I start working on my tanks namely as I don't have much faith in my current brushwork on large flat surfaces.

Anyhow, I've been shlepping around ebay lately and I've noticed several kits that always seem to pop up when I search for airbrush kits, they seem to fill the "entry/medium/expert" levels, but honestly I have no idea if the kits are complete gak or not given that they're the whole "package deal" as it were.

Can anyone give some observations on these? I don't suppose anyone's used them before, if so, are these kits worth the cash?

Thanks for any tips in that regard!

"Entry Level Models" (I guess they're entry level, they are the cheapest *shrug*)

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-DUAL-ACTION-AIRBRUSH-w-AIR-BRUSH-COMPRESSOR-KIT-SET_W0QQitemZ220426457621QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335270d215&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1309|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-DUAL-ACTION-AIRBRUSH-and-AIR-BRUSH-COMPRESSOR-KIT_W0QQitemZ380126401725QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item58814c94bd&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1307|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50


"Mid Price Model"

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-3-AIRBRUSH-AIR-COMPRESSOR-KIT-Gravity-Dual-Action_W0QQitemZ220436945785QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335310db79&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1309|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50


"High Price Model"

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pro-MASTER-DUAL-ACTION-AIRBRUSH-KIT-w-Compressor-Paint_W0QQitemZ200345521210QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea5860c3a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1309|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50


From my untrained perspective it just seems the more expensive ones come with more digerry doos then the others, but I'm not sure...

I have been useing an airbrush compressor from Harbor Freight for about 2 years and have never had any complaints from room mates about noise. It seems to be quite enough for them and I often use it for long periods of time. Also if you watch Harbor Freights ads you can often get a 20% off coupon from them for a single item so this would bring a the cost for one down to $40-50.

Thanks for the links fells

Greatcow, good examples of ebay stuff. That last kit actually has the same brush as the mid range one, but a better compressor and accesories- is that what you mean by digerry doos?

And I am glad to hear people are having success with the hobby compressors without noise issues. The ones Ive used have been less than impressive, so Im glad there are ones that actually work!

Mistress of minis wrote:Thanks for the links fells

Greatcow, good examples of ebay stuff. That last kit actually has the same brush as the mid range one, but a better compressor and accesories- is that what you mean by digerry doos?

And I am glad to hear people are having success with the hobby compressors without noise issues. The ones Ive used have been less than impressive, so Im glad there are ones that actually work!

Aye more or less, from what I could tell from the pics, it seemed like it just came with more airbrushes and some starter paints but I see what you mean. Thank you again for your tips and clarification, I'll definitely be looking into snagging one of those kits for my tanks and baneblades in the future.

I could paint in my room with one of those if they worked.

If there is anyone who knows a really nice hobby compressor I am officially interested in that information now .

Mistress of minis wrote:Thanks for the links fells

Greatcow, good examples of ebay stuff. That last kit actually has the same brush as the mid range one, but a better compressor and accesories- is that what you mean by digerry doos?

And I am glad to hear people are having success with the hobby compressors without noise issues. The ones Ive used have been less than impressive, so Im glad there are ones that actually work!

Thank you for making this thread ( i wanted to try air brushing for a long time but always scared to )

Don't fear the reaper Luna .

Thanks, Mistress, great thread. I bought a Tamiya airbrush and compressor a few years back but never got enthused enough to use it. But with a Stompa nearing completion, you've enthused me to take another look at spraying.

Has anyone tried to airbrush with washes? Can you do that?

I have some generic blue pen-ink that actually says you can air-brush with it.

Only problem I can see with using a wash- is it will disperse and work more like a tint. unless you really hose it on if doesnt run into the crevices like most wash techniques do.

It does seem to work pretty well as a weathering technique, but I havent had time to experiment past that.

As long as it won't destroy an airbrush I promise to experiment with all sorts of washing madness.

Glad this thread didn't descend too far into madness

I picked up a little piston compressor with 3 litre tank a few weeks ago, 3 litres doesn't sound much but space really is at a premium for me! I got an Iwata revolution CR at the same time, after a bit of research. Painted all my old IG tanks very happily.

I picked up some Vajello air to start with, just to get an idea of how far to thin the normal Vajello model & game paints, then thinned my normal paints with neat screenwash for even better results. I've put foundations, metallics & washes through it with good effects though as Mistress says, washes need to be painted on or they look like a tint.

Exactly the information I was searching for. Where are the promised pics though?

I know a lot of this is revolving around tanks and what to use. Me personally, I'm with Mistress, I use my air compressor that I also use to air my tires and have all my pneumatic tools for. A quick release adapter and ample amount of male connectors and you'll be throwing down paint faster than you can say <insert short yet witty phrase>

Something I wanted to point out that I don't think has been touched on well enough in this thread:

AIRBRUSH CLEANING:

I'm not talking about when rotating colors, it would be monotonous and irritating if you attempted to clean out your gun between coats.

However, when all your models are finally coated in that nice green that you couldn't get even with a brush if you paid it, don't forget about the little guy that got you there.

Go now and invest in some pipe cleaners and simple green concentrate. I know a few of my fellow users are like, "WHAT THE !@#$%?" Yes simple green will clean off the oils in the gun, but you should be oiling it at least once every two uses. Here are some of the things that can happen if you don't keep it clean:

1) Paint starts spitting - this can ruin a perfectly good fade or weathering job.

2) Moisture build up - some moisture will be trapped by a moisture trap (get one, it will save your sanity). However, if paint or any other sort of grime has accumulated in your gun (and it will) moisture will build on said surface and at a certain point will blow through your gun, causing another type of spitting which fires a super diluted shot of paint. Again ruining hours of work.

3) Your gun breaks - Flat out kaput, something somewhere has gotten to the point of blocking air or paint flow, now a quick project has turned into a full on cleaning. YAY!

Now back on point. Different guns are put together differently, for example: My Iwata HP-CS on the outside is pretty quick to pull apart for a simple cleaning, but if you break out the instructions you can really get into the guts of the machine.

So break out your instructions and go to town, once it's completely taken apart then set everything to soak in your Tupperware container with the simple green. After a few hours (overnight is good) go to your kitchen sink and plug it up (dont want to lose vital parts) then carefully remove each part and give it a good scrub then place in a suitable place to dry where it won't get lost. Once everything is dry then follow the instructions and reassemble...making sure to oil all moving parts liberally.

This should keep your gun's action smooth and seamless. Also it should extend the life of your parts, which is always a money saver.

Edit - ALWAYS MATCH CLEANER TO MEDIUM!!!

If you try to clean acrylic with paint thinner or vice versa you're going to ruin your gun. You have been warned.

What sort of oil do you use and where do you put it?

You can use a lil paint for shading stuff, or alot for solid coloring just by moving your finger.

These are nice, but their downside is that you have to maintain the flow rate you want with your finger. With a single action, you can set it to a certain spray size and just leave it. In most cases, you're just adjusting the stop on the double action and leaving it anyway...

I haven't used a double action in a while, but I feel like the single is just more applicable to our hobby. It's simpler, cheaper, and more reliable, and the control of a double action is rarely needed in minis. Most often you're just spraying a custom color as a basecoat.

It's not that hard to adjust a single action, you just spin whatever dial it has as you go.

That said, airbrushes tend to "creep" on their pattern. If you take a single action, set the flow, and just start painting along, it's not going to spray (for example) a half inch pattern forever. Especially if you're stopping and starting a lot. Instead, they tend to need adjustment every few minutes just to keep them where you want them, as paint dries around the nozzle.

Much less of an issue with a double action, where you just spray what you want.

You can work around this, jsut air up the tank in the afternoons or something similar if you live in a congested area.

Gotta watch these things tho, because they tend to have sensors that run them automatically when they're low, and sometimes you'll run one up, forget about it, then it goes off on its own at 2:00am. Still, they're much, much nicer to use than the other options, so long as you have space. They also can run a venturi vacuum pump for your mold making work.

And, one last trick. If you want to paint in peace, and jsut cant run a compressor where you live, we can get an air tank.

Paintball players with SCUBA tanks can also probably look into using those. With a good enough regulator, I'd think a SCUBA tank could run things for a long, long time. Even one of the on gun fiber wrapped units would last a long while.

The rule of thumb for any paints you stick in the airbrush is consistency of milk.

I've heard that a lot, but never really understood it. I mean, isn't milk basically like water? I can't really eyeball that sort of thing. I do better with "1:1 thinner to paint." I can measure that.

However I'm wondering to what extend others use it when dealing with smaller models like troops.

In a very limited capacity, I guess. You're pretty much limited to basecoats, camo patterns, and some weathering. The thing is, no matter how fine the detail is, it's still going to be a sorta soft edged spray, so it's only applicable where you want soft edges. So, it's certainly possible to spray very fine weathering lines along panel lines, but you can't block out sharp edged stuff.

tallmantim wrote:What sort of oil do you use and where do you put it?

pneumatic tool oil, and you put it pretty much wherever you have metal on metal.

Hi

A great airbrush maintenance guide can be found here:

http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=72016

Another very good resource for finding good airbrush equipment is Craigslist. You can find people selling airbrush equipment fairly cheap and in good condition. And another good thing is you can drive within a couple hours and see the items before purchasing them.

One thing to look for is a good studio compressor. These things retail for like $1200 but you can find them on craigslist and sometimes ebay for under $200 in good shape. They have small tanks so they are compact, but more importantly run off of what sounds like a Refrigerator compressor, very quiet, and very consistant on air flow.

One of the best things I use my airbrush for are squad badges and "hand painted" icons. You can make small stencils, place them on a shoulderpad or tank and just spray a fine mist on the stencil, remove the stencil and viola, you have a decent outline to follow to "hand paint" your icons on.

Nice tutorial. Earlier I thought about buying the GW airbrush, but after reading tutorials like this I gave up on the idea - so you guys have saved me the money

Anyone got any sample images of what you can do with airbrushes on minis, e.g. it would be nice to see before/after shots of the weathering effects (without any brushwork afterwards, so rather "in the making" shots). I've never used an airbrush - I only spray paint the undercoat.

Hey MoM, thanks for making this thread to highlight some of the differences. I recently got a Central Air Supply double action airbrush from HF for Christmas but have only used it once: To paint the base splotches on a baneblade for a DoK plasma storm scheme. I think i might break it out this weekend and start practicing with it some more. Also I do the terrain for my local club and I think I have been neglecting to use this awesome tool.

As far as cleanu goes or quick swapping of paint pots, is there some type of investment into being able to do this? I think that is the issue I have worried about the most when I did use my airbrush, was taking too long and hoping the paint would not dry and clog up parts. Is there a good acrylic paint cleaner anyne could recommend for clean up?

Nice tutorial. Earlier I thought about buying the GW airbrush, but after reading tutorials like this I gave up on the idea - so you guys have saved me the money

Very happy with my ebay airbrush - under US$30 delivered.

One of the things I really like about the dual action airbrush as opposed to what you can do with a single action is to spray an area, then blow it clean with air. This is also useful if you accidently spray a little too much in an area to get it to disperse.

And airbrushing really is a lot of fun!

Anyone got any sample images of what you can do with airbrushes on minis, e.g. it would be nice to see before/after shots of the weathering effects (without any brushwork afterwards, so rather "in the making" shots). I've never used an airbrush - I only spray paint the undercoat.

Not weathering, but here are some figures I have painted with the airbrush so far (only brushwork is a single wash)...

VermGho5t wrote:Hey MoM, thanks for making this thread to highlight some of the differences. I recently got a Central Air Supply double action airbrush from HF for Christmas but have only used it once: To paint the base splotches on a baneblade for a DoK plasma storm scheme. I think i might break it out this weekend and start practicing with it some more. Also I do the terrain for my local club and I think I have been neglecting to use this awesome tool.

As far as cleanu goes or quick swapping of paint pots, is there some type of investment into being able to do this? I think that is the issue I have worried about the most when I did use my airbrush, was taking too long and hoping the paint would not dry and clog up parts. Is there a good acrylic paint cleaner anyne could recommend for clean up?

If you Google 'airbrush cleaning' you'll get a variety of hits, including some pretty good vids on youtube.

Personally, I use recycled soda bottles (ie ones I empty while modeling/painting)for every modeling task I can. For cleaning my AB, I just cut a hole in the side of a 24 oz bottle, I have a lil spray bottle of window cleaner I spray in the cup and some qtips to wipe it out with. I just spray the wondow cleaner til it comes out clear of the paint. I have it down to about a minute or two for paint changes on my brush.

For terrain stuff, you might be using alot of the same color over a longer period of time- make sure to wipe the cup out everytime you empty it- this keeps the drying paint from building up into goop that can jam the nozzle.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

tallmantim wrote:

One of the things I really like about the dual action airbrush as opposed to what you can do with a single action is to spray an area, then blow it clean with air. This is also useful if you accidently spray a little too much in an area to get it to disperse.


Not weathering, but here are some figures I have painted with the airbrush so far (only brushwork is a single wash)...

Yep, I use mine as a little blower too- comes in handy for chasing ink/washes when they puddle up where you dont want them

And shading like the Swoopin hawk wings is a good use for an AB. Some of the larger Tyrnid armor plates would be too I imagine.

I'll try to get some update posts for this thread going, but Ive gotten obsessed with my Hellhound variant and squiggoths O.o

tallmantim wrote:

Not weathering, but here are some figures I have painted with the airbrush so far (only brushwork is a single wash)...

Wow, if this is your beginning go at this I think I need to start looking for a deal for a compressor to run an airbrush. Those hawks look like a GREAT place to start laying paint with a brush. If anyone has spied any deals on air compressors they could pm or link I'd love you all even more than I already do

Harbor Freight, craigslist, air tanks, there are many options.

Ebay sellers have brush/compressor kits too you could look at as well.

Scherdy wrote:

Wow, if this is your beginning go at this I think I need to start looking for a deal for a compressor to run an airbrush. Those hawks look like a GREAT place to start laying paint with a brush. If anyone has spied any deals on air compressors they could pm or link I'd love you all even more than I already do

The picture is very grainy above - it doesn't do justice to how nice the finish comes out from the airbrush - solid smooth surface with no brush strokes!

I was lucky that my father had a good compressor that he wasn't using.

This is a completed listing for the sort of one that I have:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Air-compressor-2-5HP-21L_W0QQitemZ320393865738QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Air_Tools?hash=item4a98f66a0a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A13|66%3A4|39%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A200

It is noisy, but it only needs to run for a couple of minutes to fill the tank, then I shut the power off.

So, overall cost for a decent setup (similar to what I have) in Australian $$$:

Compressor $80 (second hand industrial - you need a hobby one if you can't be noisy at night)
Airbrush $30 (dual action and works a treat - a whole new airbrush costs less than some replacement parts for top quality brushes)
Water trap/
regulator $30
Hose $20
Couplings $15
Acrylic airbrush
thinner $12

So all up for less than AU$200 you could have a decent setup.

Entertaining airbrush use #107

Spraying a sleeping cat with air= hilarious.

Entertaining airbrush use #223

Watching the new transformers movie and watching the fully made up vixen in cut off shorts and high boots bend seductively over a motercycle doing airbrush work - whilst having neither a cap on the 'brush, nor paint.

I guess they didn't expect people to be actually looking at the airbrush in that scene!

tallmantim wrote:Entertaining airbrush use #223

Watching the new transformers movie and watching the fully made up vixen in cut off shorts and high boots bend seductively over a motercycle doing airbrush work - whilst having neither a cap on the 'brush, nor paint.

I guess they didn't expect people to be actually looking at the airbrush in that scene!

Airbrush? Motorcycle?

LOL

Glad you asked!

Here is a picture of Megan Fox airbrushing a motorcycle. Gotta love the technique!

That is what we call sarcasm...

Maybe she was just practicing her form? You know, dry run before putting in the paint...like uhh...the tobogganers imagining running the course before they climb in? I'm SURE that's it.

I just wanted to add my experiences to this thread…

My last experience with airbrushing was at high school back in 1995 or something. At about the same time I found out I couldn't draw or paint even a stick figure. No matter if my life depended on it. (Freehanding is out of the question for me. ^_^)

First I bought the Citadel Flamer-thingie. I only wanted to basecoat some of my orks and vehicles. Perhaps add some weathering by using masks and such.

Words cannot describe how much it sucked. Paint was a b*tch to begin with. I thinned the paint 50:50 with only water – as the manual tells you. That together with the huge amount of paint it puts out (I know, you can adjust that to a degree) gave you just slightly more control than you have with a spray can.

To add to my problems. One can of propellant was not enough. Once I got the hang of using the "flamer" I ran into problems with the propellant getting too cold to use. Luckily I bought two of them.


So I went to the computer and ponied up for a beginners airbrush from Paasche. The VL-2000 – a siphon feed dual-action airbrush ($100-ish here in Sweden). I also went over to my parents and "borrowed" my dads compressor. (Some generic 25 litre, noisy as hell compressor). ^_^

A week later the airbrush arrived and let me tell you, it's lightyears ahead of the flamer in both control and application of paint. Being able to control the pressure and spraypattern on the fly is just amazing in comparison. Coating hard to reach areas without overflowing the mini in paint is actually possible(sic).

The only thing I had problems with was the siphon feed. Since you have this rather big (4cc) bottle underneath the airbrush you cannot get as close as you want to what you're painting. Not a biggie since I was mostly basecoating orks & painting my CoD buildings, but for making small detail it was an annoyance.

One other thing about the siphon feed is that I had to mix up way more paint than I was using since the feed-tube doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the bottle. So I always ended up with quite a lot of paint sitting in the bottle / sputtering airbrush. So… I went for broke and bought me a Harder & Steinbeck Evolution Two In One that has a top feed. (Comes with a bigger needle and cup, in a pretty ugly case.)


To make a long story short. Going from the VL-2000 to the Evolution was like going from the flamer to the VL-2000. My advice is, don't cheap out, you'll regret it AND get broke replacing bad stuff with better stuff.


(As for now I've only been using Vallejo Model color and Citadel Foundation mixed with Liquitex Airbrush medium. As soon as I have money for a spray booth I'm going to try with alcohol and other solvent based thinners / paints as it takes quite long for the paints to dry up at the moment. But for now it's only water / medium and acrylics since I have to spray in the same apartment as my two cats.)

Links etc:
Paasche VL-2000 (eBay)
Evolution 2in1 (eBay)
Liquitex Airbrush medium (Liquitex)
Trying out the Evolution (Dropbox)
Manofactorum painted with VL-2000 and moderate drybrushing (Dropbox)

––

(That scene with Megan Fox is disturbing in a not so sexy way… >_<

After my first effort of running the airbrush at 40PSI and blowing all the paint out the front in rapid style, I now mix only a very small ammount in a medicine cup - just enough to use and discard the remainder (rather than mixing up a big batch).

For example, I wanted to put some yellow on my swooping hawks' wings, so it was a mix of about .2ml of sunburst yellow paint to about .6ml of airbrush thinner. The very thin paint allows you to layer on paint well and it dries quickly. With 10 of them to do I used this paint mix with some spare.

Saves having to store airbrush mix paint separately (although some may prefer if they have a large army to paint for example).

Very economical - used less paint than I would have with a brush for sure.

had to open this up again...first to see any updated work of people who got inspired and started to break out their airbrushes....

and second...I took a trip to harbor freight and looked at compressors.

As far a regulator/moisture trap would this be what I want to hook up to any compressor that didn't come with these things for airbrushing? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95439

As far as compressors, I wasn't sure what to pick up so I'm going to research it. I think I'm going to pick up one of their 3 or 4 gallon little compressors since I can stick it in the garage and paint out there with my airbrush.

I really don't know how to answer your question, but I'm glad this thread lives again!

Gunzhard wrote: but I'm glad this thread lives again!

So am I! Somehow I missed this thread the first time around. It's been a godsend as I've been wanting an airbrush thanks to the Imperial Armour masterclass book. Big thanks to everyone's tips here. Now I just need to get the idea past the soon-to-be-wife

Thanks MoM for this tutorial. The in-depth aproach from the buying of the material to how to use it is appreciated. Also, its one of the rare airbrush articles that give options other than base-coating and camo.

Just wanted to open this thread again to talk
about paint thinners and paint. I read a reply on the
Fine Scale Modeler airbrushing forum about using Future
floor polish as a thinner with Vallejo game color paints. I
tried it and the results are great. I now use it for GW paints, craft paints, etc. I am wondering if anyone else
has tried this and what their experience was. You get a very smooth gloss finish, and it smells nice too (LOL).

Just to add to this thread. Ive airbrushed scale models for a while now an d i swear by my airbrush now. I started off using a cheap and chearfull airbrush from here:
http://www.airbrush-pro.co.uk/
Which did me fine but would only do larger areas. Ive now invested in a Iwata Evoloution airbrush which i am loving now. My secondbest investmant has been a air regulator which sits in line with my quick release fitting and arbrush.

If there is interest i can photograph my set up to give people an idea what im running.

If you are in the UK i cant recommend enough giving my freind here a shout (no im not on commision, hes just a good freind offering a good service and he knows what hes on about)
http://www.little-cars.co.uk/
If you give him a ring hes more than happy to talk you through options and explain things.

dad1946 wrote:Just wanted to open this thread again to talk
about paint thinners and paint. I read a reply on the
Fine Scale Modeler airbrushing forum about using Future
floor polish as a thinner with Vallejo game color paints. I
tried it and the results are great. I now use it for GW paints, craft paints, etc. I am wondering if anyone else
has tried this and what their experience was. You get a very smooth gloss finish, and it smells nice too (LOL).

This brings me to my question. How do you go about thinning the paints? Is there any special trick the one should know? Do you use water to thin it, or do you need something like the floor polish. If the polish, what kind? Inquiring minds want to know?

Nice little tutorial but I'd point out the following:

I'd recommend anyone spending money on a compressor get one with an integral air tank. It doesn't matter how big. Air coming from a tank doesn't "pulse" like that coming directly from a compressor. This is an ENORMOUS help when painting at PSIs below 30, as you won't get spattering paint halfway through a line.

Additionally, if you're spraying anything other than water/acrylic paints, you need to invest in a respirator and a spray booth. Avoiding to have to go to the doctor for lung problems is worth the extra money.

As far a regulator/moisture trap would this be what I want to hook up to any compressor that didn't come with these things for airbrushing? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95439

The problem with traps like that is you have to "bleed" the water out through the valve on the bottom occasionally. I had one on my last compressor that would never fully bleed, so water sat in the bottom and rusted the valve.

IIRC, my current compressor has what's called a "water/oil separator" that's clear and has little balls of dessicant (the stuff they put in shoes and clothes at stores) inside it. Never have the purge it and when the desiccant turns gray, you just discard and refill it.

How do you go about thinning the paints? Is there any special trick the one should know? Do you use water to thin it, or do you need something like the floor polish. If the polish, what kind? Inquiring minds want to know?

I use Illustration Base exclusively now.

Cheaper than dedicated "airbrush thinner", lacks the moisture of thinning with water that causes poor adhesion, and doesn't give off harmful chemicals like thinning with Future or Windex would.

I use Golden Airbrush base

Createx makes some: http://www.airbrushwarehouse.com.au/paints/createx-additives/597

Just like to say that this forum has inspired me to try out airbrushing myself! Right now there is this deal currently on Ebay that I think looks like a steal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2mm-Dual-Act-Gravity-Airbrush-Master-Airbrush-G44-G-/170582808737?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b78718a1

From what was said earlier this is the exact same gun as the PS900 just under a different company. It comes with the hose quick release and an airbrush stand to set it on. Not bad for 60bucks free shipping.

My only delay now is I need to find an air compressor. This has been talked to death on these forums and I literally spent 4 hours today at work researching air sources *Don't tell my boss*. I live in an apartment and have no idea the reality of using a loud compressor even if i charge it only during the day etc. I really don't want to spend 350 on a Black Jet Lite or w/e airbrush compressor. I also researched CO2 pretty intensely which definitely looks to have its pro's but might be expensive in the long haul. Ugh! Such a hard choice to make.

I have a Masters brush... I bought it specifically to do metallics that I will never again put into my nicer airbrushes.

It works fine, but the seals are pretty crappy and the nozzle tip is extremely fragile... I've already broken one and had to order a second. Most of the issues I had using this AB were solved with Bees Wax however and it is working fine atm.

I have an Iwata SmartJet compressor... it's small and I don't have any separate tank so it's running nearly the entire time I AB, but it is fairly quiet. I live in an apartment and I've never got any complaints... I would guess that after midnight when the world is quiet that somebody might hear the purr but it's not likely to bother. That is the major 'pro' of getting a smaller hobby compressor.

The larger garage compressors are of course more efficient, more versatile and often more economical, but not everyone can make use of them.

Pyronick wrote:Just like to say that this forum has inspired me to try out airbrushing myself! Right now there is this deal currently on Ebay that I think looks like a steal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2mm-Dual-Act-Gravity-Airbrush-Master-Airbrush-G44-G-/170582808737?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b78718a1

From what was said earlier this is the exact same gun as the PS900 just under a different company. It comes with the hose quick release and an airbrush stand to set it on. Not bad for 60bucks free shipping.

My only delay now is I need to find an air compressor. This has been talked to death on these forums and I literally spent 4 hours today at work researching air sources *Don't tell my boss*. I live in an apartment and have no idea the reality of using a loud compressor even if i charge it only during the day etc. I really don't want to spend 350 on a Black Jet Lite or w/e airbrush compressor. I also researched CO2 pretty intensely which definitely looks to have its pro's but might be expensive in the long haul. Ugh! Such a hard choice to make.

Why not buy a Paasche Talon? It's only $20 more but is US-made, is a major brand, and is a good brush.

I agree. The Paasche Talon is IMO the best wargames airbrush out there based on price, design and usefulness. Others are pricier but nicer, but the cheaper ones just don't come close. I paid $80 for mine with all 3 needles included as well as the hose.

ancientsociety wrote:
I use Illustration Base exclusively now.

Cheaper than dedicated "airbrush thinner", lacks the moisture of thinning with water that causes poor adhesion, and doesn't give off harmful chemicals like thinning with Future or Windex would.

I use Golden Airbrush base

Createx makes some: http://www.airbrushwarehouse.com.au/paints/createx-additives/597

Can you clarify this dude... is the 'base' the same as the 'airbrush medium'? ...your link opens up a page showing only the medium. I've used Golden AB medium, and I always use Liquitex AB medium now, and both are great. Is the 'base' something different and/or better?

Gunzhard wrote:

ancientsociety wrote:
I use Illustration Base exclusively now.

Cheaper than dedicated "airbrush thinner", lacks the moisture of thinning with water that causes poor adhesion, and doesn't give off harmful chemicals like thinning with Future or Windex would.

I use Golden Airbrush base

Createx makes some: http://www.airbrushwarehouse.com.au/paints/createx-additives/597

Can you clarify this dude... is the 'base' the same as the 'airbrush medium'? ...your link opens up a page showing only the medium. I've used Golden AB medium, and I always use Liquitex AB medium now, and both are great. Is the 'base' something different and/or better?

Base and Medium are just different terms for the same thing.

Wow, I havent been on Dakka for a few months, so I was kind of surprised to see this thread has recently been pulled out of the back of the fridge(Hiding behind the jar of what looked like Tyranid biomass or something nurgly....)

So, to cover some of the new points/queries-

Future can be used to thin paints, but its not exactly thin itself. This usually means you have to up the air pressure a little bit to push a slightly thicker mix. More air has a few effects, its blows over plastic figs, and can cause more spidering if you arent holding your brush far enough away. Another aspect of future- is it will make the paint a bit more durable(this is why people use it as a clear coat...) it will also make things glossy- so if you dont like your figs shiny make sure to have some sort of matte finisher to counter the shine of the Future.

The Paache Talo is a nice brush- but at the time I wrote this piece it was running over a 100$, which is steep for someone that is just starting or trying an AB out. So I stand with my PS900/Master make brush. Its still more airbrush than I can make full use of and is like 40$ now.

For using actual air brush additives for base/mediums to thin my AB paint- it depends on the project. If Im doing a bigger resin bust of a comic book character, I'll use the mediums since the larger flat surfaces need to be super smooth. But on gaming stuff, with all the small textures, and with hightlights via dry brushing or washes/inks- its a moot point and windex, rubbing alcohol, or even Future will work just fine for tabletop stuff.

I've got some new content to share for making stencils, and simple & fast ways to mask areas from large to small that should really help. But it takes pics to really show and Im waiting on a better camera before I really get into it.

morgendonner wrote:I'm the one who started asking about using a paintball CO2 tank, I've done a little browsing to find out.

Yeah, no. You can't use CO2. As CO2 expands, the temperature drops drastically (hence why your CO2 tank gets so cold), moreso than w/ compressed air. I don't think you need me to tell you that very cold air is bad for your paint.

chaos0xomega wrote:

morgendonner wrote:I'm the one who started asking about using a paintball CO2 tank, I've done a little browsing to find out.

Yeah, no. You can't use CO2. As CO2 expands, the temperature drops drastically (hence why your CO2 tank gets so cold), moreso than w/ compressed air. I don't think you need me to tell you that very cold air is bad for your paint.

Actually CO2 tanks do work, an airbrush isn't blowing the raw volume to cause freeze up issues. I've seen guys using them for portable set ups doing airbrushed tattoos and the like. Since people dont airbrush outside in the winter- the temp issues from the CO2 arent much of an issue- as anyone thats an advanced enough user is going to know how to counter the temp of the propellant. Its not really any different than using canned air- those little things literally will ice up on you if its humid.

Also- you dont have to put CO2 into the CO2 tanks- you can put air in them Down side for them is the small volume, even at higher psi isnt going to give alot of air time- but would be enough to base coat a few vehicles or a couple of squads.

Mistress of minis wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:

morgendonner wrote:I'm the one who started asking about using a paintball CO2 tank, I've done a little browsing to find out.

Yeah, no. You can't use CO2. As CO2 expands, the temperature drops drastically (hence why your CO2 tank gets so cold), moreso than w/ compressed air. I don't think you need me to tell you that very cold air is bad for your paint.

Actually CO2 tanks do work, an airbrush isn't blowing the raw volume to cause freeze up issues. I've seen guys using them for portable set ups doing airbrushed tattoos and the like. Since people dont airbrush outside in the winter- the temp issues from the CO2 arent much of an issue- as anyone thats an advanced enough user is going to know how to counter the temp of the propellant. Its not really any different than using canned air- those little things literally will ice up on you if its humid.

Also- you dont have to put CO2 into the CO2 tanks- you can put air in them Down side for them is the small volume, even at higher psi isnt going to give alot of air time- but would be enough to base coat a few vehicles or a couple of squads.

CO2 is an issue in the summer (especially in humid climates). The cold causes moisture to condense onto the paint, which ruins the paint. I've never used canned air, so I wouldn't really know what thats like at all.

You really should do a bit more research about the Co2. It works quite well for many people. Google Co2 + airbrush and it might show you what I mean.

I cant tell if you're talking about the theoretical aspects of Co2 being cold, or from actual experience- but it seems more like the previous.

For the amount of cold build up you seem to be talking about- there needs to be a large volume of gas moving- nd airbrushes just dont have a high enough CFM rating to really get an endothermic reaction like that. If they did- every soda dispenser would freeze up from the Co2 used to carbonate the drinks.

Well, the amount of CO2 used in a soda dispenser is actually not all that much (per cup I mean). Anyway, yeah I'm speaking from theory. I've never run CO2 through my airbrush, and I'm pretty convinced I wouldn't want to (in any case, the amount of money I pay the electric company to run a compressor is negligible, especially compared to the amount of money I would spend on CO2 refills just to cover my normal use).

Mistress of minis wrote:
For using actual air brush additives for base/mediums to thin my AB paint- it depends on the project. If Im doing a bigger resin bust of a comic book character, I'll use the mediums since the larger flat surfaces need to be super smooth. But on gaming stuff, with all the small textures, and with hightlights via dry brushing or washes/inks- its a moot point and windex, rubbing alcohol, or even Future will work just fine for tabletop stuff.

Sorry, really have to disagree with this statement. I started out using Windex and it caused particulate buildup on the surface almost immediately. Additionally, it's a health hazard - atomized ammonia (as in Windex) or alcohol really isn't good for your lungs.

You also say that Future isn't thin and the air pressure must be raised, which causes issues, but then you recommend it for smaller work??? Detailed work requires less PSi, anything that you add that must raise the PSi, is directly working against what you want to do.

As mentioned earlier, ever since I switched to Illustration Base, the ease of AB'ing has improved dramatically, which is worth the extra $2-3 more than buying any of the above product. I can also take any extra paint left-over and pour it right back into the pot without ruining the paint. You can't do that with windex or alcohol. YMMV

ancientsociety wrote:

Mistress of minis wrote:
For using actual air brush additives for base/mediums to thin my AB paint- it depends on the project. If Im doing a bigger resin bust of a comic book character, I'll use the mediums since the larger flat surfaces need to be super smooth. But on gaming stuff, with all the small textures, and with hightlights via dry brushing or washes/inks- its a moot point and windex, rubbing alcohol, or even Future will work just fine for tabletop stuff.

Sorry, really have to disagree with this statement. I started out using Windex and it caused particulate buildup on the surface almost immediately. Additionally, it's a health hazard - atomized ammonia (as in Windex) or alcohol really isn't good for your lungs.

You also say that Future isn't thin and the air pressure must be raised, which causes issues, but then you recommend it for smaller work??? Detailed work requires less PSi, anything that you add that must raise the PSi, is directly working against what you want to do.

As mentioned earlier, ever since I switched to Illustration Base, the ease of AB'ing has improved dramatically, which is worth the extra $2-3 more than buying any of the above product. I can also take any extra paint left-over and pour it right back into the pot without ruining the paint. You can't do that with windex or alcohol. YMMV

You seem very determined to continually be contrary rather than provide anything factual.

You do realize Windex is SPRAYED onto glass right? People dont die or go to the hospital from using it? This is a silly point and MANY airbrushers use it, and have done so for a long while without ill effects.

I never recommended using Future- I simply pointed out its different handling characteristics compared to other mediums.

And, since you have had success with the Illustration Base- why dont you tell us a little more about that?

Mistress of minis wrote:You seem very determined to continually be contrary rather than provide anything factual.

I think you're taking my posts a little too personally. As I mentioned in my post above, it's a nice tutorial but is missing a few things. My point wasn't to offend, but to add my perspective. If I did, my apologies.

The point of your OP was to help new users, as you consider yourself well-versed on the subject. You should be aware that some users who are just as well-versed will share their own opinions and may disagree with your own. It's not an attack on you.

We both want the same thing - for new users to avoid the mistakes we made starting out. Right?

Mistress of minis wrote:You do realize Windex is SPRAYED onto glass right? People dont die or go to the hospital from using it? This is a silly point and MANY airbrushers use it, and have done so for a long while without ill effects.

Yes, I do realize and am aware many ABers use it, however, since this is a tutorial directed at new users, you may want to mention that nearly all ABers who use such mediums either wear a full-on respirator, paint in a spray box, or some combination of the above.

The casual user who's spraying Windex unto glass is spraying it for 10 secs. An ABer using it as a medium is spraying for 5-15 minutes at a time. That's a big difference at least to me. As I mentioned above...YMMV.

Mistress of minis wrote:I never recommended using Future- I simply pointed out its different handling characteristics compared to other mediums.

"...or even Future will work just fine for tabletop stuff."

Sorry, but the casual reader would consider that a recommendation.

Mistress of minis wrote:And, since you have had success with the Illustration Base- why dont you tell us a little more about that?

I have...

ancientsociety wrote:
I use Illustration Base exclusively now.

Cheaper than dedicated "airbrush thinner", lacks the moisture of thinning with water that causes poor adhesion, and doesn't give off harmful chemicals like thinning with Future or Windex would.

I use Golden Airbrush base

Createx makes some: http://www.airbrushwarehouse.com.au/paints/createx-additives/597

Great article, I'm finding all this very enlightening.

I've been considering buying an airbrush and compressor for some time.

This is what I've been drawn towards: http://cgi.ebay.com/IWATA-HP-CS-Eclipse-AIRBRUSH-w-COMPRESSOR-KIT-Air-Brush_W0QQitemZ190487432693QQcategoryZ28111QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D200528810038%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6436809623787390632

Anyone care to advise if this is a worthwhile purchase? The price is fine by me, I just want to be aware of any potential pitfalls re: the compressor.

Thats the kit I have, works great for me. Just be aware that during normal use the compressor will be kicking in about every 5 minutes for about a minute at a time, but its not terribly loud, only a little louder than a refrigerator.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

More Dakka wrote:Great article, I'm finding all this very enlightening.

I've been considering buying an airbrush and compressor for some time.

This is what I've been drawn towards: http://cgi.ebay.com/IWATA-HP-CS-Eclipse-AIRBRUSH-w-COMPRESSOR-KIT-Air-Brush_W0QQitemZ190487432693QQcategoryZ28111QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D200528810038%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6436809623787390632

Anyone care to advise if this is a worthwhile purchase? The price is fine by me, I just want to be aware of any potential pitfalls re: the compressor.

The Eclipse is supposed to be an excellent AB. I've never used it nor do I know anyone who has, but I hear a lot of good things.

I do, however, have that same TCP Compressor and i thought it sucked. I had to go to Harbor Freight and buy one with an integral tank and better moisture trap, since that one kept pulsing paint and the water trap would never clear 100% of the water.

ancientsociety wrote:
Automatically Appended Next Post:

More Dakka wrote:Great article, I'm finding all this very enlightening.

I've been considering buying an airbrush and compressor for some time.

This is what I've been drawn towards: http://cgi.ebay.com/IWATA-HP-CS-Eclipse-AIRBRUSH-w-COMPRESSOR-KIT-Air-Brush_W0QQitemZ190487432693QQcategoryZ28111QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D200528810038%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6436809623787390632

Anyone care to advise if this is a worthwhile purchase? The price is fine by me, I just want to be aware of any potential pitfalls re: the compressor.

The Eclipse is supposed to be an excellent AB. I've never used it nor do I know anyone who has, but I hear a lot of good things.

I do, however, have that same TCP Compressor and i thought it sucked. I had to go to Harbor Freight and buy one with an integral tank and better moisture trap, since that one kept pulsing paint and the water trap would never clear 100% of the water.

OHHHH my bad. Don't get that one, get this kit instead:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-IWATA-HP-CS-Eclipse-AIRBRUSH-KIT-w-TANK-COMPRESSOR-/200562228084?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb270bb74

Same seller, same airbrush, same compressor... but now it has a tank attached to it.

Shows what happens when you don't pay attention, lol.

Ah, so the airtank solves the pressure problem.

Checking with a friend who was offering me his Badger compressor for about $100.00: http://www.internethobbies.com/bad18com.html

Is that one any good?

More Dakka wrote:Ah, so the airtank solves the pressure problem.

Checking with a friend who was offering me his Badger compressor for about $100.00: http://www.internethobbies.com/bad18com.html

Is that one any good?

I wouldn't know, but I will point out that it does not have an air tank...

Without a tank, the pressure fluctuates as the diaphram in the pump sends pulses of air out. At lower pressures its not much of an issue, but once you start getting to around 20+ psi (which is about the minimum needed to push thinned GW paint) you'll start noticing the pulsing affecting your paint flow. If you were to paint a straight line the effect is sort of like this:(dont laugh at me lamer asci graphics!)

--o--o--o--o--o--o

So, it can screw up detail work, or cause spidering if your brush is too close. It does have one minor benefit of seeming to keep your nozzle from blocking up as often- but you're usually too busy swearing at the results to notice

So, a tank with a regulator is nice ot have to get nice smooth airflow.

I've skipped over the last few posts but saw something that got my attention.

Almost all online tutorials say to use ammonia free windex. Mine is an organic off brand glass cleaner that is 100% safe. I've also never had ANY buildup or drawback to using it.

For people looking for a cheap air supply with tank:
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/oilless-compressors/1-3-hp-3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-air-compressor-97080.html

the regulators work just fine on these, all you need to add is a water trap. If it's coming from an air tank, the compressor itself is of little importance aside from noise and perhaps how fast it fills. Neither of those factors are issues for me.
I also like these as they have 2 gauges: 1 for the current tank pressure, and one for your output. This lets you know when your tank is full, and also watch your output volume.

Now this is a thread that I needed to find, thanks everyone!

Buying an airbrush is just one part of the equation, type of paint is the other. I would like to recommend Vallejo model air paints. They are a dream to paint with. I do not need to thin them, you can use them straight from the bottle.
Best metallics I have ever used. I spray at 18 psig and they
give terrific coverage. Well worth the investment for airbrushing.

Tamiya acrylic paint + thinner, cannot be beat. Really not sure if you need the thinner, but it increases coverage and lets you get a nice smooth coat.

Today I bought a Harbor Freight CentralPneumatic oilless compressor for 59.99 and let me tell you it is life changing!!!

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-8-eighth-hp-40-psi-oilless-airbrush-compressor-93657.html

Mind you I was skeptical but I decided that the oilless I had wasn't cutting it and I didn't want to spend a absurd amount of money nor did I want to deal with the noise of a pancake compressor(My roomates would flipsh#t) lol. So I did some looking around online and found this Harbor Freight compressor for relatively cheap. I went to a local store picked it up, still very skeptical mind you. I got it home, unboxed and used it for a good to and a half hours solid. It only runs while your using your brush, super quite and the best part... no pulse action at all... CONSTANT PRESSURE!!! This thing is a dream. It has a pressure regulator built on, with a moisture trap that both work very well.

Currently I'm using a Snap-on Siphon feed brush which I love. I use Golden Airbrush medium with a 1:1 ratio and I use GW paints. I use a toothpick to dab into the paint pot and mix my paints drop by drop directly in the paint pot. I think I'm going to buy this brush here in the next week because its a great price and has gotten rave reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013NBQLA/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A23ADOZFIJNPFB

Here's some poorly taken photos lol. No detail work just base coats






Terminator

MoM thanks again for all your great advice and efforts. I now am the happy owner of 2 ps-900's and a Sparmax 610h, and am about to dedicate myself hardcore to air-brush-fu!

Note on that subject, I would like to recommend the Mathieu Fontaine Miniature mentor Dread Airbrush and weathering tutorial as an excellent place to get up to speed on what to expect and good fundamental technique!

http://www.miniaturementor.com/painting_tutorials.html

about halfway down, white weathered dread -

Eh, ignore me, though still curious if there's any difference between the PS900 and the G44 beyond the name (and whoo tapered paint thing wossname).

I've recently been given a gift of a airbrush (hooray for amazon wishlists), but it seems TCP Global sent out a "Master Airbrush G44" rather than the Pro tools PS 900. Has anyone any experience with this airbrush?

Amazon reviews suggest it to be lackluster, but a google search suggests it's not a bad bit of kit, any first hand experience here with the brand?

I have a Masters G23 and it does everything I need it to do... which is basically spray metallics that I won't put in my other AB's.

The only problem I've had is that the seals are pretty crappy and leak air. This problem was solved rather easily with 'Bees Wax'.

In the US you can buy a 'Toilet Repair Gasket' that is basically a cylindrical tub filled with Bees Wax... and it's cheap!

Nephilem wrote:Eh, ignore me, though still curious if there's any difference between the PS900 and the G44 beyond the name (and whoo tapered paint thing wossname).

I've recently been given a gift of a airbrush (hooray for amazon wishlists), but it seems TCP Global sent out a "Master Airbrush G44" rather than the Pro tools PS 900. Has anyone any experience with this airbrush?

Amazon reviews suggest it to be lackluster, but a google search suggests it's not a bad bit of kit, any first hand experience here with the brand?

Im pretty sure the g44 is the ps900, a different company picked up the importation and seem to have slapped a new logo on and sort of rebranded them.

I have several Master airbrushes. I have the Master G444
set and it is a pretty good airbrush. The cup is a little large
for what I use it for. I use my Master G41 and G48 for painting mini's.The G41 holds about 6 drops of Vallejo
model air paint and is great for detail. I also have a Master
G79 which is great for laying down a lot of paint, great for
terrain. I purchased all of these from TCP global, they have
great customer service.

I know this is a bit late on the discussion but I bought a nice airbrush on ebay for 140 including shipping and came with a compressor. I think you should do an article but also include headings and subheadings to organize thoughts and ideas. Overall great read.

Gaaahhhh!! I am sorry for the Threadcromancy, but I have something to add!

I've had an airbrush (Badger siphon feed) for about 2 decades, and never used it much, mostly because when I first bought it I got a cheap tankless compressor, and I couldn't stand the pulsing, so I forgot about it. Then this spring i got a cheap 3 gallon tank air-compressor at Harbor Freight. I love it! It works great for airbrushing needs! It even pumps up tires if you don't mind how long it takes. Then I got into Airbrush Tattoos. Which is a whole different can of worms, but I am often at a place where I don't have access to power. So I switched to Compressed CO2! You can rent a 20 lb. tank for around $10 (or less) per month, plus a $20 tank fill charge, and get a regulator at Harbor Frieght for around $25. If you buy your tank out-right, you'll expect to pay around $100 to $130, I didn't go that route, but I might in the future. For me, at least for now, renting is the way to go. So, if you are on a budget, like me, $60+/- plus a small rental fee for a completely silent, electricty-free alternative to an aircompressor is the way to go! If I had heard about this alternative ealier, I wouldn't have bought the aircompressor at all. I just wanted to let others who are looking into this to have additional options. If you have any questions about CO2 tanks, send me a PM and I'll tell you what I know.

On the down-side, however, the tank is heavy, and I had to put mine in a hiking backpack to haul it around. But the one I am renting is made of steel, they also make aluminum ones that are much lighter, and they make smaller ones too that are more portable, but obviously don't hold as much CO2. As for places to find them, Norco in the USA is always an option, but I have found they are over-priced. If you have a welding supply place near you, I would try there, they seem to be more resonable. Also, a note of caution, you can find regulators that will go for as much as $400! You don't need anything fancy! Go to Harbor Freight! The spendy ones are for welding and stuff where a leak could blow you up! Co2 won't kill you, maybe if you are in an airtight room and you use it for hours...but if you are spraying paint, what on earth are you doing without propper ventilation!?!?!

Also, on the matter of airbrushes, you get what you pay for. The cheap ones will be fine for base-coating, and maybe even for shadows and area highlighting, but they won't be any good for smaller more detailed work, like stenciling logos on vehicles or shoulder pads. I'm not saying to spend hundreds, just don't go over-board just because "it's the best"! If all you are doing to base coating, why spend more money than you have to? Unless you eventually want to get better, and do more things like stenciling emblems and stuff, then you don't want to pay for something twice, right?

I'm sure I may have repeated somethings that others have said, I first read this thread quite some time agao, and it helped get me motivated at the time. But I don't recall anyone talking about Compressed CO2, so I wanted to talk about that possibility.

Cheers!

Jake

I've got to say. I have a Paasche VL double action airbrush and have had it for quite a while.

On a eggroll's recommendation I searched out and found a VEDA 180 on ebay. It's essentially a chinese clone of the Iwata Revolution and I have to say, it's easily as good as the paasche and I've found I have improved quite substancially by having a gravity fed airbrush.

So there's deals to be had but remember, you won't get any support from the chinese knockoffs you get on ebay. Think about it as disposable and you'll be sweet.