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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!