Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

well, i'm thinking of buying an airbrush after christmas, and i have become aware of the two styles. So i would like to know what your opinions of them are, so i can decide which one to buy.

thanks guys

I would say gravity feed is more efficient

Depends what your usage is. I use both types regularly.

For general painting, I use a gravity feed brush with the cup built in. The advantage here is twofold - one, you use less paint and two, you can't knock the cup off, both of which makes mixing in the cup much easier - the mix in the cup is very quickly what comes out of the brush. With the siphon (bottom) feed, there's a little bit more wastage and time to wait as the paint has to be drawn up the feed pipe. This also means the siphon feed has to be run at a higher pressure.

For bulk varnishing, and large spray jobs the siphon feed brush comes into its own - a large jar adapter comes in handy - you can mix up a batch of colour and basically have exactly the same mix on hand for further work later on, and all it takes is a quick flush through with a jar of clean water to swap colours - in some ways this makes it more convenient than the gravity feed, where the cup really needs cleaning out properly when swapping colours. Also, you don't have to keep topping up the cup.

Since I got hold of an ultrasonic cleaner, cleanup for both brushes has been pretty easy - shoot through thinners, wipe down, dismantle and shove em in the cleaner for half an hour or so. Before then, the siphon feed (particularly the cup) was a pain to clean (pipe cleaners handy!). Actually now I think about it the gravity feed wasn't exactly a doddle either. Get an ultrasonic cleaner - best you can afford (I paid about £35), you won't regret it.

Gravity feed can be tricky if it’s just the cup and not a sealed unit, I’ve splashed a couple of times when I wasn’t paying attention. For touch up and details though there the best and very little waste.
Siphon feed I use for larger jobs, but like mentioned before it too has it’s ups and downs.
How about a gun that does both?