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So I have decided to get an airbrush to base coat some armies with, and was wondering if there was any consensus as to what decent "standard" airbrushes were. I'm looking mostly to do base coating rather than airbrushed detail, so detail level is not a huge concern. Most of my knowledge so far comes from this lovely youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NxHXwOWn94.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Check buypainted's video about getting an airbrush. And marneus augusta calgar's video is also very good, and I actually bought the same set.

For basecoating make sure to have a slightly larger needle size. At least .4mm

Thanks for the advice, DijnsK. I will look into those.

For just basecoating, most relatively cheap airbrushed will do a fine job. You want one with a larger tip as said above.
I would maybe look for 0.5mm or 0.8mm if spraying primer, base colours and maybe topcoats is all you want it for.
The smaller tips 0.2 and 0.15 are generally for spraying freehand artwork with ultra thin paint or inks.

If you might want to have a dabble at other jobs with the brush then 0.3 and 0.4mm tips are a bit more all rounder style.

Airsource is quite important for a pleasurable airbrush experience. Something with a tank is the best, there are small ones with 3L tanks, I've got one of those here an 'AS196' and I have a larger 24L 2 h.p compressor out in the shed for big jobs using hvlp guns (this is too much for mini's really)
Without a tank things will still work just fine for a while, but quickly (within 10-20minutes) the motor will be hot and condensing moisture into your air. If you will only ever spray for a few minutes at a time, hours or more apart from each sesion, then this will be mostly a non issue.

Aswell as tank / no tank. Compressors also come in piston / diaphragm.
Pistons are better and provide a more steady stable air pressure. the diaphram ones tend to 'pulse' up and down around your setting.. which isnt that bad for a basecoat really.. but isnt 100% ideal either.
By all means spend most of your money on a decent compressor and get a cheap brush. Theres quite a few sets on ebay with a compressor and a brush which are usualy good starting points.

i think HairySticks is my new best friend
what he said

I use a Testors Aztec "resin" airbrush that I have had for years prior to getting into Warhammer 40k. The other airbrushes that Testors make are good starter airbrushes as well.

Hi everyone,

I am also looking for a first airbrush and have found this online,

http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/info_AB_AS17_3K.html

not sure how good it will be as I have never used one but am thinking about trying it. It comes as a kit with compressor and airbrush and for £60 that seems reasonable, just not sure about nozzle sizes as the one that comes with it says .25mm and the info above suggests that may be too small.

I mostly want this for undercoating and some base coating, also want to use it to spray some terrain and a board for my army on display entry, I guess if it paints tiny lines that could be tedious!

Thanks for any help and advice!

I've just got into aribrushing, and I mostly do priming, shading and basecoating. Sometimes some oil-streaks on vehicles and such.

Here's what I got, which works very very well. (the pages are in norwegian, but you'll figure out the most important bits.)

Compressor
Airbrush

Cheap-ish, and very effective. The compressor is very quiet compared to the ones with a tank, and it's really small. If you want one with a tank, from what I heard on the interwebz (youtube etc.) prior to purchasing, you'll need at least a 50L tank to keep the air cool enough that it doesn't condensate. I don't know about that though, just make sure that any compressor you buy has a water-trap. This is almost the most important thing. Second most important is a regulator valve so you can... well... regulate... the air-pressure. (Fine detail: low pressure. Priming, basecoating etc.: high pressure.)

Alright, I poked around a bit online and found this deal for $170: http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=ABD%20KIT-G444-60



It's got a piston compressor with a small tank, supposedly pretty quiet. 1/6 horsepower compressor, and an inline moisture filter. The airbrush is dual action, gravity fed, and has a cut away handle which is supposedly useful for cleaning.

All in all it seems pretty good, does anyone have a more informed assessment?

While that compressor does have a tank, I looked into getting the same model, it won't put out the necessary psi.

Great White wrote:While that compressor does have a tank, I looked into getting the same model, it won't put out the necessary psi.

Hmm, dang. The specifications said

Air Delivery: 23 Ltrs/Minute; 0.6 CFM @ 57 PSI
Working Pressure: 5-35 PSI
Auto Stop at 57 PSI, Auto Start at 43 PSI
Maximum Pressure: Factory Preset at 57 PSI

Is that insufficient? What sort of pressure output should I be looking for? I was hoping that I would not need one of the gigantic air compressors just to basecoat models.

EDIT: they have some more advanced compressor models like http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=ABD+KIT-G444-T, http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=ABD+KIT-G444-828, but I don't know if those are excessive for my purposes or necessary.

35 psi will be plenty for 90% of the things you want to do.

If you are looking at an external mix brush like a Badger 350 (can almost spray spackle through those) - you can run it up to around 40-50 PSI, though I rarely take it about 30 on mine.

With my internal mix brushes - I am generally around 15 PSI, about half that if I am doing base coats and primer (thinner paint, smoother base coat, less pressure).

If you are using thicker paint or a fine needle - you will need to use more pressure, though I don't think I have ever used more than 35 PSI with my internal mix brushes...maybe 40, but only when using things like body paints (they are a thicker more sticky paint).

i airbrush between 15-25 psi, i only to over 30 for varnish and cleaning, imo it will be fine

I was faced with the same situation a little over a year ago. I wanted a decent airbrush/compressor that was noob proof, easy to use/learn and could still be used at an intermediate level. After much searching/comparing/bugging the hell out of local artists for opinions I went with an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS brush with an Iwata Smartjet compressor. Both are phenomenal products that I would definitely recommend to you. The brush has survived repeated noob mistakes that i thought would kill an airbrush in short order (drops/disassembles/re assemblies/further dissasemblies when I realized I had parts left over.......and one unfortunate time when I let a half a loads worth of paint dry in the cup over night...

I highly recommend the airbrush to anyone interested in miniature painting (the eclipse HP-CS is a dual-action gravity feed but any of the eclipse line should serve you well). The Smartjet compressor equals the brush in quality and ease of use but it is one of the more expensive models out there and it has nearly zero air storage so the unit will be actively compressing nearly 100% of the time you are painting (which isnt as bad as it sounds because the compressor is designed to be impressively ultra-quiet).

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me if you have questions or want pic/vids.

Vorlon wrote:I was faced with the same situation a little over a year ago. I wanted a decent airbrush/compressor that was noob proof, easy to use/learn and could still be used at an intermediate level. After much searching/comparing/bugging the hell out of local artists for opinions I went with an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS brush with an Iwata Smartjet compressor. Both are phenomenal products that I would definitely recommend to you. The brush has survived repeated noob mistakes that i thought would kill an airbrush in short order (drops/disassembles/re assemblies/further dissasemblies when I realized I had parts left over.......and one unfortunate time when I let a half a loads worth of paint dry in the cup over night...

I highly recommend the airbrush to anyone interested in miniature painting (the eclipse HP-CS is a dual-action gravity feed but any of the eclipse line should serve you well). The Smartjet compressor equals the brush in quality and ease of use but it is one of the more expensive models out there and it has nearly zero air storage so the unit will be actively compressing nearly 100% of the time you are painting (which isnt as bad as it sounds because the compressor is designed to be impressively ultra-quiet).

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me if you have questions or want pic/vids.

Interesting, would you be referring to these items http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/tools/iwa/tool_iwa_hp-cs.shtml, http://www.dickblick.com/products/iwata-smart-jet-studio-compressor/?

They look very good quality, but I am unsure if I need a full $400 worth of airbrush equipment to start out. If I could get away with it I would try to stay under $200 for the both.

Indeed those are the two. Honestly, Id recommend the brush whole heartedly...but as far as the compressor....its nice and compact and quiet and all....but it is expensive and unless you get a larger reserve tank (spending more cash) the damn thing is going to be running 100% of the time your painting.

You can actually plumb a reserve tank into your system without much difficulty.

Small 2 gallon tank inline between your compressor and your brush, gives it a nice buffer to provide a more consistent pressure/volume as well as lets the compressor stop running (assuming you didn't really skimp on the compressor and it has a high pressure shut off point). That is normally what I recommend people do if they are on a budget.

You can get a pretty good tankless compressor, the fittings and a pressure tank for under $100. The hole thing is still nice and compact enough to fit under a work bench.

DijnsK wrote:i think HairySticks is my new best friend
what he said

Hahaha! I've only just re-read this thread because ph34r linked it in another airbrush questions thread that came up.
Glad to know someone agree's!
I like to think I know what I'm talking about when it comes to airbrushes and hvlp gear.. but honestly I'm just an intermediate level sprayer.
Have been airbrushing canvas with acrylics for about 3 years now, have some bit of paper from college saying I can spray vehicle panels and the gear to do small custom works at home. It's kind of a hobby but I would love it to be a career!

So did the OP get any kit yet?