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My Wife has been looking around for an airbrush(evidently the thought of painting all her models has her scared as it takes her about 2 hours to do a base coat, and she's got about 100 to paint...), and this is one of the firsts she was wondering about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12E0BX8540

I've done some homework on air brushes, and it seems like a Dual Action Gravity fed would be better for a first airbrush, but I really don't entirely know the difference. I know that a lot of people say badger is supposed to be a good "goto" brand for them though. So the question is, is this worth the money, or should I tell her to keep looking? Is there a "better" bang for the buck that someone could link to?

I've done some searching on this site, and others, but it seems like a lot of the links I come across are dead links.

Anyway, Thanks a ton for reading this and any help!

-Arc

EDIT: Quality matters quite a bit to me, I'd rather pay a little extra for something that, when treated right, will be around for years to come.

Airbrushing has a lot of info on it, loads of tips and tricks to pick up along the way and is about experience to a large extent.

That being said, a very good way to avoid easy mistakes that everyone else made is to read around and ask on forums etc.

When shopping for your starter kit, there a fair few good bundle deals around. What is important is a quality airsupply.

As a minimum reccomendation the chinese made AS186 and 196 model ones that get sold under allsorts of brand names are great and will do everything you need, albeit there are quiter ones out there, and more heavy duty work horses too. Get anything less than a 186 and your going to want a 186 pretty soon. (I run an AS196 which is the same except with twin pistons for quicker fill ups for slightly increased price - only makes it work faster not higher quality really)

Airbrushes there also a million and one out there. for a begginner i would avoid the top of the range ones witht he massive price tags, frankly because your going to break it and mistreat it as part of the learning curve.
But by all means go for a reputable brand (such as badger, Iwata, Harder and Steenbeck etc) but their entry level ones rather than their master series ones.

I run a H&S Evolution Silverline 0.2mm now, its a midrange brush but still set me back over £100, it replaced a £50 generic branded brush and Im never looking back. Literally anything about it you care to mention is better!

I've got a badger 150 and I didnt rate it,the thing got used twice and is sat in its box redundant now. but the new series in gunmetal grey kind of colour seem great at a glance.

For our purposes as hobbyists a gravity feed airbrush is normally preferred. Good models from Badger are the Patriot 105, Renegade Velocity and Renegade Krome. The first it is more a basecoat brush and although it allows you to do details it does require a awful amount of control to get them right. the velocity as a smaller nozzle and so it is better suited for painting details but it will be slower if you want to basecoat tanks or so. The krome is an excellent deal since it includes two needles so you can swap between more general work and detail work. The aribrush forum also as deals from some dealers occasionally so it might be a good idea to keep an eye on them. This is an example http://www.theairbrushforum.com/website-news/3842.htm

For the compressor I wouldn't recommend that either since it is better to get one with a tank.

Yea, after doing more searching, I will require one with a tank. Thanks for the airbrush recommendations, any specific tank recommendations?

I don't really have that much experience with compressors. The AS186 is the one I use but I am sure you can get better/similar deals on the US

Alrighty, gonna need to take a look at it!

The paasche d3000r is a very nice compressor, I love mine

as for brushes, I really like my Iwata HP-CS.

Very reliable. I've painted at least 100 models with it so far, and is pretty easy to clean and maintain.

We also have a massive list of models to paint...I planned on using it primarily to do base coating, but you never know. I've got ~100 models to base coat, and my wife should have around double that, lol.

when I say I've painted 100 models with it...

like 20 of those were at least the size of a rhino

You can do some sweet stuff with Iwata airbrushes.

I use a HP-B+ from Iwata to do power swords (because its got a smaller spray pattern) and the HP-CS to do anything up to the size of a storm raven. Bigger than that, and you should get a spray can.

lol, most of my stuff is infantry sized. Same with her.

You can still use an airbrush on infantry.
As you realised, basecoating becomes a doddle!
But they can be used with the washes really nicely to tint entire figures. I gave my Skaven a suitably mucky appearance by spraying Devlan Mud at them.
Also you can get a bit of a shade done in your base colours with them easily enough.
Example the purple space marines in my thread going about at the moment (Purple Marines test figure) I sprayed him with dark purple all over, and again from above at a downwards 45degree angle with a lighter colour, then again from the top only with a much lighter colour and washed over the whole lot before edge highlights with a hairy stick

I wrote an article about getting an airbrush, http://itsacoyoteworkshop.blogspot.com/2012/07/getting-airbrush-for-hobby.html
I explain about what to look for in an airbrush and what kind of airbrushes there are, along with a list of some vids and painters who use airbrushes.

I use an Iwata and I love it (HP-SBS with a side feed). Badger, Iwata-Medea, Paasche, Harder & Steenbeck are great names to look for in brand. At that point it's really up to you on which airbrush you want to pick. BuyPainted likes his H&S airbrush a lot, Les Bursley represents as well as swears by Badger.

I'd say if you're starting off for the first time with an airbrush but want to learn how to use one for a variety of things, a dual action is the best. More expensive than a single action, but you are willing to invest a little bit. This way you can easily do your basecoating as well as still be able to do more detailed work with the dual action. You don't need a fancy one, any brand name is still good quality and you can definitely use it to get the hang of using an airbrush without worrying about breaking a $200+ airbrush. There's a few other things to pick out in an airbrush such as needle size which I go over a little in my article.

I see. Thank you all for your suggestions. I've got the wife on the hunt some more today. Trying to find a compressor seems to be a bit rougher than I though, or maybe I'm just being to finicky.

I have a Badger Air-Brush Co. TC910 Aspire Pro that I bought from Amazon a couple of months ago when I switched from compressed nitrogen (the gas was free and readily available from my work, if you were wondering). It's a nice little compressor that is pretty quite and has a small footprint. I got a little cheaper than it's going for now (I think I paid $145 for it in May) but I think it is a good compressor for the money. Plus, if you have Amazon Prime, shipping is free... which is nice considering that compressors can be pretty heavy, even little ones.

We use the Iawata Eclipse HP-C5 for detail work and the HP-BCS for base coating. They're both awesome brushes, really recommend them!

Once you start air-brushing, you'll never go back, it is so much more enjoyable and gets awesome results.

Good luck with it!

Shamelessly cut/pasted from a someone who had a similiar question a couple months back. Still 100% applies, but I'z just saying.

MightyGodzilla wrote:I had the same question last summer of the forum here. I ended up spending a day doing research, pricing and I ended up getting a Paasche Talon with a bunch of the fixings. The main main reason I got it was because it has an adjustment mechanism that once you set it won't let you spray more paint that what you've adjusted to. As a beginning I really liked that, because I didn't want to be spraying, pull too far back on the trigger and dump paint all over my Wave Serpent. Of course it's also easy to disassemble and clean, it's a double action airbrush, mine came with three different sized tips (or needles and caps if you will) each for a different sized job. Pricewise I spent about $90 USD on mine There are a few pretty good videos on youtube for this airbrush.

Technique wise, I'm still a novice. But would advise buying some cheap paint (as in inexpensive) and practice brushing on paper, old models, things like that. Practice for trigger control to evenly distribute your paint and get your line (widths) even and consistent.

Here's my thread from last summer/fall. There's some good info in here from other users helping me out. Don't post in it. It's dead.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/382675.page

Additional thoughts after a year of using one myself.
You mentioned double action is good for a starter brush, let me say double action is the way to go from Alpha to Omega.
Airtank, you definitely want one. Airbrushes are almost not worth having if you don't have a tank.
Personally I'd rather have the brush cup fed than underslung containers. Less mess, less hassle, easier to switch colors, clean, etc.
Airbrushes are good from Infantry all the way up to large vehicles. As others have said, once you start up with an airbrush you'll want to use it all of the time. They're good, definitely good for bascoating, spraying washes/tints, and of course your main coats.
Because you're cutting your paint to thin it for airbrush use, your pot of paint gets you twice as far (or at least further...overspray and the like).

Thanks everyone. Reecius, What kind of compressor do you use?

Mighty Godzila, what type of compressor do you use?

ArcSoll wrote:Mighty Godzila, what type of compressor do you use?

This is the one I got last summer.
For as important a piece in the puzzle as the airbrushes are...I don't think there's too much to buying them. You want to make sure they have a moisture trap (and can buy one seperately if the one you're looking for doesn't have one) and an adjustable pressure regulator, and an attached tank of some size.

Past that you'll want to make sure it doesn't always run....that is to say the compressor will run until it has filled the tank up and to a certain pressure at which point it will stop. It will then start up again when the tank dips below a certain PSI. I'm pretty sure most compressors with attached tanks work that way.

Tank size is really up to you. If you go for a smaller one it's easier to store. If you get something big like a 2 gallon one (that you'd find at a hardware store) then you can use it for other household projects....really up to you. Of course you'll also have to buy fittings to get you're compressor matched up with your airbrush hose, but about 90% of the time you can get all of that stuff at a hardware store.

MightyGodzilla wrote:

ArcSoll wrote:Mighty Godzila, what type of compressor do you use?

This is the one I got last summer.
For as important a piece in the puzzle as the airbrushes are...I don't think there's too much to buying them. You want to make sure they have a moisture trap (and can buy one seperately if the one you're looking for doesn't have one) and an adjustable pressure regulator, and an attached tank of some size.

Past that you'll want to make sure it doesn't always run....that is to say the compressor will run until it has filled the tank up and to a certain pressure at which point it will stop. It will then start up again when the tank dips below a certain PSI. I'm pretty sure most compressors with attached tanks work that way.

Tank size is really up to you. If you go for a smaller one it's easier to store. If you get something big like a 2 gallon one (that you'd find at a hardware store) then you can use it for other household projects....really up to you. Of course you'll also have to buy fittings to get you're compressor matched up with your airbrush hose, but about 90% of the time you can get all of that stuff at a hardware store.

How quiet would you say this particular model is? I'm planning on getting an airbrush setup sometime in the next month or so, and I'll be working indoors (no more sweltering in the garage! Yay!) so noise level is a major concern. The "quiet" compressors I've found so far have all been small, tankless models that don't have particularly glowing reviews.

I can't speak to his compressor, but I use a paasche d3000r, and its pretty darn quiet. Its probably somewhat similar in noise to a loud-ish conversation. I live in an apartment complex, and I've never had any noise complaints. Hell, if I close my bedroom door, I can barely hear it in the living room if I leave it on and it has to run to fill the tank.

The tank is a bit small though, so it does run pretty much continuously as your using it. I find the tank probably does more good for ensuring a stable output than for actually holding all the air you need.

http://www.chicagoairbrushsupply.com/d3000.html

@Arc Soll

Haha, we're actually lucky enough to have an automotive compressor that we got from a friend's dad, so unfortunately don't have good advice there. If you can get your hands on one they're awesome, but they're also super expensive. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

As far as noise levels go, My AS196 which is pretty much a dual piston version of the 186 one, (and thus is louder) is less noisey than I can reasonably play music in my home.

Depending on your situation; neighbors attitudes/proximity. wall thickness, terraced/detached housing/apartment, lardlords conditions.... and all the other things that might be a limit on your noise levels at home...
It's probably quite reasonable to run for an hour or 2 here and there at a sociable hour and all that - if your neighbor can mew his lawn then you can run a huge air compressor at a similar time no problems!
edit - I also have a larger 24litre 2hp motor compressor out in the shed that runs a whopping 97decibels according tot he label ont he side... I can asure your its very loud! I need that kind of sized machine to power hvlp spray guns - way overkill for mini's... but if I fill the tank (takes 10minutes or so of mega noise) and unplug it I do get enough air to airbrush for over an hour solid.

For new and intermediate airbrushers, I don't think the brand of brush is important. You'll get the same result with an unbranded $60 double-action brush as you will with a $300 Harder-Steenbeck. The thing to remember is you want a double action with 0.25 - 0.3mm needle/nozzle.

The compressor is much more important for beginner/intermediary airbrushers. I use one equivalent to this [url] http://www.aircompressorhs.com/compressors/cake-airbrush-kits.htm . It's good for how I use it, i.e. squad by squad.

I posted a similar thread recently. I was given some good advice there that might be of interest to you too.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/458157.page

Thank you everyone so very much.

@Reecius, funny you would mention that because I was talking to my father over the weekend as I helped him with his boat, and he's apparently got a decent sized one in the garage that doesn't ever get used, because he bought an industrial sized one.

The one above has got a moister trap, and has adjustments for the output of the air built in. I'm not entirely sure on the model, but hows it sound? So far things mentioned to look for have been:
1. A regulator to assure constant output.
2. A moisture trap to assure no water gets in.
3. Noise(isn't an issue at my place).

Anything else to worry about? Otherwise I might just take him up on the offer to swipe that one, and then spend a little extra on a brush and maybe a nicer hose(I'm sure it's got the coiled plastic hose that I hate so very much).

Btw, You people here rock. Really, I do appreciate every post in here.

If you have access to a heavy duty compressor motor, AND the noise levels off it are fine for you... defiantly go with that, and spend any money needed on adapters, filters and regulators you might need. It will be far better than any of the small 'airbrush only' kind of compressors. Normally its a matter of how noisey they can be, I've got a 'small' 24litre tank with a 2horse power motor in the shed that is a bit loud but can run hvlp spray guns

If running the big boys one is a viable option for you, then definatly do that and put a bit of the price difference into a nice brush and things to go with it

Kung Fu Hamster wrote:

MightyGodzilla wrote:

ArcSoll wrote:Mighty Godzila, what type of compressor do you use?

This is the one I got last summer.
For as important a piece in the puzzle as the airbrushes are...I don't think there's too much to buying them. You want to make sure they have a moisture trap (and can buy one seperately if the one you're looking for doesn't have one) and an adjustable pressure regulator, and an attached tank of some size.

Past that you'll want to make sure it doesn't always run....that is to say the compressor will run until it has filled the tank up and to a certain pressure at which point it will stop. It will then start up again when the tank dips below a certain PSI. I'm pretty sure most compressors with attached tanks work that way.

Tank size is really up to you. If you go for a smaller one it's easier to store. If you get something big like a 2 gallon one (that you'd find at a hardware store) then you can use it for other household projects....really up to you. Of course you'll also have to buy fittings to get you're compressor matched up with your airbrush hose, but about 90% of the time you can get all of that stuff at a hardware store.

How quiet would you say this particular model is? I'm planning on getting an airbrush setup sometime in the next month or so, and I'll be working indoors (no more sweltering in the garage! Yay!) so noise level is a major concern. The "quiet" compressors I've found so far have all been small, tankless models that don't have particularly glowing reviews.

@Kung Fu Hamster The one I've got is actually pretty quiet. I personally don't have any complaints about its noise level. And just an FYI the tankless models are always on, always making noise when because they have no tank to store up the air in. So definitely keep that in mind.

Kung Fu Hamster,

Everything I find says that a tank one should really be considered above other ones. Not only for the noise portion, but evidently it also seems to lead to a more even stream.

HairySticks,

That's kinda what my opinion on the matter was as well. My father said that it wasn't extremely loud, just didn't put out the constant 80psi that he was looking for, though it could put it out for some time, lol. Just means I can pick out a nicer brush now! Surely something dual action, was looking at the Badgers and Iawata's that have been suggested.

80!! hehe what the f was he spraying?!
but all jokes aside, youre almost never gonna need to go passed 50 psi on an airbrush, usualy less than 30. Your going to be able to run it for 10-15 minutes to fill the tank, and spray away for atleast an hour maybe two or more without the motor kicking back in.

This is still how I spray at night.. If my project is going to run longer than anticipated after others start sleeping, I fill up my 24L on in advance. That was i can change my air hookup when i need total silence and do my best to finish before the tank runs out.

Makes sense. He was using it for silly thinks like impact wrenches and and spraying the neighbors cat...

But yea, from what I was reading the average is like 24psi-ish?