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Hey all,

I have done a fair bit of searching and have come up with largely nothing when it comes to this.
What EXACTLY do I need to begin airbrushing and where do I get it (somewhere that ships to Australia)?

I have seen some setups as simple as a gun and a compressor, then I have seen full setups with extraction fans and all.

What I know I need:
* A gravity fed dual action airbrush
* A tank compressor
* 0.3 or 0.4mm Nozzles

I would prefer to get it right from the beginning in the terms of setup. This includes the right brand and products, so any help would be awesome!

Cheers,
~Phrixus

These tutorials are very handy.

[Guide] Airbrushing at the mini scale (long) a great dakka guide from atropos907

A great starting page for air brushing

http://howtoairbrush.com/

Personally I use an Iwata HP-CS with a smart jet compressor. It works great! My local Hobby store carries their stuff and usually has weekly 10-40% coupons, which makes it really nice if I need a replacement part quickly.

Paints: For miniatures I'd recommend the Vallejo model air line.

+1, Those are perfect thank you very much.

I searched high and low on Dakka and couldn't find anything, the Article that was covering Airbrushing was very vague and generic, but that guide is perfect. Same goes for the other pages.

Thanks again!

I bought my compressor for ~$100 off ebay. Started with a ~$20 cheapie airbrush to learn with (also off ebay), after which I upgraded to a ~$90 Badger Krome which I bought from webairbrushes in the US with a 50% off coupon. If you learn about cleaning it and what not before hand, I'd recommend the Badger Krome or a similar entry level brand name airbrush, they're much better than the cheapies. They can be expensive to repair or replace so watching guides on what to do beforehand is a good idea. The airbrushing intermediate series I linked below is a great place to start, and the airbrush rant and overview vids will give you an idea of what you'll get from different airbrushes.

If your'e going to start airbrushing, you should check some youtube videos on the subject, these ones are a great place to start:
WGConsortium
- Getting Started Using an Airbrush (Airbrushing Intermediate Part 1)
- The Airbrush and Complete Overhaul (Airbrushing Intermediate Part 2)
- Airbrush Color Changes and Cleaning (Airbrushing Intermetiate Part 3)
- A Look At Cheap Airbrushes

Awesomepaintjob / Les Bursley
- Airbrush Rant

Would highly recommend subscribing to these guys, and if you're interested I can link some more channels with good airbrushing vids. The airbrushing intermediate vids will be a big help if you're new to it.

Would something like this be good to start with?

I know it is unbranded, but as a starting point that has all needed accessories be worth it?

Ebay Link

Along with a Spray Booth

Package Includes:
1 x Air Brush (3 Needles&3Nozzles)
3 x Ink Cups
1 x Nozzle Wrench
2 x Air Hoses
1 x Molded Plastic Storage Case
1 x Air Compressor
1 x Airbrush Holder
1 x Cleaning set
10 x Stencils
1 x Adaptor
1 x Filter

That looks like my compressor which is decent, the airbrush looks fine for a cheapie and you get a lot of useful bits. You'll be fine with that and it looks like a decent deal for the price. You should be fine without a spray booth unless you're commission painting or otherwise painting a lot really so I'd save the money. I made a ghetto booth out of an old beer carton. Hacked the top off and you're good to go ; )

Yes, that would be fine. I still use my same cheap compressor. Eventually I bought a nice badger brush, just because I stripped the nozzle threads on the cheap one and the badger is so easy to clean.

If I had one piece of advice, it would be to use VMA paints. I had such a hard time trying to find correct consistencies with other paints that I almost jacked it all in. I know it can be done, but it isn't easy. I only bought an airbrush to speed things up. VMA are just magic straight from the bottle.

Thanks for all the replies guys. After looking further into it it seems the ebay link above was a siphon fed airbrush and I am lead to believe that gravity fed is much better.

Here is another proposed airbrush kit (including compressor) - Ebay

It also is a master G44 which means replacement parts will be easier to gather rather than a no name product.

Thoughts?

Looks good. The warranty is nice. Actually looks a bit like my badger with that cutaway bit. Makes it much easier to whip the needle out for quick clean. And yeh, gravity feed is best. Much less waste, just easier to use.

And you don't "need" a tanked compressor either. They're nice for reducing the duty cycle of the compressor motor if you spray continuously for long periods of time, but a basic airbrush compressor will do a good job of providing a pulse-free air supply. I'm using a Badger compressor that I've had for about a decade. It doesn't have a tank and works perfectly, even for pretty long spray sessions. I want to replace it because newer compressors are quieter, not because of an increase in performance.

My "spray booth" is a large cardboard box. I don't spray solvents and decent technique with a double action airbrush keeps overspray to a bare minimum.

I am running a Master G266 with the compressor from your first link, although I had to upgrade the regulator on mine to the TCP Global part. The second compressor you linked (with the master) is a pretty solid upgrade.

My impressions of the Master series - at my skill level I can't tell the difference between Master and Badger. Trigger feels the same, disassembly and cleaning are a non-issue, performance is a non-issue. I chose the 266 over the 44 because I prefer the small cup of the 26 over the large cup of the 44 and I think the flow adjuster knob is fiddly. Regarding cup size, I have other brushes to use when I am spraying in volume but YMMV. TCP Global is a great vendor, for what that is worth. The only time I've had a problem with them (a screw backed out of a part in shipping) they sent a replacement no questions asked.

I second the spray booth comment - wear a painters mask and spray into a cardboard box. You can always pick one up down the road when you are certain you will be spraying in volume.

 Phrixus wrote:
Thanks for all the replies guys. After looking further into it it seems the ebay link above was a siphon fed airbrush and I am lead to believe that gravity fed is much better.

Here is another proposed airbrush kit (including compressor) - Ebay

It also is a master G44 which means replacement parts will be easier to gather rather than a no name product.

Thoughts?

Exactly needed to airbrush;

An Airbrush... you seemed to be aware of what kind is suitable.

A hose to connect it to air supply.

An air supply; Compressor is best, cans of air is worst, car tire can work okay, compressor with tank is best choice but may be out of price range.

A moisture trap, usualy theres one built into compressors, can get inline ones to go between 2 hoses, or ones that connect to base of airbrush, all are good, need atleast 1 (I use 3; one of each) more of them means the air source needs to work harder.

Some paint. Citadels acrylics spray okay when thinned properly, I use Liquitex Airbrush medium to think them, Other choices might be vallejo model air, or badger minitaire for premixed, or any other acrylics and thinner combo.

Some cleaner for the airbrush, Isopropyl alchol or acetone can work well, check out what is safe with your airbrushes seals and coatings. Theres lots of branded cleaners too if your unsure, although you pay for the brand.

Paint mixeing, measuring and storage stuff... cups, pippetes, cocktail sticks etc.

An old brush for cleaning the airbrush with, and maybe some small pipe cleaner things (airbrush sites often do a keyring of these)

Thats all you really need.

Nice extras might be an extractor, a respirator mask (saftey first ), a stand, cleaning pot, quick release couplings for the bits.

A lot of people dont wear a mask, and its 'reasonably safe' ish... some paints are a lot more toxic than others, generally were talking about water based acrylics which arent the worst, but still might aggrovate asthma or other respirator problems, being somewhere well ventilated is often enough at the scale of work we're looking at with mini's.

A good store I find within the UK is
http://www.everythingairbrush.com/

they stock a fairly wide selection, and spare parts for all the brushes they sell. They might wlel ship world wide, but there is probably someone closer to you if you look around or get a lucky suggestion from a dakkite