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.

Hello

Now i know where a lot of people stand regarding the games workshop spray guns.

My questions is, Can the gun itself be used with a compressors in place of the propellant cans?

If so what terminology am I looking for in regards to what connection is required etc?

In my honest opinion no the problem is the fittings on the GW airbrush are too small I tried to find a way to utilise my GW airbrush when I bought my compressor but found that I could buy cheaper and better quality airbrush's for a fraction of the cost off amazon and whilst I am no expert I find that the £60 I spent on a low end compressor supplied with airbrush was far superior than anything I produced using the old GW brush as the problem I found with cans of propellant are eliminated by having a constant steady flow of air from my compressor

It certainly can be used with a compressor in theory.

Its more a matter of what fitting is it? Most compressors are either 1/4 or 1/8 inch British standard pipe (BSP) male fittings.
Airbrush compressors tend to be 1/8inch. And so do the hoses.
You're going to need a connector that fits whatever the GW spraygun has on it, and changes it into a 1/8inch male thread so that the standard style hose can be attached.
And probably some ptfe tape to seal the joins.

Personally I don't think itle be worth it. The GW spray gun is what £20? ...
Here is a £16.80 airbrush on ebay, gravity fed, 0.3mm nozzle, 5ml paint cup, pretty average specs.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-BRUSH-PRO-BD-130-AIRBRUSH-FROM-CHRONOS-/370664103587?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item564d4d5ea3
And I'm 100% positive that this cheap BD130 will out perform the GW spraygun in any area. While not expecting that cheap airbrush to be anywhere near as nice as a £100+ airbrush, the difference between a gravity feed internal mix brush and a syphon feed external mix brush is tremendous.

The external mix GW one should be a little more forgiving regarding cleaning, and can hold more paint, but needs higher pressure to run (without ever trying a Citadel one I'm going to guess 30-45psi minimum) and will waste more paint too.
Expect a much higher degree of detail to be possible with the gravity fed ones. As they operate on much lower pressures. (as low as 10psi sometimes)

I don't see why not.

Yes. and what others said.

But, please save yourself a lot of trouble and just buy a cheap airbrush.

Even a $20 double action airbrush is a bazillion times better than the gw spray gun.

I know people who use the spray gun get tired of hearing that - but there is a reason. Also, the reason is nothing against GW - their spray gun is a single action external mix airbrush, which is terrible compared to even a cheap double action internal mix airbrush.

Even a $17 (aud) cheap double action from china to AUS is better. If you are going to invest in a compressor...

davethepak wrote:
Yes. and what others said.

But, please save yourself a lot of trouble and just buy a cheap airbrush.

Even a $20 double action airbrush is a bazillion times better than the gw spray gun.

I know people who use the spray gun get tired of hearing that - but there is a reason. Also, the reason is nothing against GW - their spray gun is a single action external mix airbrush, which is terrible compared to even a cheap double action internal mix airbrush.

Even a $17 (aud) cheap double action from china to AUS is better. If you are going to invest in a compressor...

I wouldnt say its terrible per say; its about having the tool for the job. GW chose poorly. For some understandable reasons (I just disagree with GW about what is suitable for their hobby)
Syphon fed airbrushes (or even larger spray guns) certtainly are not terrible, and have their use. External Mix paint spraying also has its purposes.
Sadly, tiny scale, minature painting is not one of the uses for either. They should have chosen a gravity fed, low pressure spray device.

The understandable part of their reasoning is that GW sell to kids. Airbrushes are delicate. Kids are almost for sure going to break them / neglect to clean them and then come crying to the GW store that its broken/crap/ rip off etc etc when its infact user error.
Also Syphon feed can spray somewhat thicker paints than gravity fed, and is less fussy about the whole paint viscosity.

Theyve gone for easy of use over quality of tooling and results. Amusingly they chose syphon fed (high pressure) and then suplied us with low presusre cans of comrpessed air. Jog on GW, some of us arent this stupid. Cans of air suck at the best of times,being limited volume, inconsistent pressure,and riddiculously overpriced. There was no need to try and get high psi out of them (making them even more unsuitable)

I find the whole concept of the GW spray gun really odd; GW sell us relatively high quality everything (albeit for inflated prices) Nothing they sell (except maybe the brushes and plastic glue) would I put in the poor quality and unsuitable category....except this spray gun. Its like the freak in their line of products.

I ran a GW brush off a compressor, then i got a real air brush, I then smashed the gak out of the GW crap with a hammer and burnt the remains.

bigdamnjohn wrote:
I ran a GW brush off a compressor, then i got a real air brush, I then smashed the gak out of the GW crap with a hammer and burnt the remains.

The GW spray gun is a *real* airbrush. Just its not suitable for the task they market it for is the issue everyone faces when determining that its crap.

Yes it can be run with a compressor if you get the right fittings that will alllow you to do so. The GW spray gun is good if you are base coating vehicles or a large amount of amount of infantry models at the same time. The spray gun will have a way too large of a spray pattern to do anything in any kind of detail. That's where the smaller airbrushes come in.

yes, the spray gun is technically an airbrush (an external mix, single action airbrush).

The point is for its price point, you can get a significantly better airbrush.

OP buy a real airbrush. They are cheap.
If you don't like it, I will send you the money for it.

Really.

You can absolutely shave yourself with a hobby knife and it works fine with shaving cream. Also with band aids, desinfectant and stiches.

The GW spray-thing isn't a bad tool as such, and might fit slightly better to miniature painting than my hobby knife shavig example.
Significantly better suited airbrushes are widely available at cheaper prices.