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Is this as good as it gets sub £100?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004XP7K9W/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1381443763&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Wanna do TANKSSES AND VENDETTAS AND MANTICORES AND AND AND...

And do I need to buy a cleaning station?

AND NIGHT SCYTHES!

I can't see the info on what the actual airbrushes are. Probably nothing good. You really don't need two of them though.

Compressor (3 gallon from the look of it) is pretty standard. Is good enough.
You can probably find a better price. There are vendors on ebay that sell same new generic compressor for far less.

Money you save you can then spend on a single high quality, dual action, gravity fed airbush.
Iwata HP-CS is what I have, for example.
General rule is:
get 3 gal. compressor on the cheap.
Invest a good amount into an airbrush itself.

Cleaning station is unnecessary, particularly if you are working with acrylics. You gonna want to get airbrush cleaning solution, airbrush medium to dilute paints, and fine airbrush cleaning brushes to take care of the investment.

Cool. Great advice. Thanks.

I should watch a bunch of tutorials on YouTube to suss the cleaning thing and the thinning thing I guess...

If anyone feels like pointing me at a great starter vid I'd be chuffed loads out there I'm sure, but be brilliant to know what other folk found useful.

A cleaning station is a good investment. It keeps down the vapors from when you need to clean out your brush. It is possible to clean out your brush with just a small bucket with some towels on the bottom.

On the topic of starter air brushes, what is a basic set up going to cost? What should it include? And are there any key words that should lead me to avoid a project?

Ive often considered a low end airbrush to lay down base layers and highlight to a table top quality + level

Looks like my compressor which is a nice and functional, quiet unit that I'm very happy with. Looks like a cheap chinese airbrush which is a great place to start learning with. Once you've learned enough to think about getting a better airbrush, you can dedicate this one to varnishing, basecoating etc.

A "cleaning station" like this is very helpful and should set you back about $20 at most.


Do as much research as you can before you buy and start airbrushing so you get exactly what you want, and then don't break it once you start using it. 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

edit: It looks like you get 2 airbrushes with that purchase? A gravity fed one and a siphon feed one? Siphon feed is generally less ideal, but can be good for *large* single colour spray sessions, as in multiple tanks at once.

Compressor looks farily average, AS186 chinese cheapo special will do just fine, and is pretty mucht he best brand new option at a low price point, paying more only is going to achieve less noise, or quicker fill times maybe.

The airbrushes... neither of them look suitable for mini painting, theyle both do it sure, but one is a side feed, and one is a syphon feed; gravity feed is what you want for painting minis.

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

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

From those two pages, an AS186 compressor plus a cheap BD130 Finespray brand airbrush would seet you back £110 plus whatever accessories;hose, cleaning station, stand, etc.
A tankless compressor would save some pennies, but I dont reccomend it, Having a tank lets you work for much longer in one session for letting the motor stop when the tank is full and cooling off a little.

Edit;
With the prices at the website I've linked a usable set up with stuff like a hose, a cleaning pot, stand, some needle lube, etc would be around £150 ish.

Incase it seems odd the reason gravity feed is the one youw ant is because of the operating pressure of them, its really low, which means you can spray a much smaller spray pattern from the airbrush. On out scale of 28mm tall men... this is essential if you want it to be potentially useful for more than just basecoats.

A 0.3mm nozzle, gravity feed airbrush of some description would be a pretty standard suggestion for a first one. Fine nozzles (0.2mm and less) tend to have a bit more of a learning curve and less tolerance for poorly mixed paints than larger ones. 0.3 is a happy medium size.

Wow. This is great advice. Great videos too. Thanks so much guys!

The compressor is good. I have the next model on, the AS196, which is a twin piston version.

I can't see much of the airbrushes, but make sure they are gravity fed. 0.3mm would be standard to sort out, for sure. There are cheap airbrushes on eBay, which are fine to start.

Just expect to be replacing a cheap airbrush pretty soon - not because it will fail, but because you'll get bitten by the bug and demand a better one.

I got exactly the same setup a month or two ago and I'm happy with it. I just bought a half decent airbrush at the same time. Just don't forget all the other bits you are going to need to go with it. Thinners, clean station, cleaning fluid, face mask umm. That's all i can think of at the moment. Good luck!

Are different compressors better for different air brushes? I just ordered a silverline 2 in 1 gravity fed brush. What compressor would you guys suggest? I am looking to spend 80-100.

Rakur wrote:
Are different compressors better for different air brushes?

Not really... I suppose one could be good enough for a gravity feed, but lack power for a siphon... thats about all I can think of that will set them apart, and likely wont come up.

How good the compressor is usually relates to its noise, running time, what its powerful enough to run, tank size... etc.
Once the air supply is clean and powerful enough for the airbrush, then all airbrushes will be fine with it. (and airbrushes dont need much power - theyre about the lowest air consumption tool you can get for use with air comrpessors)

There are TONS of airbrush compressors out there.

Get something;

Has an adjustable regulator.
You like the price.
Comes from a reputable company.
has a moisture trap.

I have used garage compressors, harbor freight cheap airbrush compressors, and high end quiet expensive compressors.