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As the title says I'm very tired of all the brushwork. I was wondering if someone could give me a name of a decent air brush kit for a fair price. Ideally I'd like one with its own little compressor. I'm not worried about spending a bit of money on it as it will save me time that could be spent playing instead of the tedious painting.

thanks in advance

You should post this in the Modelling forum. Don't worry, I've alerted the mod-squad. They'll fix it presently.

Very sorry

Knowing your budget is quite important. We could be talking $200, we could be talking $1200, or we could be talking $2000.

The old saying "you get what you pay for" still seems to apply to airbrushes and hobby compressors.

For an entry level airbrush that can do both large area base coating and some medium details you are looking at ~$100 minimum.

For a compressor that wont pulse you need either dual piston or a reservoir tank. With water trap, fine pressure control valve, and the compressor (possibly with tank) you are looking at ~$150 minimum.

You could get a $20 airbrush and a $50 compressor but you will probably be plagued with frustrations and headaches. Personally I wont even look at airbrushes with plastic parts on them because I cannot use some of the stronger cleaners on them. For quick colour changes and easy cleaning I stick to top/gravity feed airbrushes only. Bottom/siphon feed are only for spray guns imo.

Don't buy anything without reading at least 3 reviews from different sources for the specific item. If you can't find 3 reviews online because it's not very common I would avoid it as spare/replacement parts will be next to impossible to find down the road.

My recommendation is an entry level Iwata airbrush of some kind. They are all stainless construction and retain good resale value if you change your mind down the road. There are several entry level models around $100-150 and replacement parts are available everywhere.

For a compressor there is a near infinite selection. I would get something designed for hobby use instead of light shop work. I recommend getting an oilless compressor so you don't need to keep checking the oil level and topping it up for fear of the motor burning itself out. I have been running a Sparmax dual piston compressor (came with a water trap and pressure control combo unit all for $350 locally; could have saved $100 online but I didn't shop around enough) and have been running it for 7ish years with zero maintenance. I use compressed air cans to blow dust off the air intakes periodically and empty the water trap but that's it. I'm not sure how many hours it's got on it currently but it's a lot. It doesn't pulse because it's a dual cylinder model and to keep it from running constantly it's foot pedal activated.

Just to muddy the waters, I'm going to contradict LUTNIT.

I have a $50 dollar Chinese, non brand airbrush. It is entirely metal (O rings aside) with a 0.3mm nozzle (not ultra fine, not massive)

I've been using it about 9 months, I've encountered the typical airbrush beginner woes, but I honestly don't see how they wouldn't have happened if I'd bought an expensive one (it would still have taken me time to get thinning right and I would have still not cleaned it properly at first)

I'm still growing in skill with it, and there may come a time when I outgrow it, but for the time being it is more than enough for me.

I did buy it from a proper airbrush specialist retailer online though, so I have ready access to replacement spares (have bent a couple of needles and somehow damaged a nozzle to date) and that is mega important.

Where I will agree though, is on the compressor. Mine doesn't have a tank, and I do regret that. At lower pressures, mine is fine, but anything above 25 PSI (which I don't need that often) or more importantly, if I've been using it for an extended period and it has got hot (more frequent) I do notice small variations in PSI.

TLDR
If you're starting out, a cheap brush will probably be good enough, but don't skimp on the air.

The Chinese ones are very often clones of Iwata brushes but it's hit or miss if they are close enough clones as to be parts compatible.

The issue with the Chinese clones is that they have a relatively high failure rate out of the box or very soon after. If you have been using yours for 9 months you probably have a good one but from the reviews I have read it seems about 1/3 have issues within the first 20min that are related to manufacturing problems.

If you have a good one out of the box, great. If you get a lemon it can be a huge headache. If you aren't experienced enough to be able to tell what is something you did and what is something wrong with the airbrush it just compounds everything.

I watched some tutorials from the YouTube channel buypainted.com which is from a guy in Poland. He used a $20 Chinese Iwata clone for years to do contract painting and he didn't run into any major issues. At the same time there are a lot of reviews of them out there where they don't work right out of the box.

By spending the $100 on an entry level name brand airbrush you are buying a significantly lower chance of out-of-the-box problems as well as, usually, a warranty. A few retailers offer store warranties on the Chinese clones but the manufacturers don't and most online retailers I've seen don't either.

*edit*
I just checked eBay and you can get some of the entry level Iwata or Paasche airbrushes, all stainless, for $50-70. At that price it isn't really worth buying a $20 Chinese clone which is a shot in the dark in terms of reliability and the $50 Chinese clone isn't the best choice either.
At one local store near me they are selling the no-name Chinese clones that are $20 on eBay for $140 in store. Insanity...

*edit 2*
I just checked some reviews for the Paasche Talon since I wasn't familiar with it. It appears to be a really high value airbrush for what you pay. It comes with .25mm (super fine), .38mm (general use), and .66mm (area coverage) nozzles and needles as well as a fan spray head for the .66mm nozzle for really wide coverage (like the side of a rhino in one pass). It's MSRP is $125 or so but you can buy it new on eBay for around $80 (but a lot of those seem to only include the .38mm setup). If I had to buy a new airbrush right now I would probably spring for one of those. Paasche is a well known company with excellent warranty and replacement parts services and availability.

There is already a wealth of information about airbrushing, what kit to get, how to use it, trouble shooting and maintenance. All on this forum already. The question comes up every few days minimum.

The same names come up time and time again on answering the common questions.

Google will turn up yet even more info, springing results from all the other modeling forums, aswell as some actual airbrushing forums where people know lot more about airbrushes and their use.

i just picked up a small compressor with a tank from a local discount store (CH is the brand of the comp) and then got a good water trap and pressure valve to put on it ... a little bit noisier then the airbrush specific ones ... but still works

if you have a michaels near you .... they have 50% coupons that you can use to purchase a badger brush for in the 50 to 70 range ... and you can use Hobby Lobby coupons there as well ... to purchase a good compressor ... (both coupons available through an app on a smartphone so no having to hunt for them) ...

i did go the way of picking up one of the Chinese ones though ... came with an unconditional 1 year warranty from where i picked it up and i would rather destroy it from making a newbie mistake then mess up one much better.

One thing folks are not talking about is you will still need to go back to the regular brush for detail work and finishing your models. The airbrush is a huge time saver and blending/highlighting/smooth coverage master, but it will not replace your brush for all the small detail work.

As to what airbrush to get? Get the one that you can afford. Badger and Iwata both make great brushes that you can easily find parts for.

 LUTNIT wrote:
The Chinese ones are very often clones of Iwata brushes but it's hit or miss if they are close enough clones as to be parts compatible.

The issue with the Chinese clones is that they have a relatively high failure rate out of the box or very soon after. If you have been using yours for 9 months you probably have a good one but from the reviews I have read it seems about 1/3 have issues within the first 20min that are related to manufacturing problems.

If you have a good one out of the box, great. If you get a lemon it can be a huge headache. If you aren't experienced enough to be able to tell what is something you did and what is something wrong with the airbrush it just compounds everything.

I watched some tutorials from the YouTube channel buypainted.com which is from a guy in Poland. He used a $20 Chinese Iwata clone for years to do contract painting and he didn't run into any major issues. At the same time there are a lot of reviews of them out there where they don't work right out of the box.

By spending the $100 on an entry level name brand airbrush you are buying a significantly lower chance of out-of-the-box problems as well as, usually, a warranty. A few retailers offer store warranties on the Chinese clones but the manufacturers don't and most online retailers I've seen don't either.

*edit*
I just checked eBay and you can get some of the entry level Iwata or Paasche airbrushes, all stainless, for $50-70. At that price it isn't really worth buying a $20 Chinese clone which is a shot in the dark in terms of reliability and the $50 Chinese clone isn't the best choice either.
At one local store near me they are selling the no-name Chinese clones that are $20 on eBay for $140 in store. Insanity...

*edit 2*
I just checked some reviews for the Paasche Talon since I wasn't familiar with it. It appears to be a really high value airbrush for what you pay. It comes with .25mm (super fine), .38mm (general use), and .66mm (area coverage) nozzles and needles as well as a fan spray head for the .66mm nozzle for really wide coverage (like the side of a rhino in one pass). It's MSRP is $125 or so but you can buy it new on eBay for around $80 (but a lot of those seem to only include the .38mm setup). If I had to buy a new airbrush right now I would probably spring for one of those. Paasche is a well known company with excellent warranty and replacement parts services and availability.

Can't disagree with any of this, fair point, well made.

Good info so far....but do a search in the model forum...you will find literally tons of good posts, links to videos and other info on airbrushing, airbrush paints, methods and even thinning paints.

Really. This gets asked about every 12 days.

I would suggest the badger patriot 105 (amazon, cheap).
For a compressor, any "hobby" compressor that has a moisture trap and even a basic regulator. Even a $60 one will be fine if it has those qualities.

Again, for more info, just look through a page or two (if even that) of posts here...

best of luck