Thank you everyone for your answers. I'm heavily thnking about getting the Badger Sotar 20/20 Airbrush for $60 on Amazon. Seems like a hard to resist deal with a lower than average starting investment considering Alfndrate stated his airbrush works fine with a commercial hardware compressor.
I'll get the basic necessities (mask, etc), a moisture trap, and wait for everything to come in before buying an applicable adapter that plugs things together.
oadie wrote:Adapters, regulators, and moisture traps are all standard plumbing/air tool fare, with occasional caveats. If the noise isn't a bother, you can definitely get your current compressor up to spec for far less than the cost of even a small, cheap airbrush-specific compressor.
I guess a compressor is a compressor after all. It's good to know I can invest in a decent-quality airbrush for now and stick with my working and pretty good compressor for now.
oadie wrote:As you mentioned, airbrushers tend to work at much lower pressures than someone using a spray gun to paint their fence, let alone someone running a nail gun. The degree of control on the lower end of the pressure spectrum, though, is lacking in a lot of stock regulators (some won't even register >20-30PSI). You don't need a specialty regulator marketed for airbrushers, you just need something that gives you moderately fine control, even at low pressures. No need to mess with the compressor's attached regulator, either - a new one can be added anywhere along the line.
Does the specific pressure matter, or is it just preference? What's the problem with too high pressure?
Is the goal to gain consistent pressure?
oadie wrote:Moisture trap necessity depends largely on your local conditions. Someone spraying in Florida will need to try a lot harder to keep their air supply dry than someone in New Mexico. If you're in NC, you'll likely need to take some preventative measures. Your particular setup also has an effect, as long hoses give moisture plenty of time to condense on its way to the airbrush. A big trap attached right next to the compressor doesn't necessarily do more than a small, cheap in-line trap just below the airbrush (which gives the air time to cool, letting the moisture condense for easy collection).
Good to know, I'll invest in a moisture trap. Any recommendations?
oadie wrote:Adapters are the really straightforward part. If the hose coming out of your compressor has a different diameter than your airbrush accepts, you need an adapter. 1/4" to 1/8" is the most common jump people need to make. A quick trip to the hardware store will get that sorted out, if it's an issue - a few bucks gets you a lovely little chunk of threaded brass that sorts out any discrepancies once screwed in. Looking at the linked brush, though, it won't be an issue - it has fittings for both sizes.
Good to know that any hardware store adapter will work; no specialty buts needed. I'll just get the airbrush and moisture trap for now and see what connecting pieces are needed when everything is on-hand.
oadie wrote:As a (lengthy) side note - I couldn't make out a model number for that brush from the images and didn't see it listed. It looks identical to my Master G44, also purchased from TCP. If it's the same one, I'd suggest looking for another brush. I assume the manufacturer changed at some point, as I bought mine based on numerous recommendations from Dakka and the internet, at large, but I found the quality to be downright abysmal.
The design makes certain cleaning tasks nearly impossible (the needle packing is recessed, inviting paint deposits and thwarting any attempt to physically brush away the buildup). The MAC valve seems to bleed pressure (straining my cheap airbrush compressor, which needs to run at much higher PSI than I'm actually shooting at - not an issue for you, but still reflective of brush design and build quality). Most important, though, is the crude machining. On the outside, the brush in nice and polished. Feels solid in the hand, too. The base of the color cup, however, appears to have been finished by chisel - the edge is rough enough that cotton buds get snagged and paper towels shredded in the process of cleaning. Even worse, the nozzle and air cap don't align properly. I had to remove an external O-ring to get the nozzle to clear the cap (as suggested by troubleshooters, online), but there's an obvious misalignment, still. I bought a different needle/nozzle set (wanted a .5mm for heavier applications) when I ordered it, but they suffer from the same issue, suggesting that the gun, not the replaceable parts, is faulty. I've gotten far better results with the cheaper siphon-feed brush from Harbor Freight.
My experience may be an unfortunate fluke, but be wary, at least. With only four reviews on Amazon, I assume the brushes are being listed differently, keeping products from attaining a sufficient body of reviews to really indicate customer satisfaction. The G-series has been around for a while - you should be able to find many more reviews, hopefully with some current enough to either confirm my experience or assure that it was, in fact, atypical.
So I am hearing regarding Master's Airbrushes. The one I linked indeed is by the same company that makes the Master G44.
I'll avoid the company if only because I'm not experienced enough to discern misalignments and definitely not experienced enough to handly intricate cleanups yet.
Thank you for the review.
It seemed like a really good deal considering the comparison to Amazon's MSRP. What airbrush did you eventually find that left you satisfied?
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darefsky wrote:One thing to mention, you can pickup a badger Sotar 20/20 for around $60 or a Badger Patriot 105 for around $70 on amazon right now. Both are amazing airbrushes.
Actually, thank you. I watched a lot of videos and it seems the Sotar 20/20 is rather straightforward with good capability for fine details. $60 is within budget and I'll be getting that. I saw several videos by non-professional YouTubers and it left me impressed. So long as it plugs into the compressor I currently have, all is great.
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Ulterior wrote:I wouldn't recommend a Sotar 20/20 if you are just beginning unless you just want to take advantage of the deal. I'm by no means an expert but learning the fundamentals of thinning, cleaning and just basic usage on the Master was integral in my learning and had a direct relation to my ability to use the Sotar.
As for working pressure when I started getting into the finer detail air brushing, I lowered my pressure to about 15psi. Higher pressures can cause the medium to 'spider' and knowing how to thin the paint properly is important when working at lower pressures.
If you can save some money on a compressor I would suggest the Iwata
HP-
CS or the Badger Krome as an upgrade airbrush over the Master. I've heard good things about the patriot as well but don't have any personal experience with it as I do with the Krome or the HPCS. I didn't find the quality of the Master as bad as Oadie, but I did notice how much better the aforementioned pair were when I started using them.
You don't NEED all of the accessories (like the cleaning station, or booth) but they do make things much more convenient. I would strongly recommend the moisture trap and a spare needle (and nozzle if applicable) and some sort of mask if you are on a budget. I used a sink and a cardboard box for my cleaning station and booth until I decided I was going to commit to the airbrush and purchased legitimate products.
I actually would like to take advantage of the deal. 87% off seems hard to resist on an airbrush that I can't find too many complaints about online. It's going for $300-$800 on other sites, so it's hard to ignore this deal.
At least from a beginner's standpoint, why choose the Master over the Badger Sotar? You're saying the Badger Sotar is better than the Master airbrush yet don't recommend starting with it?
There's also a Badger Krome which is within budget, but from what I see the Sotar is capable of finer detail work.
As for the compressor, so long as the one I have now works for the time being, I'll stick with it. I'll invest in a more dainty compressor when/if noise becomes a problem.
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This is exactly what I was curious about. Thanks!
My Porter Cable compressor is pretty much the same general concept as that Campbell in being used for nailguns and staple guns; hardware stuff. Yours looks the same in that the adjustable pressure is literally just a valve that you turn until the analog gauge reads XX PSI, correct?
Thank you for the confirmation!
