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Hi everyone, I was wondering how much an airbrush would benifit me. I know some people love them and swear by them but I want to know if its worth the 80-200 usd. I play orks and limited chaos, would an airbrush save me that much time over brush work? Looking for other ork players to chime in if it helps or not as well as other painters advice.

Thanks

a cheap setup could move things along very quickly in terms of priming and base coating.

I don't know how much your time is worth. So its hard to say for me.


I work a lot and have a fairly good income so it was very worth it to me.

If you have a lot of free time and not much income maybe its not?

To offer an opinion from that perspective, as someone who has a lot of free time and a limited income currently (can't work due to health issues) a simple, basic set up is still totally worth it.

I paint to give me something to concentrate on which isn't staring at the telly all day, and the increased satisfaction I get from being able to turn out higher quality results than by brush alone, not to mention the increased speed one can get the "boring" stuff out of the way (priming, basecoating etc) make it well worth it, even if you're time rich/cash poor.

I have done income to spare (rent in the city is too damn high) but limited spare time (3 hors per day by the time I get home and get ready for bed to do cooking, cleaning and other things) so time is limited but mostly I want to turn out higher quality models.

 zammerak wrote:
I have done income to spare (rent in the city is too damn high) but limited spare time (3 hors per day by the time I get home and get ready for bed to do cooking, cleaning and other things) so time is limited but mostly I want to turn out higher quality models.

Then yes.

But don't expect an airbrush to just produce great paint jobs, you still need the basic understanding of highlighting and shading and its still a skill that will require practice.

I would say "yes".

Priming and base-coating goes a lot faster.
Hairspray weathering and salt weathering becomes easy.
Cool power weapons effects goes from hours of work to minutes.
Pre-shading is a godsend when painting vehicles.

Lol, Auto correct errors xP

Ok so now on to the next question... Which one? What should I look for in an Airbrush? is there a specific size to get?

On a scale of Grot to warboss on Airbrush knowledge I rank snotling

I would say def get an airbrush i used a £20 and i manage to get results like this , it's all about practice know what pressure to have your air at and how thin to have your paints

Spend on a compressor, not an airbrush. Any generic, Chinese non brand will do, although they do lack a certain consistency of build quality, I've found mine to be excellent.

Either way, common wisdom says you'll ruin your first one while you learn maintainence etc, and I can testify to that. If you go for a brand, go for one of the sub-$100 entry level ones ( I hear generally reasonable things about the Iwata Neo and Badger equivalent) and a larger nozzle is more forgiving in terms of paint consistency etc.

^ Dats purdy sweet lookin.......


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Im on Amazon and there is one for 79.99 With compressor, That may work...?

 zammerak wrote:
^ Dats purdy sweet lookin.......


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Im on Amazon and there is one for 79.99 With compressor, That may work...?

if you was in the uk i could direct you to where i had mine from compressor and 1 litre air tank and two airbrushes for £100 ive had it 3yrs not a minutes trouble with it , so it's not all about price good research i would say !!

Im going to put this here and see, the comments are mostly positive but some negative.

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Performance-Multi-purpose-Compressor-The/dp/B001TO578Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397062944&sr=8-2&keywords=airbrush

That's the exact model compressor I have, it is sold in many channels with slight variations to the colours of plastic etc, but it is the same one.

I'd suggest going for one with a tank if budget allows (mine didn't) as it will give you a more consistent air flow, plus on longer sessions, the heat generated by the compressor causes condensation to form, and even with a moisture trap, I still sometimes get water spitting (which spoils the smooth coat and accuracy of the spray)

Brush wise, again, it is what I started with, and, assuming you don't get a duff one, it will serve you well until your ability grows quite a lot.

Oh awesome! I can maybe swing a tank... I’m trying to conserve funds for food and the occasional 12 pack.

An airbrush setup is a nice thing to have but you'll need time to practice with it.
There are other costs involved too - thinners, airbrush cleaning supplies, a safe place to spray, maybe a respirator for your safety.

I got a generic compressor (with tank and moisture trap) and airbrush set via eBay for about £70 (about $115) mainly for painting camouflage patterns on vehicles, and I'm very happy with it, but I spent much more time practicing and cleaning it, than actually painting.

It sounds like the general feedback is positive to spend the 100 bucks to have the airbrush.

orks are just crazy.........jk, lol hows it going!!!

Once you go airbrush you never go back.

Well yes you do, hand painting is always a big part, but you get my point.

 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
Once you go airbrush you never go back.

Well yes you do, hand painting is always a big part, but you get my point.

this, a thousand times this.

Its not just about saving time - its about doing things you never thought possible (or possible with your skill level).

Do some searches, there are literally HUNDREDS of threads on "what airbrush should I buy".

If you don't want to search - then buy any dual action internal mix gravity feed airbrush.

If you don't know what that is, do research on all those terms, and it will answer the inevitable next 20 questions you will have.

Thanks guys, I think I might bite the bullet and get one.

Get the compressor with a tank. The consistency of airflow is very important. Tankless compressors can have small variations in pressure which can ruin your work.

An airbrush also allows you to prime indoors and do oil washes so much easier.

My Iwata Sprint Jet works fine. There is a coiled hose that damps out the pulses and also cools the compressed air.

https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/iwata-smart-jet-compressor-review

It's not a cheap unit but it's not a very expensive one either.

No doubt you could get a coil hose for a cheap unit.

Actually the review is for the Smart Jet but they are almost the same. If you look at the specs they are identical.

If I was a hardcore 40K player and had hundreds of models for sure I would get one.