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Airbrushers! I need your help please!

I was wandering around Hobbycraft today, and in their clearance section was an airbrush reduced from £150 to £70. It's an Aztek A4709, and it seems like quite an attractive kit. It comes in a wooden box, with several different nozzels and feeders. I googled some reviews and it seemed okay, so I bought it.

On closer inspection it seems I've bought the most controversial airbrush on the market (and that's a crowded field) in that some people love it, and some absolutely hate it. That's by the by. I'll find out what side of that debate I fall on when I use it.

The question is, what do I do now? I need a compressor, don't I? Do I buy a cheap and cheerful one, or a more expensive one with a tank? I see a tank one on Amazon for about £80. Would any compressor work with it or do specific ones work with specific types? Are there power settings I need to know about or anything? Is there a particular PSI I should look for? What about a cleaning kit - do I need one of them?

Is this one okay? - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Floureon-Airbrush-Compressor-Craftwork-Spraying/dp/B01M1FPCTU/ref=sr_1_8?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1515795837&sr=1-8&keywords=Airbrush+Compressor

Or this one? - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SwitZer-Airbrush-Compressor-Double-Airbrushes/dp/B074QTDVBW/ref=sr_1_7?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1515795837&sr=1-7&keywords=Airbrush+Compressor

I'm very ignorant about all this, and sorry to dump these questions into the thread. I tried the search function, but found nothing that answered my specific questions, probably because they're too basic! The whole thing is bewildering to me.

Pretty much all of the cheaper compressors you will find, including the branded ones, are exactly the same thing. They may even be manufactured at the same plant. I have a cheap tankless compressor from Amazon and it works great, but if you want to spend a bit more on the tank version, it should be able to keep a more consistent air pressure without having to run as often.

Get the tank if at all possible. Especially if you plan to use the airbrush for more than priming and painting terrain.

Why is it better to get the tank? It is double the price. I watched some of a video of a talk by a guy from Badger which seemed pretty comprehensive and he said that if you're only using it a couple of times a week the tankless ones are fine. The main issue is noise, as a decent hose will alleviate any issues with fluctuating pressure.

Another concern I have is safety. My painting area is set up in the living room, the same room that my wife, kid, and cats would be hanging around in. What sort of ventilation would I need? It's not a tiny room, and they are at one end while I'm painting at the other, about 15 feet or so away. I'm right by some bay windows, so I could open them (no airbrushing in the winter for me!) would that be adequate? I don't want to poison my family. That's what my cooking is for.

Acrylic paint is non-toxic, but you probably don't want it hanging out in your lungs. If you're using any kind of solvent-based paint you will want to use a quality respirator. I personally made myself a little spray booth with a vent fan that sucks the air through a couple of filters.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

 feltmonkey wrote:
Why is it better to get the tank? It is double the price. I watched some of a video of a talk by a guy from Badger which seemed pretty comprehensive and he said that if you're only using it a couple of times a week the tankless ones are fine. The main issue is noise, as a decent hose will alleviate any issues with fluctuating pressure.

I have an aztek airbrush as well as other 'standard' airbrushes and find that the aztek needs to run at higher pressures to get it to spray. Typical airbrushes will spray thinned acrylic paint at around 20psi but i find the aztek needs to be around 30psi to get a consistent spray. So if you are using a compressor without a tank it will be working harder to maintain pressure when you spray even if you are only using it for short periods. I'd get the tank.

When you're using an airbrush without a tank, the compressor is working to mantain preassure. The result is that the pressure may fluctuate, and cause you to make a mistake when doing fades or detail work. If you have the tank, the compressor pumps the air into the tank and then you use the already pressurised air, without any fluctuations. This also has the added effect that the compressor doesn't actually produce any noise, except when it's pumping the air into the tank.

Right, cheers. Bantha Beast, how do you find the Aztek?

In addition, compressors generate moisture (they're squeezing the air after all, and that causes water to condense out) and if you don't have a tank, you are more vulnerable to that water making its way up the hose, spitting through the brush and completely ruining your paint job.

Moisture traps alleviate this, and are usually fitted as standard, but I've been caught up in working, failed to notice the trap filling and had my heart broken before. Tanked compressors are less prone because the air is sitting in the tank before being drawn up to the brush, and they tend to run cooler because they're not running all the time, generating less water.

If you ultimately get a tankless compressor, invest in a second moisture trap to fit between brush and hose, it'll catch anything that makes its way up from the compressor and is easier to spot if it fills.

Personally, I bought cheap (tankless) and ended up buying twice and now have a tanked model.

Well, seems the question about tanks stand answered. Pulsing does nasty things to any attempt at fine painting, as noted. Moisture is the devil for any sort of airbrushing, acrylic or solvent based.

Use the drain valve on the tank to empty it after use, not the blow off valve. This way you drain out any moisture that is in the tank. The tank will last longer this way.

About ventilation. some form of containment, like a large box, will do, as long as you vent it. A box fan with a HEPA air filter ( like the sort used in home furnaces) pulling air away from you will work. Aim the fan to blow out the window, and 'pull' the HEPA filter against it. The box is effectively a hood to keep paint particles from drifting up, left or right.

Don't use the airbrush with your child in the room, please. No need to take even a slight chance.

No, I wasn't going to. I was wondering about the dangers of them being in the room after I've finished airbrushing, possibly the next morning. How long does that stuff hang in the air, and how far does it travel? I have no idea. I'm looking into airbrush booths, but they are expensive. Waiting to buy one of those before getting brushing will set me back another couple of months. I do find it amusing that my "bargain" impulse buy is looking like it is going to end up costing me a couple of hundred pounds in extras.

 feltmonkey wrote:
Right, cheers. Bantha Beast, how do you find the Aztek?

Overall i think its ok. I got it mainly for doing basecoating on terrain using craft acrylics with the bigger nozzle sizes. It does that pretty well now after i got used to it. But because of the pressure i have to use to spray i wouldn't want to use it for any detailed work, but i have other airbrushes i can use for that anyway. So i wouldn't want it as my only airbrush but it does well enough at what i use it for.

 feltmonkey wrote:
No, I wasn't going to. I was wondering about the dangers of them being in the room after I've finished airbrushing, possibly the next morning. How long does that stuff hang in the air, and how far does it travel? I have no idea. I'm looking into airbrush booths, but they are expensive. Waiting to buy one of those before getting brushing will set me back another couple of months. I do find it amusing that my "bargain" impulse buy is looking like it is going to end up costing me a couple of hundred pounds in extras.

As long as you're using acrylics there will be no lasting danger after you spray. The biggest danger is to you while you are spraying because you could breathe in the paint particles and accumulate them in your lungs over time. Pretty much anything that gets the air moving away from you will help. Like I said, I built my own spray booth out of a plastic bin and a duct fan for a total of around $20-30, then I put some air filters on both ends of the ducts. I can put the duct out my window or just suck the air through the filters.