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Hi all,

Living in the UK means 75% of the time I can't go outside with a spray can, so I'd like to get an airbrush this year.

I'm on a pretty limited hobby budget, so it'd be preferable to find a full set up (airbrush, compressor and all the gubbins) for as low as I can get without sacrificing quality.

eBay has ones for £30 but I doubt they're anywhere near what I've seen in terms of pressure and quality.

Are there any affordable airbrush kits for around the £50 mark?

absolutely hear you on the weather and spraying issue!

You are going to struggle to get reasonable kit within your budget unless you stalk ebay to look for a good second hand deal.

As an entry level compressor you are looking at ~£100 new for something like the Neo Air from Iwata and a further ~50-60£ for a reasonable airbrush.

its a worthwhile investment if you are able to save; watch ebay for good iwata/badger/harder and steenbeck gear but bear in mind with second hand gear you may need to buy a new needle (~£10) or O rings if they are worn.

Hope this is of some help.

Unfortunately I can't really stretch to £150, as much as I'd like to.

Say I was looking for something a bit under Iwata/Badger etc level though, is there a lower tier that'd fit what I'm after?

Or if I were to save up then how would I know what's worth the money? The technical terms are still a bit beyond me.

I started with a cheap airbrush + tankless compressor, and paid ~$30. A single nozzle size, no way to adjust the pressure.
It was good enough to prime and basecoat, as well as do some basic fading on vehicles and some power swords. I think it's enough to start and get a feeling of how airbrushes work.

If you want the full experience, you definitely need a compressor with a tank, adjustable pressure, and a water trap. But I don't think you'll find anything decent in your price range. So you might as well not spend too much and get the most basic stuff.

Oh, and make 100% sure that the airbrush you get is dual action.

That's the kind of thing I can find on eBay for about the same price as you've mentioned.

It seems like exactly what I'd be after to get a taste of whether I like airbrushing, and probably fairly easy to sell if it's not for me.

I'll definitely keep that in mind for my first try. Thanks Dakka!

For bare bones, no frills starter airbrush, I went with this and have been pretty happy. I'm upgrading to a Badger at the moment, but the Master has been fine for basecoating, priming and some shading work.

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Multi-purpose-Dual-action-Compressor/dp/B001TO578Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1516819718&sr=8-4&keywords=master+airbrush+kit

From some cursory googling, that seems to have all the bits people have been talking about. Moisture trap, pressure adjusting.

I like the look of that, and I've found a very similar thing on eBay. If it's paying a little more for something better then I think I can stretch to that.

Airbrushes are purpose built. Some are really good at details, others are really good at priming and basecoating. Some are okay at both. Before you buy an airbrush, you need to ask the question "How do I intend to use it?" and then find a brush that matches that need. If you're only looking to cover large areas (like when priming, basecoating, and varnishing) and indend to pick out details by hand, you can probably do okay for cheap. If you want to learn airbrushing as an art, it's worth saving up a little longer so that you can afford a quality airbrush or two.

My workhorse brushes are an Iwata Eclipse HP - CS and an Iwata Eclipse HP - BCS. After burning out some cheaper compressors, I finally settled on a two-cylinder model with a tank. With this setup I can paint a huge range of details with pretty much any paint than can be thinned (including craft and house paints). For more basic needs or occasional use, the link that Todosi posted would be perfect.

That's really helpful, thank you!

I am just looking for a brush that'll let me prime and basecoat fairly easily, so the link from above looks great to me.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/SwitZer-Top-End-Airbrush-Compressor-AS18-Double-Action-Air-Brush-Kit-New/122527253918?epid=1018704323&hash=item1c8731859e:g:diEAAOSwaC9aWMwp

This is the one I've looked at in UK money, seems about the same the model posted by Todosi.

I'd say it may be worth the slight extra to get the compressor with the tank:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SwitZer-AS-186-Complete-Airbrush-Kit-Compressor-With-Tank-Nail-Tatoo-Art-/382051488117?

What's the benefit of a tank?

Maintains more constant pressure with no pulsing of the air flow, compressor isn't just running all the time (the noise is annoying)

So the tank is connected to the compressor, and fills with compressed air to be used while the compressor isn't on?

Sounds pretty useful to me. I imagine that'd help the lifespan of the compressor not to be just running the whole time as well. For another £10 or so that'd be pretty good.

Tanks have a few benefits. First, as Crispy said, they allow for consistent pressure to be delivered to the airbrush which improves control. In the absence of a tank, the flow will oscillate with the piston. A tankless compressor also needs to run whenever the airbrush is in use, meaning it's noisier and can overheat faster. Finally, compressing air literally squeezes moisture out of it, so the tank acts as a very effective moisture trap.

That's something I'd never thought of, this is some great information.

Having a tank sounds better in pretty much every way, so I'm definitely leaning more towards Crispy's choice.

Speaking of that link, how does that airbrush kit look for beginner?

I have mixed feelings, but that's very much due to personal biases. YMMV, but I think it's best to save up for a good airbrush and compressor because quality tools last a long time. When buying an airbrush, you very much get what you pay for. While top of the line (like Harder and Steenbeck) is certainly unnecessary, Paasche, Iwata, Badger, Grex, Sparmax, and others make quality airbrushes at more reasonable prices. Is the reduced price worth the risk that when your cheap airbrush breaks you won't be able to get parts and will then have to buy a whole new one? If that happens, you just bought two cheap airbrushes when you could've bought one good one (and the cheap one may break again). I generally don't think that it makes sense to spend money on cheap tools for this reason. That said, I understand that budgets are budgets and that airbrush kit looks pretty good for the money. Someone who has experience with that particular set may be able to give you a bit more info.

While I can definitely see the sense in what you've said, and on most things I'd agree, I do have a budget to stick to.

This would be more of an experiment and a test for finding a new way to paint models more than anything, so picking up a high-end airbrush is a possibility in the future.

But it's encouraging to hear that set looks pretty good for the money. And I've learned a lot about how airbrushes work and what to look for.

This is for later in the year, and I could always save up across the months and get something a bit nicer from the brands that have been mentioned.

I started with a similar set (no tank on my compressor, and a top-fed brush instead of side-fed). It was great to start learning on. Compressor is still good

I don't use the siphon-feed airbrush. I used the other one till I broke the nozzle and couldn't easily find a compatible replacement. Google some generic instructions for assembly, usage and cleaning, as my set came with literally nothing. http://www.airbrushguru.com was useful for me.

I now have a Harder & Steenbeck Ultra (their entry-level brush) and the quality is seriously like night and day, so much better.

It's sounding to me like a good starting point, which is exactly what I wanted from it. If I do end up using the airbrush a lot then I'd definitely consider upgrading to something better.

I think some more research on my part would be useful as well, I'll look into the brand names that have been mentioned.

But overall that set looks pretty reasonable for a complete beginner to learn with, judging by what I've been told.

Another thing to remember with tanked compressors:

Since the moisture WILL condense inside the bottom of the tank, many of the tanks will have their own bleed valve to drain the water that accumulates there out of them.
(You don't want the tank to rust out from the inside, after all).

Standard practice for most compressors is to bleed the pressure after you've finished for the day and drain the moisture from it - you aren't meant to keep the tank charged when you aren't using it.

That's really useful information, thank you!

So drain pretty much the whole thing afterwards, all pressure and moisture/liquid. That makes sense.

There's what looks like a bleed valve on the side of the tank attached to the compressor I was looking at. So that shouldn't be a problem.