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What the title says. My new Grex airbrush came with a .35 mm needle. Is that too small for normal model painting?

Depends. I use two airbrushes, one has a .5mm and one has a .2mm - I use the .5 for large smacks of colour, priming, that sort of thing, and then the .2 for detail stuff. You should probably get proper airbrush paints like the Vallejo Air series rather than water down the GW paints, since it's tricky to get the consistency correct for the smaller needle sizes.

majendie wrote:
Depends. I use two airbrushes, one has a .5mm and one has a .2mm - I use the .5 for large smacks of colour, priming, that sort of thing, and then the .2 for detail stuff. You should probably get proper airbrush paints like the Vallejo Air series rather than water down the GW paints, since it's tricky to get the consistency correct for the smaller needle sizes.

^ This.

it all depends on what you are painting, the pressure, and the paint.

I use my .21 needle brush and lower pressure for detail work, but my .5 for doing larger projects (like base coating, terrain, MC's etc.).

If you think it takes too long to paint a thing, then yes, its too small for you.

I have this weird feeling of dejavu....

If people are using .2 for some things and .5 for others, then .35 seems right in the middle.

A friend experienced with airbrushing, when I mentioned the needle size, said "oh that's way too small" as if it would in no way be appropriate at all, but it seems like it's a nice middle of the road?

He also commented that vallejo air will clog periodically, using this size. Is his experience just different from the norm?

Your friend also has a .2 airbrush, does he not?
(yes, he does, we talked about it...I think we have the same one - its awesome).

.35 is fine. I would not suggest it for a FIRST airbrush however, as it is more picky with paint.

The only vallejo model air paints that don't like my "finer" airbrushes are some of the metallic paints. Occasionally I do have to thin some of them some more.


Airbrushing is EXCEPTIONALLY subjective and takes a lot of experience. Learn what you can with your brush, but try others and see what you think.

Again, it depends on what you are painting, the pressure, and the paint.

davethepak wrote:

Airbrushing is EXCEPTIONALLY subjective and takes a lot of experience. Learn what you can with your brush, but try others and see what you think.

Again, it depends on what you are painting, the pressure, and the paint.

Exactly this. Your .35 is just fine. My HP-C plus iwata is .32 I think and it can handle but the smallest of details.

Airbrush is a tool and as such there is the right tool for the right work. You want to prime something then a .5 needle a/b will make your life a lot easier while a .21 one will struggle with clogging.

Wanna do some fine detail work then the .3 or .21 will go right through it but a .5 will require really thin paint low pressure and to get really close in order to do that.

So using a different a/b for a different job just makes your life easier and helps you achieve constant results. Practice, learn your a/b limits and then go buy another one .

I regularly use my Iwata CMB (http://amzn.to/NhTP7I) which has a .18mm needle. In fact, at this point I use it about 90% of the time with my current model painting rather than my Eclipse which has a .5mm tip. Works just fine with with Vallejo paints (and thinned Citadel paints).

My first and only airbrush is a .20 and it works great with all paint. Its not the most efficient at doing large projects but for models its great. Learning to thin your paints properly is something you must do no matter what size needle you use. GW paint is a pain in the rear unless you thin it a lot, or just use some slow dry blending medium in your mix.