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I heard that the sotars capable of great detail but can it paint an entire army including base coating??

Getting into airbrushing and all I own is the sotar without the compressor.

Should I buy another airbrush?

A few of my friends own Sotar 20/20 and I do not hear any complaints. You are fine.

Getting a bigger airbrush might come into play if you are painting really large scale projects like a gaming table for exemple. Sure it can be done with a sotar but it will take a while and lots of refilling.

For models, tanks and regular army stuff? Don't sweat it.

Thanks for the reply,

just getting into airbrushing anyways so I feel taking it slow and doing smaller scale sprays might be better at first.

I am excited though

I have a sotar and I havent used it yet. I have never airbrushed before and I think this was like picking a formula car before knowing how a car works....

I feel so in over my head

Don't feel like that Soulgrinder!

Airbrushing is easy, you'll be fine. If someone like me can do it, anyone can. Think of it like an alternative to a normal paintbrush, using a normal brush is easy to just jam paint on there, but then you learn to thin your paints and get them smoother. Then you learn about drybrushing, blending, shading, washing, and all these other little specialist ways of doing it.

For some reason, learning with a normal brush is completely acceptable, but doing the same with an airbrush just terrifies people. It is exactly the same.

The things you will want to learn are thinning your paint (much like a normal brush) to get it to stop jamming. After that, you will obviously want to know how to take it apart and clean it properly. Think of it like buying a $100 paint brush, you just need to look after it.

The sotar 20/20 is a wonderful brush for beginners (from what I have read) much like the Iwata HP-CS. Medium nozzle, really robust, very forgiving. You have both chosen an excellent first brush, which is the hardest step!

So, unpack that bad boy, load it up with water and just see how it feels blasting water out, get used to spitting out more and less paint, feathering, doing lines, upping the compressor pressure, lowering it, etc. Water is utterly amazing, because it doesn't clog, and you can bugger around with it forever.

Once that is done, get some airbrush paint - think of pre-thinned paint like driving an automatic transmission instead of a manual. Then try and do some stuff with that on a throwaway model. The best way to learn the ropes is with a Vallejo primer, use that instead of a rattle can, and use the airbrush. It is perfect through a brush, doesn't need to be thinned, is really forgiving as it self levels, and will get you to learn pressures.

Once you are comfortable with simply priming, step up to all over base coating. When that is easy, try zenithal highlighting. From there, pre-shading. From there, complex masking.

All of a sudden, the dunce that you were is where I am now, which is surprising proficient with an airbrush and able to do complex things relatively easily. I'm no wizard, it just takes patience.

Like everyone else said; you're good with the one you have.

Still, I'd recommend picking up a cheap 0.3 or 0.4mm off ebay to keep as a beater for spraying primer and whatever else you might find yourself wanting to spare your good brush from.

Also, remember to deal with the paint particles, either use a mask or get/make a spray booth if you intend to use it around people and/or pets.

kb_lock wrote:
Don't feel like that Soulgrinder!

Airbrushing is easy, you'll be fine. If someone like me can do it, anyone can. Think of it like an alternative to a normal paintbrush, using a normal brush is easy to just jam paint on there, but then you learn to thin your paints and get them smoother. Then you learn about drybrushing, blending, shading, washing, and all these other little specialist ways of doing it.

For some reason, learning with a normal brush is completely acceptable, but doing the same with an airbrush just terrifies people. It is exactly the same.

The things you will want to learn are thinning your paint (much like a normal brush) to get it to stop jamming. After that, you will obviously want to know how to take it apart and clean it properly. Think of it like buying a $100 paint brush, you just need to look after it.

The sotar 20/20 is a wonderful brush for beginners (from what I have read) much like the Iwata HP-CS. Medium nozzle, really robust, very forgiving. You have both chosen an excellent first brush, which is the hardest step!

So, unpack that bad boy, load it up with water and just see how it feels blasting water out, get used to spitting out more and less paint, feathering, doing lines, upping the compressor pressure, lowering it, etc. Water is utterly amazing, because it doesn't clog, and you can bugger around with it forever.

Once that is done, get some airbrush paint - think of pre-thinned paint like driving an automatic transmission instead of a manual. Then try and do some stuff with that on a throwaway model. The best way to learn the ropes is with a Vallejo primer, use that instead of a rattle can, and use the airbrush. It is perfect through a brush, doesn't need to be thinned, is really forgiving as it self levels, and will get you to learn pressures.

Once you are comfortable with simply priming, step up to all over base coating. When that is easy, try zenithal highlighting. From there, pre-shading. From there, complex masking.

All of a sudden, the dunce that you were is where I am now, which is surprising proficient with an airbrush and able to do complex things relatively easily. I'm no wizard, it just takes patience.

Thank you for the inspiration friend. ill give it a shot once I find a good compressor haha!!

A cheapy from harbor freight with a tank will do

Indeed - anything that will shoot air through a regulator will do. But like anything else you can buy, there are degrees of "well-made", "covered by warranty", "quality control", etc. Not to mention pulsation, noise, and a host of other factors. Loads of youtube videos and various forums and blogs on the subject.
Ultimately only you can tell yourself what suits you.

The Sotar is a very, very good brush - and excels at fine-detail with low-pressure. One of the small ninja-jet and sprint-jet compressors is all you need for this brush.

Harbor Frieght and HD/Lowes shop compressors can shoot air and way higher pressure than you need (and they are damn loud). That said i've used both and they work fine (i had a leak in the HF that i had to patch with putty tho).

But really - anything that can blow air will work. Including a spare tire. Just make sure you have a way to regulate constant pressure and a moisture trap.

However, having been around this block, I recommend a nice little sparmax, iwata, or badger compressor. Especially the latter because i'm in the USA and dead easy to get service and support for Badger.
They usually have a tank, run a little longer than the harbor freight before auto-shut off - see (i wish i knew this when i started) a compressor heats up. A lot. The auto-shut off prevents over-heating, but the run time may only be 15 minutes. Then it needs to cool down for an equal amount of time. Run 15 minutes, auto-off, must cool down 15 minutes. (some do 30 minutes, some have tanks which mitigates this). That can get frustrating pretty quick when you're amped to paint and have to spray, wait, spray, wait.

I got a Badger 910 for a steal from Amazon Warehouse. They sell stuff that is refurbed, returned, or otherwise "less-than-new" - but still certified. In my case just the box had damage. But the compressor was 100% untouched, new, and works like a dream. Over $200 off MSRP too.

As for needing anything else? no...but you *may* find that you will *want* a brush with a larger needle & paint cup for batch priming and base-coating. And larger vehicles.
I recommend sticking with gravity feed for what we do. The siphon brushes are for MUCH larger projects and (IMHO) not worth the extra effort to clean, transfer paint, yada, yada.

But the most important thing - USE IT. Don't be afraid of it. Don't worry about the Sotar being a delicate flower or a hanger queen. It's solid tool that deserves to be out of the case - the more you use it, the more you practice with it, the better you get to know it and it's capabilities.

Enjoy!

Vrex wrote:
Indeed - anything that will shoot air through a regulator will do. But like anything else you can buy, there are degrees of "well-made", "covered by warranty", "quality control", etc. Not to mention pulsation, noise, and a host of other factors. Loads of youtube videos and various forums and blogs on the subject.
Ultimately only you can tell yourself what suits you.

The Sotar is a very, very good brush - and excels at fine-detail with low-pressure. One of the small ninja-jet and sprint-jet compressors is all you need for this brush.

Harbor Frieght and HD/Lowes shop compressors can shoot air and way higher pressure than you need (and they are damn loud). That said i've used both and they work fine (i had a leak in the HF that i had to patch with putty tho).

But really - anything that can blow air will work. Including a spare tire. Just make sure you have a way to regulate constant pressure and a moisture trap.

However, having been around this block, I recommend a nice little sparmax, iwata, or badger compressor. Especially the latter because i'm in the USA and dead easy to get service and support for Badger.
They usually have a tank, run a little longer than the harbor freight before auto-shut off - see (i wish i knew this when i started) a compressor heats up. A lot. The auto-shut off prevents over-heating, but the run time may only be 15 minutes. Then it needs to cool down for an equal amount of time. Run 15 minutes, auto-off, must cool down 15 minutes. (some do 30 minutes, some have tanks which mitigates this). That can get frustrating pretty quick when you're amped to paint and have to spray, wait, spray, wait.

I got a Badger 910 for a steal from Amazon Warehouse. They sell stuff that is refurbed, returned, or otherwise "less-than-new" - but still certified. In my case just the box had damage. But the compressor was 100% untouched, new, and works like a dream. Over $200 off MSRP too.

As for needing anything else? no...but you *may* find that you will *want* a brush with a larger needle & paint cup for batch priming and base-coating. And larger vehicles.
I recommend sticking with gravity feed for what we do. The siphon brushes are for MUCH larger projects and (IMHO) not worth the extra effort to clean, transfer paint, yada, yada.

But the most important thing - USE IT. Don't be afraid of it. Don't worry about the Sotar being a delicate flower or a hanger queen. It's solid tool that deserves to be out of the case - the more you use it, the more you practice with it, the better you get to know it and it's capabilities.

Enjoy!

Totally sold me. Im going to take a class at adepticon on how to airbursh too. Bring the sotar and a hose and some vallejo paints I have, Yeah, I have like 20x paints and never touched them for fear of crashing my Cadillac. Im going to get a compressor that heats the air before it enters the hose to minimize issues in the paint. Ive been told not to go short on the compressor. Needs a moisture trap for sure. I am willing to go quite high end.

Any suggestions on maintenance?

 xSoulgrinderx wrote:

Vrex wrote:
Indeed - anything that will shoot air through a regulator will do. But like anything else you can buy, there are degrees of "well-made", "covered by warranty", "quality control", etc. Not to mention pulsation, noise, and a host of other factors. Loads of youtube videos and various forums and blogs on the subject.
Ultimately only you can tell yourself what suits you.

The Sotar is a very, very good brush - and excels at fine-detail with low-pressure. One of the small ninja-jet and sprint-jet compressors is all you need for this brush.

Harbor Frieght and HD/Lowes shop compressors can shoot air and way higher pressure than you need (and they are damn loud). That said i've used both and they work fine (i had a leak in the HF that i had to patch with putty tho).

But really - anything that can blow air will work. Including a spare tire. Just make sure you have a way to regulate constant pressure and a moisture trap.

However, having been around this block, I recommend a nice little sparmax, iwata, or badger compressor. Especially the latter because i'm in the USA and dead easy to get service and support for Badger.
They usually have a tank, run a little longer than the harbor freight before auto-shut off - see (i wish i knew this when i started) a compressor heats up. A lot. The auto-shut off prevents over-heating, but the run time may only be 15 minutes. Then it needs to cool down for an equal amount of time. Run 15 minutes, auto-off, must cool down 15 minutes. (some do 30 minutes, some have tanks which mitigates this). That can get frustrating pretty quick when you're amped to paint and have to spray, wait, spray, wait.

I got a Badger 910 for a steal from Amazon Warehouse. They sell stuff that is refurbed, returned, or otherwise "less-than-new" - but still certified. In my case just the box had damage. But the compressor was 100% untouched, new, and works like a dream. Over $200 off MSRP too.

As for needing anything else? no...but you *may* find that you will *want* a brush with a larger needle & paint cup for batch priming and base-coating. And larger vehicles.
I recommend sticking with gravity feed for what we do. The siphon brushes are for MUCH larger projects and (IMHO) not worth the extra effort to clean, transfer paint, yada, yada.

But the most important thing - USE IT. Don't be afraid of it. Don't worry about the Sotar being a delicate flower or a hanger queen. It's solid tool that deserves to be out of the case - the more you use it, the more you practice with it, the better you get to know it and it's capabilities.

Enjoy!

Totally sold me. Im going to take a class at adepticon on how to airbursh too. Bring the sotar and a hose and some vallejo paints I have, Yeah, I have like 20x paints and never touched them for fear of crashing my Cadillac. Im going to get a compressor that heats the air before it enters the hose to minimize issues in the paint. Ive been told not to go short on the compressor. Needs a moisture trap for sure. I am willing to go quite high end.

Any suggestions on maintenance?

Get a decent oil-less one and there's pretty much no maintenance. You can get good ones for pretty cheap. AS186 is a very common, good value model. You can get fancier name brand versions with various features, most airbrush brands will have one available. They all come with a moisture trap and regulator, so all you need to do is connect your airbrush and start spraying. Just remember to drain the tank after use so you don't have condensation and rusting inside.
There are oil compressors available, although I don't have any experience with them, but the folks at Painting Buddha use the Euro Tec oil compressor and their painting is superb. Very quiet, and runs cooler than oil-less, but quite pricey and requires oil changes etc.

Maintenance on Compressors? An oil-less one should be effectively maintenance-free. Empty the air-tank after each use, check it for leaks every so often. Might just need tightening, or seal-tape on the threads.

Maintenance on Airbrushes? That varies widely depending on a host of factors - type & thickness of paint used, internal parts, etc. Les Bursley (aka "AwesomePaintJob"), Miniwargamer Jay, Kenny Boucher, and more all have youtube channels with tips and tricks for keeping brushes clean. For the most part, clean out your paint cup, nozzle, and needle after every painting session. Check your seals on your brush before painting. *Maybe* go so far as to get a small inexpensive ultrasonic jewelry cleaner for a monthly soak 'n' clean.

FineScaleModeler and it's kin are also a great resource for Hobby Airbrushing tutorials. RC Car sites probably are too - i just thought of that as i typed this.