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Best/Easiest to use airbrush


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Im more of a badger guy. The patriot is a great gravity feed.

My first aibrush was a badger vega 2000 siphon and its a great obe to start with since it comes with 3 different needles size

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Best/Easiest to use airbrush

Whichever one you're used to using. Everyone has their personal favourite, all of them will work just fine in a modelling context (heck, Chris Wauchop rocks an Aztec, even!), so it mostly comes down to price, features and finding a brush that's comfortable in your hand. Your best bet would be to try a few out in person, if you can. Hit up some modelling buddies. Try contacting art stores in your area (most will stock airbrushes). Test drive them, if you can.

In the mean time, a few things to ponder:

Do you want a single action airbrush or a double action airbrush? Single action is cheaper/easier to learn, double action is far more flexible for advanced use.

Do you want gravity feed, side feed or siphon feed? Gravity feed allows lower pressure but requires more precise technique. Siphon feed is the reverse.

Will you be spraying fine, mottle camouflage or broad/masked surfaces? Be honest. If you build 1/72 Luftwaffe, maybe you need something ultra-fine; if you're building 1/32 jets, you really don't.

How delicate/clumsy are you with your tools. Again, be honest. If you're ham-fisted, you'll probably want to look into a brand with more readily available spares - and away from brands with hard to get or expensive spares.

What kind(s) of paints do you want to use? Acrylics tend to have larger pigments, so can be problematic in really fine airbrushes.

What kind of budget are you working with? Both for a brush and an air supply. If you want to keep it under $100, an Iwata Custom Micron or H&S Infinity aren't going to work.

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Go to a show, or shop, where they're on sale, and handle some for yourself. I have large hands, and find Badger rather small and hard to handle, while the heftier Paasche VLS suits me perfectly. I saw a man, years ago, using a VLS at a Model Engineering Exhibition, and he allowed me to handle it; I was sold, and have used it ever since.

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I use an Iwata HP-C Plus, very very nice and not really found a need for anything else, even when doing very very fine lines. http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/high-performance-plus/hp-c-plus/

Either way you'd want a dual action I'd say. Once you've learned to use the easier to use single action airbrush you'd wish you had a dual action. And using a dual action really isn't that hard to learn at all.

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I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I think my question might contribute to the topic of airbrush selection. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to having a gravity-fed or siphon-fed airbrush?

Thanks!

Eric

With a gravity feed, the paint just drops down into the atomizing tip so you can spray at very low pressures because you don't have to suck the paint out of a cup. The siphon feed airbrush is the opposite and you need higher spraying pressures, so unless you are spraying a very large area and need a lot of paint in one spraying session, I don't know why anybody would want one. Sorry to those who might like them. I just don't get it.

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I have a gravity feed airbrush and notice that it tends to "spit" when I press the nozzle. It sprays beautifully after that but I've come close to botching up some great paint jobs because of it. Are siphon-fed airbrushes less prone to doing this?

Eric

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I have a gravity feed airbrush and notice that it tends to "spit" when I press the nozzle. It sprays beautifully after that but I've come close to botching up some great paint jobs because of it. Are siphon-fed airbrushes less prone to doing this?

Eric

ALL airbrushes should be sprayed away from the model then gradually towards the model. Every time you stop spraying, spray away first.

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Looking into getting my first real airbrush had the testor kit when I was younger so what was the best/easiest to use airbrush y'all had? 271.gif

I am going to make it easy for you. The tried and true Paasche H has the best rep among all general purpose external mix airbrushes. Easy to use, easy to clean, easy to get parts for, but it never breaks. About 90% of your work is best done with a simple, external mix brush. Tight camo, like in 1/72, is best done using any one of a number of good quality internal mix, dual action brushes..Iwatas, H&S, etc.

IMO, to make things easier, two brushes are needed. If you can only afford one, you can get by with one of the larger DA/IM brushes. The problem with that is the fineness and coverage of your spray pattern for larger jobs, and the fact that you have to pull and clean the needle every time you use it and put it away.

Those who say you get by just squirting some thinner through it and that is good enough...shame on you!

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The Badger 150 is pretty good. It's versatile, simple, and is usually on the cheaper side. You can also send any Badger airbrushes back to their company hq and they'll refurbish them for free (but you have to pay shipping).

Avoid any of those Chinese airbrushes you see on ebay that usually go for $20. You get what you pay for.

EDIT: You can also check out their Garage Sale part of their website: http://www.badgerairbrush.com/garage_sale.asp

You can get airbrushes and compressors there for super cheap when they're available. They usually have scratches or misprints or something, but work fine.

Edited by beingthehero
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I have 4 Harder and Steenbeck (the high end ones) and 3 Iwata airbrushes and all I can say is that I love then ALL! They all work flawlessly and do the job intended of them. Each brand has, of course, its own characteristics (i.e. the trigger in H&S brushes isn't as smooth as on Iwata brushes) but, in the end, and for our needs, they'll do great. As someone else suggested, if you can handle one before purchasing, do it! If you can't, consider what exactly you need to brush to do. The H&S brushes I have are a lot easier to clean as they come with a crown cap that doesn't get in the way when you need to wipe your needle, for example. They are also easy to disassemble and their parts are pretty much transferable with other H&S brushes. Iwatas are a bit more fiddly, I would say, but their performance is top notch!

Now, if I can only use one, and only one, airbrush, I'd get an Iwata HP-CH. That's just one fine piece of equipment.

As with other things, choosing what airbrush to purchase is a very personal thing. Look around, find what you like about each, and make the choice.

Rob

Edited by galileo1
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Iwata Eclipse or H&S Infinity seem to do everything well and strip for clean-up very easily. :thumbsup:/>

I would most definitely agree with this! The Eclipse is super easy to use and clean. It can also do detail work if get your ratios correct.

Rob

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I have a gravity feed airbrush and notice that it tends to "spit" when I press the nozzle. It sprays beautifully after that but I've come close to botching up some great paint jobs because of it. Are siphon-fed airbrushes less prone to doing this?

Eric

Yes, siphon feed airbrushes are less prone to spattering, because gravity will tend to pull the paint down, back into the colour cup, away from the nozzle. With a gravity feed brush, gravity is pushing it towards the nozzle (or at least, holding it in place), so you're more likely to spatter.

I'd say that's the main distinguishing feature between gravity feed and siphon feed. Gravity feed lets you use lower pressure (which in turn means less overspray and tighter spray patterns) but you need better trigger discipline. Siphon feeds need higher pressures, but are more forgiving of sloppy trigger practices. On balance, the benefits of a gravity feed outweigh its drawbacks, but if you're used to using a siphon feed it can be tough to un-learn those bad habits. (ask me how I know. :))

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No love for Grex airbrushes? I have this one.

http://www.grexusa.com/grexairbrush/products.php5?id=Tritium.TG

I love the pistol trigger. Its easy on my finger for those long

paint sessions. Very easy to clean. I love the control I have with it.

I second Grex - I tried their pistol grip brush at a show and have been saving up ever since. As a side note, I have the Grex air compressor and it is fantastic!

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