Airbrush?

[ILoveMondeo]

Evening all,

I'm after a basic airbrush, mainly for doing base coats, not real fine detail work (I'm not talented enough)...

Are the £50-£60 kits on ebay any good? They look pretty good value as they come with gravity and bottom feed guns and a little compressor.

Cheers!

[Eric Mc]

It depends on who manufactures them. Some of the Chinese cheapies are OK - they work.

But as with everything in life, getting a better quality tool will always pay dividends.

I bought a Harder and Steenbeck for under £100 few years ago and I've never looked back.

[dr_gn]

At that price point you'd be better off with Tamiya spray cans for single colour base coats IMO.

[Red Firecracker]

A good previous thread here;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=27&...

I use cheapy and expensive brushes, choice based on the work they will be doing. Fine work = expensive. Block colours/clear coating = Chinese.

This thread is now almost a defacto stickie for build advice;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited to add the reply I was originally hunting for, in this thread;

http://www.petrolheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...


I use the Chinese copies quite a lot, mainly as I'm quite hard on them. I have some brushes that I use for 'best' or the more arty farty stuff I do and three Chinese sprayguns such as this;


A Guide to Airbrushing with Zero Paints by Red Firecracker, on Flickr

which I use for the majority of the day to day stuff, one for clear, one for solid colours and one for metallics.

I use the people linked below, Everything Airbrush, quite a lot, they have a normal website and an eBay shop;

http://www.everythingairbrush.com/

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/everythingairbrush

Now, nobody is going to say they are the utmost in airbrush technology or are going to give you super fine pinstripe lines, but I have found that with a little bit of care and attention paid to cleaning and maintenance, they are perfectly fine for the majority of modelling jobs. They are certainly a good way into airbrushing for little expense, and if buying a package the compressor, water filter and air line will still be completely usable if you upgrade to a more expensive brush.

Your main choice is single or double action. For me, having got used to a double action brush, I tend to lean towards them (accepting that the mini spray guns that I use are essentially single action).

Edited by Red Firecracker on Saturday 4th January 19:29

[ILoveMondeo]

Wow, thanks for that! I will have a read!

[ILoveMondeo]

So I've had a read through and I've taken a punt and ordered on of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOP-END-AIRBRUSH-COMPRES...

I've a feeling that it'll be absolutely fine for what I need.

If it turns out to be cack, or I decide I want something a little (or a lot) better quality I should with any luck be able to keep using the compressor and upgrade to fancy brush!

Also, whilst I'm learning and messing around with the thing it's not the end of the world if I break it!

Thanks again for all the help and assistance!

[Eric Mc]

I went through six brushes before I found one that really worked for me. I am NOT a good example to follow.

[The_Jackal]

I have been using that very kit for years now.
Only thing i would add is an inline water trap just before the airbrush.

[ILoveMondeo]

The_Jackal said:

I have been using that very kit for years now.
Only thing i would add is an inline water trap just before the airbrush.

Cool, thanks, just ordered one, was only a couple of quid.