20181c

What airbrush do you guys use for your war birds. Need one for my 1/5 Pica Waco.

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Lots of air brushes will work fine.

The Iwata brand airbrush if not the best its right at the top . You can do as fine a detail with them as you want. Practice some to get used to any air brush. Your final results are dependant on your skills.

abufletcher

Skilled use of an airbrush is an art form...one which I have yet to master. If you're just talking about doing some "pre-shadowing" "exhaust weathering" etc. you can probably learn what you need in a week or so of practicing on cardboard.

There are single-action and double-action airbrushes and the double-action ones are considered more refined and capable (if the user is capable) of more delicate results. There's also the question of what kind of paint holder the airbrush uses. There are cheap ones that have a bottle on the bottom and the more expensive ones with gravity feed "cups."

http://www.airbrushtutor.com/airbrushes.php

And, in addition to an airbrush, you'll need an special air compressor that can keep up with your airbrush. Expect a good airbrush and compressor to cost between $200 and $300, but you might be able to get a mid-range setup for $150. There are also cheap airbrushes that run on cans of air (which is what I have). They aren't very good but do basic jobs and only cost about $40. Think of these as being about as useful as a spray can...but you can choose your own paint!

TFF

For big areas, I sometimes use the Harbor Freight automotive touchup gun and a small regular air compressor. The big thing is to start practicing to get a feel of what is going on.

WacoNut

I spent the $$$ for the Iwata and I am very impessed with this airbrush. It is great for detailing. I can spray down to a pencil thin line. With a little practice shading is easy and it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. You will find proper paint mixing for the right color is the hardest part of the process.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

I think it is important to look at the type/configuration you want. I am just getting started, but have met with some success. I have a cheap Harbour freight and a mid priced Pascche. Both are syphon feed, which means they draw the paint up, either from a color cup or a jar. I have had no success sucking from a jar. I have been using the color cups. My next airbrush will be a Badger Patriot I believe, unless I break down for an Iwata. The main thing here is, I want a gravity feed with a lid on the cup. I cannot tell you how many times I have spilled paint on my subject. The cap is very important to me. Gravity feed allows low pressure. Around 15 psi. Suction requires more. 20-30.
Another thing with the airbrush, it is relatively new to the RC modeler. Sure, many have used them, but you will not find a lot of info from the RC forums. The place to look is with the plastic model community. They will teach you about pre shading, post shading and other weathering techniques. The ability to layer colors and blend them really makes your model pop, compared to others at the field.
I say start with a cheap double action, and just have fun with it. Once you decide if you wanna go further with it, then I would say spend more. This is an are I am really trying to learn as much as I can. It is a great tool for the scale modeler. Especially being able to spray latex.

An example of a little airbrushing. Mostly home depot latex here.

adamle

I highly recommend the Iwata eclipse line. I've used them professionally for almost ten years. They spray almost every kind of paint. I wouldn't waste my time with a cheap airbrush as the frustration is just not worth it. Order them from bearair.com or coastairbrush.com for the best price.

abufletcher

$100 bucks for a good quality airbrush that you'll use for years, isn't too bad. The Iwata Eclipse does indeed look good. What do you recommend for a reasonably priced compressor?

foodstick

The Vega 2000 is a killer airbrush for the money ....Dual action, multiple needles and tips the whole kit runs about 65 bucks the last time I looked..comes with bottles and a cup.. hose, etc.

Think I bought mine from Bear air?

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Abu, look at TCP global. They look to have a lot of compressors. The little pulse type make less noise and are supposed to work fine. I have a smallish compressor I got from Harbour freight here in the states for around $130

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

I have this unit from BINKS for over 20 years http://www.binks.com/Products/SprayG...nAirbrush.aspx its been reliable and simple to use I have painted entire models with it but the capacity is only 6oz for a large bottle.

for larger jobs I use a cheap touch up gun from HUSKEY http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cata...tgry=SEARCHALL I picked up at Home Depot for 40 bucks,I must say it works pretty darn good for the price.

I drive both units off my regular compressor,that I normally use for my nail guns,I have since acquired a small comp. for my airbrush, and it works well for the detail, and highlight work its also not really all that noisy.

foodstick

An air tank is much nicer than a diaphragm type. I admit I haven't tried every setup possible, but when you are making long smooth swings with an airbrush the compressor with a tank WON"T leave dark spurts of paint .. it is a smooth even pass. I have heard of people buying thoe steel tanks you use to fill up a car tire, and fill them with air, then by using a valve carry it in the house to paint. I have NO IDEA how long it would last for different types of spraying...

sebo

This is what Iuse too...Iwata brand airbrush

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

those tanks work well they carry allot of air in volume, so if your using low pressure there going to last a little while, my compressor is a 2 tank Rigid brand type generally used in construction I dial the pressure way down for spraying, but when I am shooting allot of paint its going off every few min. which can get noisy.

for the little diaphragm pump I have, which was actually pretty old and I wasn't sure if it would even work, I scavenged a old pressure valve I had laying around, and re-plumbed the connection so I could use a quick connect and meter the pressure entering the line.

turns out I am getting about 30 lbs max steady pressure, which is what I use for spraying in general, the little diaphragm would not drive any thing but a small airbrush mainly from lack of air volume,most paint guns need a higher volume of air.

a real caution on using a compressor and/or compressed air and a airbrush, more pressure exceeding the recommended ratings of the tool, can blow out the small gaskets on some of the less expensive units I had to get a rebuild kit for my brush because I used too much pressure a few too many times trying to push higher volumes of material through such a small tool, its part of the reasoning behind buying the HUSKEY paint gun.

my first project with the HUSKEY was to repaint my ESM FW 190 allot of the work was done free hand

Old Erkki

Greetings from Finland

http://www.testors.com/category/136950/Aztek

Old Erkki

MajorTomski

If you have a Hobby Lobby craft store in the area you can get a quality siphon airbrush (detachable paint cup on the bottom) for around $100 with the weekly 40% off coupon. You can just show them the coupon on your smart phone when you make the purchase

Chris Nicastro

My Feedback: (3)

Iwata would be top of the list for an airbrush but another company has released an new type of airbrush recently that I really like. Its called Grex. http://www.grexusa.com/grexairbrush/
I bought one and Im very pleased with the results so far. Ive had Iwata, Pasche, Badger and Testors. So far Id recommend Iwata, Grex and Pasche.

Iwata for super fine details
Grex for detail and large work
Pasche for commercial work and repetitive tasks, a VL-1. These are work horse airbrushes, very durable.

Lucky Dog

My Feedback: (1)

I've been using a Paasche VL (double action siphon) for 35 years (on my second one). Great product! I do need to invest in an inexpensive automotive detail brush for the bigger stuff.

sebo

I repainted this one using the Iwata this past week.

MajorTomski

I picked up an IWATA NEO gravity feed from Hobby Lobby this past Monday for a grand total of $36.00 with the 40% off coupon. This is my first gravity feed brush, all others have been siphon feed.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

How do you acquire this coupon? That is a good deal.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Oh, I saw it on the website. Never mind.


I am wondering, has anyone used a sonic cleaner of some sort to keep their airbrush clean? Cleaning is almost the most difficult part of airbrushing. I think some tips here would be very welcome.

abufletcher

You're right, keeping an airbrush clean takes a lot of work!

With my bottle-fed airbrush, I have a separate bottle loaded with thinner all ready to go before I start painting. Then as soon as I'm finished I switch bottles and spray a sheet of paper until all color is gone and it's just spraying thinner. With the more expensive airbrushes I think you're suppose to disassemble and soak the parts.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9YnScCetDo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNEUNYuEgg0&feature=related[/youtube]

abufletcher

This, by the way, is the "cheap" single-action, bottle-fed hobby airbrush I have. The control is minimal, as I said it's really just like having a spay can but with custom paint.

http://www.toyarena.com/product_info...ush-set-p-6042

I like the idea of having a dual-action airbrush, but realize that it would take some time to develop the skills to use it. I'm not so keen on the idea of an open gravity-feed cup, but that may be due a misconception about how it should be used. My guess is that people who are using these don't have the cup "full" but rather the cup is probably no more than 1/4 full and they're using these for very small, delicate painting.

sebo

I do both......spray thinner when done and soak...I also clean around the spray area thoroughly even after doing the aforesaid.