So let's go over airbrushes a bit. Keep in mind airguns and airbrushes are nothing more than tools and each have their strong and weak points. Let's say we are doing a fairly large blend of one color to another on the side of a fuselage. In this case, I would never use an airbrush as it's just not the right tool. In this case, it will be very difficult to control and you will get streaking. For this type of work, I would stick to my HVLP touch up gun.

To do all the little graphic work on this build, I will use an airbrush. One thing I will tell you is airbrushes can be very intimidating when it comes time to buy one. Again they are nothing more than tools and we need to know the right kind of tool for our needs. The good news is, for this type of work, we don't need a high dollar brush. What you will find in most cases, the higher end the brush, the more it is designed for detail.

It usually comes down to "needle" size as a major criteria in brush selection. In general, the smaller (finer) the needle, the finer the detail and the higher the cost, which is not what we need. What we want to stay away from are the ultra fine needle size brushes like .18 to .23 needles. Don't get me wrong, you can do a good job with these brushes, but why pay $400 when $60 to $100 will do the job as well if not better.

One workhorse brush is the Paasche VL. I have owned two of them over the last forty odd years and they are just as good now as when they were new. I would buy the kit which comes with a couple of different needle sizes so you can match the one that works with the paint you are using. The good news is they are very inexpensive, but will do a great job. They will handle water base as well as solvent base paints.

http://www.coastairbrush.com/proddet...L_Set_Complete

Another exceptional line of brushes is Iwata. Again, there is no reason to buy one of their high dollar brushes. Most any of their brushes from the Eclipse line down will be perfect.

http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=32

http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=33

One thing to be aware of is some Iwata brushes do not ship with the internal components (packing) to be able to shoot solvent based paints, but for a few dollars, most stores will convert them for you.

All of the brushes I have talked about are what are called "double action". The difference between a double action versus single action has to do with paint delivery. With a single action when you press down on the air, paint comes out based on the setting you have made on the tip of the brush. With a double action brush, no paint comes out until you pull back on the trigger. A double action takes a little more practice to use, but is the preferred brush for our use as it gives you much better control.

Both the Paasche and Iwata brushes are available all over the world.