I am looking to buy an airbrush. I have never used one and have no idea what i should buy. I now have a large compressor in my work shop that operates at 125 psi max. Can someone advise me on what type and brand of airbrush to buy and if I can use my existing compressor for the airbrush.
thanx CCG (corbyn city george)
George:
I’m sure that you will get many different opinions on the type and brand of airbrush to buy. It depends on the type of work that you want to do. A single action brush will do for most painting or cars and locos while a double action brush will allow you to do more subtle things like some weathering effects (you can do some weathering with a single action brush). There are several good brands ( Iwata, Paasche, Badger, etc) and you can’t go too far wrong with any of them. You can use your compressor if you use a good pressure control valve, filter and a moisture trap. Most airbrushing is done at 30 psi or less so the pressure control is critical - you don’t want high pressure going through your brush. Good luck and have fun.
Joe
I bought one a year ago and am trying to learn to use it. I bought a single action and it seems ok, but then I have never tried a double action. I do wish I would have bought one with a graviry feed. Changeing colors is a pain with the bottles. Just cleaning the cup and putting in a different color looks easier. That’s how the artists at the state fair do it. I bought an inexpensive compresor at Harbor Frieghts that seems to work fine. I am enjoying mine, though I still use a brush on small jobs, just because I am too lazy to spend 10 minuets cleaning after 20 seconds of painting.
As long as the compressor is oil free and you have a way to regulate pressure you should be fine in that regard.
As for the air brush, I bought the dual action from Harbor Freight for $30 and am pretty happy with it. It has been great to learn with. I had a single action and would not go that way.
Mark
Hi George,
I started with a single action Binks gun back in the mid 60’s with a small compressor, used it for about 10-15 years and then got myself a Paashe double action gun with 3hp compressor with a 30 gallon tank both of which I wouldn’t trade or sell as they are the perfect set up for me and I used to do contract paint work in the hobby.
I relegated my old Binks gun to scenery and it’s just fine for that but for really nice, well controlled paint work the Paashe double action is hard to beat.
As for pressure, I would suggest starting with about 10psi and “slowly” add more pressure until you find the area you’re comfortable with.
Remember though, you will need more pressure for the acrilyc paints than you will for the solvent based paints such as Floquil and Scalecoat.
I onlyused a NON solvent based paint one time and didn’t like it so I have always used solvent based paints for any of my engines/cars and the like.
Also a good rule of thumb for mixing is a 50/50 mix, as you get more comfortable with it you will be able to thin it a bit more but I wouldn’t suggest going past a 70/30 mix, (70% thinner, 30% paint).
Mark
Hogwash! [:D]
Oilfree compressors aren´t any good at all. Look at the pro-series from Shark or even Jun-Air (Sil-Air), the are all oil lubricated AND cooled! An oilfree air-supply however, that´s what you need. If you use an oilfree compressor the noise is usually louder and the durability of it shorter.
For the Airbrush itself? Go as expensive as you can justify with the use for it. But if you buy a good air compressor you can´t cheap out on the Airbrush really. I can recommend that you buy a brand that has a good (and accessible) supply of spare!
Dual-Action is good IF you like to learn how to use an Airbrush.
I have worked with Airbrush painting for so long as to know what works and what doesn´t [swg]
what about a badger 350 anyone? rambo1…