Airbrush Kit

[Simon Richardson 6Participant @simonrichardson6]

[Simon Richardson 6Participant @simonrichardson6]

Hi

hoping someone can advise me on a good airbrush set up, compressor and airbrush, looking on the internet there seems to be a wide range of prices, Are the cheaper ones worth the money or is it best to invest in a better quality set up. I would like the versatility to paint both larger and smaller areas.
thanks Simon

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Simon,

What sort of things/size will you be spraying? I've had various types but they are a major faf to keep clean & working ! Just bought a small unit from Amazon, but have yet to find anything to practice on . Plastic modeller of which I am one some times use them to best advantage.

Regards Ray

[Simon Richardson 6Participant @simonrichardson6]

Thanks for the reply Ray, I am just starting to have a go at building an aerokits crash tender , I have built a racing sparrow yacht and a micro magic but always struggled with rattle cans to get a nice job.
I would really like to be able to do the hulls and some finer detail stuff as well,

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Simon,

If you go for a single action airbrush they are better for larger areas, the paint flow is adjustable and you control the air with the trigger/button. Double action on 1 button 2 movements are better for delicate work aeroplane camouflage etc.and artwork which all about masking.

Regards Ray

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello Simon,

The short answer is that with auírbrush equipment, you very much get what you pay for. Or don't, as it were.

The long answer can be very, very long, indeed but I'll try to keep the below at least shortish.

I should perhaps add that I do almost all of my model boat painting with an airbrush, including hulls in the 35" to 45" range, so I have some experience of both smaller and larger AB paint jobs.

As a starting point, I'd say that the most important aspect of an AB set-up is actually the compressor, rather than the AB itself, and also that compressors tend to get rather expensive quite quickly. However, if you want to be able to paint also larger areas, you will be much better off with a sufficiently powerful compressor. To paint larger areas, you will need a larger needle size – at least 0.6 mm – than those which are usually used for painting plastic models and suchlike, where needles are more often in sizes from 0.018 up to 0.2 and 0.3 mm, and in order to furnish enough airflow to run a larger needle AB for the amount of time involved, the smaller (and less expensive) compressors will not be up to the job.

Dedicated AB compressors come in three basic types: membrane, oilless and oil lubricated. Membrane compressors are those quite small ones you may have seen, that usually come with complete "beginner's" AB kits, and can pretty much be discounted for what you seem to be thinking about. They are usually rather noisy (in the, say 65 to 75dB range) but more importantly will very quickly overheat if you try to paint e.g. a largish model boat hull. Or you will need to stop painting very regularly to let the compressor cool down.

Oilless compressors exist in all sizes, and have the advantage of not needing to be filled up with oil ("maintenance free" is an of quoted description), which means that they are much easier to lug around, as they can be put on any side without risk of oil leaking out, and also that they don't need an yey kept on the oil level nor any oil changes. Less hassle, certainly, but the reverse side of that coin is that they are usually noisier than oil lubricated ones (mostly in the 55 to 65 dB range – think noisy vacuum cleaner) and also that rthey tend to last for less long – the lack of lubrication means that they will wear out faster.

Oil lubricated compressors, lastly, are usually the quietest ones, normally in the 40 to 45 dB range – think slightly noisy fridge. They are often marketed as "silent", but that is perhaps not quite true; they are, however, noticably less noisy than the alternatives, so if you live in a place where or plan to paint at times of the day (or night) when the level of noise will be a consideration, this is worth thinking about.

Another aspect to think about is whether the compressor has a tank or not. For larger jobs, you definitely want a tank, the larger the better! A tank is what it sounds like: a tank on the compressor which is filled with compressed air, and from which you then draw the air you need. Usually, once the pressure drops below a certain level, the motor will kick back in and top it up again, and then shut itself off until it is needed again. With no tank, the motor has to keep running constantly, which on larger jobs seriously raises the risk of overheating. Furthermore, the tank acts as a buffer, which means that you will have a constant, pulse-free airflow, which is not always the case on tankless models.

I should definitely add that if noise is less of a consideration there is one less expensive option than a dedicated AB compressor, namely a large garage compressor. These can often be had from DIY stores and the like fro around £100 or so, and will give you all the air yiou need, and then some. However, they are very noisy: usually in the 90 to 100 db range! The thing is, though, that they can be had with tanks of 50 liters or more. If you are able to run that very noisy thing for maybe five minutes or so during the day, you can then turn off the motor and just take your air very quietly from the tank, which will last you quite a long time. However, if you do run out of air in the middle of the night, you'll be stuck, unless you happen to live in a spot where none would react to that kind of noise at 2 am … And please be aware that one must also fit such a compressor with an appropriate moisture trap/air filter, or you are likely to get condensed water droplets and oil traces into your paint flow, with less than desirable results.

Getting back to dedicated AB compressors, there are fewer makers on the market than what one would think. A number of different brands, such as Eurotec, Hansa, Sparmax etc., are all made by an Italian company called Werther. If one looks beond the colour schemes and logos, one finds that they all look very similar – and there's a reason for that!

The other major maker of dedicated compressors is Iwata from Japan, who also make some very, very good airbrushes. There's also a UK maker, Bambi, which I believe is mainly geared towards the dental and laboratory markets, but whose compressors will also serve for AB use (compressed air is compressed air).

(to be continued)

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Personally, I have a EuroTec 30A oil lubricated compressor with which I have been very pleased. The 30 refers to its airflow capacity of 30 litres/minute, and when painting hulls with a 0.6 needle, I would not have wanted anything much smaller than that. At a pinch, I think I could have managed with a 20 l/m one, but I would have been asking such a one to work to its absolute limits for much of the time. As it is, with the 30 l/m, I might just be able to handle a 0.8 needle (although I've never tried), but anything larger than that would most likely struggle. This is a fairly expensive piece of kit, I'm afraid – in the +/- £400 range – and while I'm not specifically recommending this particular compressor or brand over it's comparable competitors, I would propose that you invest in as good and as powerful compressor as you can afford. Unless you are in a situation where a garage compressor would do you: that would give you all the power needed at a quarter or so of the price, albeit with a lot of noise thrown in for free.

As you may have gathered, I am of the opinion that the compressor is a very important part of the kit. The AB itself is of course also a consideration, but here I would say that as long as you stay away from the cheapo knock-offs of the major brands, basically anything will be good enough. If you then find that you like working with an AB, you can always upgrade or get a second one later.

Apart from a few boutique makers (with boutique prices to match) that I think are not what you are looking for anyway, there are a number of reputable makers on the market. I'd say that the two top brands are probably Iwata from Japan, and Harder & Steinbeck from Germany. These two are very good. They both also have budget brands, Neo and Ultra respectively, which are both good value for money. Other known brands such as Badger, Olympos, Sparmax, Paasche etc. are also perfectly servicable.

More important than the exact brand is the type of feed (top, side or bottom) and action (single or double). Personally I prefer top feed, which is where you have a smaller or larger cup screwed to the top of the AB, from which the paint is fed by gravity into the needle chamber. The advantage is that you get just as good feed whether you have 0,5 ml or 5 ml or whatever in the cup, or in other words that it will serve very well for both smaller and larger jobs. Some people like side and bottom feeds, because they can be used with very large containers of paint, but I've not had any problem with mine, which has two exchangable cups, one with a 3 ml and the other with a 5 ml capacity. Yes, when I'm painting a hull, I need to top up the (larger) cup regular, but less often than what one would think.

As for action, single action is slightly less difficult to get started with, but my strong advice would be to go with double action. Single action means that you have a constant airflow going, and that the trigger is just used to open and close the needle, i.e. to release paint into the airstream. This would be fine enough for larger jobs, but is less sensitive than double action for the finer stuff. With double action, the trigger serves both to gradually open and close the airstream (usually by pushing it straight down) and then operate the needle (usually by pulling the trigger back). This takes some practice getting used to, but once mastered gives more variability and control. The important thing is to make it a muscle memory/reflez to always follow the seuqnce of airflow on, paint released, paint stopped, airflow stopped. If one cuts of the air on a double action while the needle is still open, paint is likely to remain on the tip of the needle, which will quickly clog up the nozzle.

My own main airbrush is a Harder & Steinbeck Infinity Two-in-One, with which I have been most satisfied. Again, I'm not specifically recommending that which I happen to have, as comparable stuff from the competitors is just as good and sometimes better. What I like about this one is the fact that it is very easy to change nozzle and needle sizes on it (hence the two-in-one moniker): I use it with wither a 0.2 needle for finer work or a 0.6 needle for larger stuff. I also find it to be quite robust and easy to dismantle and clean (which one has to do after every painting session, or things will quickly get clogged up). However, I think that most H&S airbrushes are actually made so that most nozzle and needle sizes will fit any body, so that a similar set-up might be had for less money than what I paid for mine.

All this said, there will be a number of people out there who get perfectly decent results with budget equipment. More power to them. My personal experience has been that this is an area where you get what you pay for, and for my part I have never regretted getting good quality airbrush tools.

Mattias

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Wow Mattias,

I really enjoy brush painting !! 😀

All the best Ray

[Martin Howard 4Participant @martinhoward4]

Hi Martin H here. I am a beginner and have started to build a Fairy Huntress 23, so am interested in the descussion about AB. As I also have a classic car am interested in purchasing something that I can use for both my interests.

The subject of how much to spend has been my worry so the comments are very interesting, I had a Burnett of £80/90, so any suggestions as to a possible AB to concider. I have a very old air compressor which I have on the car but has no tank, so your comments will be very welcome please.

Martin H

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Martin

FYI I painted both of the prototype Huntress 23s with Halfords aerosol car paints. I used an airbrush only for the finer details. I have a Badger 250 external mix one; a 4oz version of the same brush, and a 200 single-action internal mix job.

IMHO Banjoman is the reference for all such things. Read what he writes at least three times!

Dave M

[Paul FreshneyParticipant @paulfreshney24971]

Hi

For what it is worth:

I use, and have used for many years, A Badger Crescendo 175 Double Action Airbrush fitted with the largest nozzle/jet and needle it comes with. That is the only needle/jet/nozzle I have ever used with Humbrol paints. For a compressor I currently use a Bambi Oil Free Piston Compressor:

**LINK**

Actually, my version is the previous example but it has been 100% reliable for 6 years and I do a lot of spray painting. It is not totally silent, but very, very quiet. There are alternatives in the range which are based around the refrigerator silent type. This compressor sits in the corner of my workshop. It does not run continuously as the tank holds enough pressurised air for up to 5 mins or so of continuous painting.

The compressor outlet is connected via a hose under my workbench to a second regulator and water trap on the right side of the bench (I am right handed) which has a Y outlet. This enables a ‘blow gun’ to be attached as well as the airbrush. Pressure at this regulator is normally set to 30psi, which drops to around 25psi when the airbrush is in use. The blow gun clears any dust away.

There is a high-volume extractor to the outside fitted in the ceiling similar to what you would have in a shower room. I am fortunate, in that Bedroom 4 and its adjacent shower room sit behind my garage and of course this bedroom is actually my 10 x 8ft workshop.

The extractor is of this type:

**LINK**

Humbrol Enamels are sprayed at 1:1, using standard white spirit. The synthetic quick drying thinners are ok, but on large items, e.g. a hull, the paint at one end will be dry before you get to the other, whereas with white spirit the drying process is a bit slower. Ideally one wants everything ‘wet’ at the same time for a decent even finish.

A face mask is essential, as is a jacket of some sort. For the jacket I use a white pharmacist type coat and for a mask I use a Gerson-9000E-Series-Respirator.

I use Halfords aerosol Plastic Primer for priming everything except fine metal parts.

I replace the mask’s pre-filters after each major spraying project – such as my recent HMS Aveley.

When in ‘painting’ mode the benches are covered with newspaper, and a vertical board put behind the spray area on the bench. I ‘water’ the paper before spraying as this ‘lays’ any residual dust or overspray that is not extracted.

When the job is done, I clean the tools and exit the workshop. If the painting job has gone wrong which sometimes it does, it is fatal to try to remedy it whilst the paint is wet.

Anyway, this is what I do, it works for me and has worked well for many years as others may testify who know my models.

I wish you well.

Paul Freshney

[Paul FreshneyParticipant @paulfreshney24971]

Hi all

The link to the Bambi compressor in my earlier posting does not seem to work.

It is:

https://www.airsupplies.co.uk/bambi-pt15-oil-free-air-compressor

It is not cheap at around £400, but mine has run faultlessly for 6 years now and for many, many hours and it is easy to drain the tank. As it can 'compress' easily to 115psi safely, that means there is plenty of air for blowing away dust and pumping up car tyres!

Paul Freshney

[Author]

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