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A rather dramatic name for a new airbrush from Meng, who seem to be expanding into the modelling tools and and consumables sector of our hobby with a co-branded paint system link-up with AK Interactive, and now this rather neat looking airbrush. No additional info as yet, but it looks like it'll do the job nicely

I have just finished my latest build (none since last year due to moving house) and my first Eduard build and it was great! I am by no means great at building but really enjoy it so I'm happy Painted with an airbrush with Tamiya acrylics, no weathering (as yet!) and decals/PE eduards own.

I have had a cheap and cheerful airbrush compressor (AS186) for four years. It has served me fine in all that time but over the past few weeks the air supply to the airbrush has sometimes been hit or miss. Last night I was in the middle of spraying a second coat of grey on this VC10 when the air supply stopped completely although the compressor was chugging away normally: The first coat, as you can see, went on without a problem the night before. Having cleaned out the airbrush (H&S Evolution ALPlus) thoroughly twice and still no joy, I tried using my H&S Ultra. Once again no joy. So, I packed it in for the night and opened up the compressor this afternoon. I took off the compressor end plates and the innards were fine. However, when the heat sink was removed to check the seals, I discovered that large bits of plastic had broken off the plastic lining in the heat sink: Most probably, one of these fairly large pieces of plastic had almost completely blocked the hole to the air tube that goes down to the air tank. I have removed the remains of the lining, cleaned up the heat sink and ordered new seals: I was wondering, if anybody knows if you can get replacement linings or if not, would there will be permanent damage to the heat sink if I operate the compressor without the lining? When fixed, this compressor will be placed in reserve as I have ordered another one just like it. Obviously, a cheap and cheerful compressor but seeing as it has worked out at about 25p a week for the past four years, it has proved to be good value! Anyway, funds are a bit tight at the moment as I am off on holiday in a few weeks so I can't buy a more sophisticated one - yet! Dave

NOTICE: On day 6 it is clear that I have either damaged the airbrush, or, the airbrush was perhaps not that good in the first place. I get near instant clogging and I see the paint flow being inconsistent as I gradually try increase the paint flow with the lever, if I screw on the nozzle cap too much. Apparently there is a sweet spot, that makes the paint flow seemingly perfect, with a nice spray, with no clogging. So I can still use this airbrush I think, until I try out some spare parts or buy a new one. Edit: Warning: Since I started a few days ago, I might have learned a few more things about my airbrush, so take what I write with a grain of salt so to speak, or rather, take into consideration that what I write in each post might in worst case be wrong. Day 0 I have bought a new air compressor with a 4L tank, but the connecting part between the compressor and the airbrush is not airtight. No point trying out airbrushing this way. Day 1 Finally, today I managed to acquire some rubber O-rings, and I used 3-4 of them to stop the leaking connection between my new and expensive 4L compressor (Faller Air Boss/Sil-Air 15D variant?) and my el cheapo airbrush (BD-130). The connector that came with the airbrush doesn't fit my compressor (both appear to be 1/4" connections though), I can screw it on a little, but don't dare tighten it, putting in O-rings fixed the leakage. Temp = 22 deg C Rel. Humidity = 25-40% (true value unknown, I have apparently two crappy hygrometers, one digital and one analogue, each in different rooms) Compressor PSI set to eh 20+ when putting on primer, ca 30 psi when putting on color. After quite some time of fun airbrushing regular Vallejo color, having started with mucho clogging when trying out the Vallejo Gray Primer on a non painted model for practise, I came to realize that I had the wrong needle in the airbrush. Before I started airbrushing, I had removed the 0.3 or maybe a 0.35 nozzle from the airbrush and put on the optional 0.5 nozzle, but aha I forgot to switch out the needle for a 0.5 one. Even with the nozzle cap on, the needle stuck outside the cap, something I thought looked rather odd, but I didn't know any better. So I ended up airbrushing with a 0.5 nozzle, together with a 0.3 or perhaps a 0.35 needle. I had managed to paint some Vallejo Dark Sea Gray onto a lighter gray colored plastic model (previous enamel paint), and I thought the end result was really nice. I am looking forward to try out airbrushing Tamiya X-22 Clear coat over it, to see if the surface becomes more smooth, or at least to see if I can get an even shine over the whole surface. Before doing a clear coat, I might as well try out some masking and put on some white invasion stripes for fun. I have no idea if the mucho clogging with the Vallejo gray primer was due to wrong needle, the airbrushing or if I should have mixed it with something. I think I added some Vallejo airbush thinner, but maybe it was too little. As I started airbrushing a submarine stand I had lying around, with primer, it became clear that I wouldn't be able to finish it in anything resembling normal time, because of the clogging. Hopefully, now that I have fixed my "wrong needle" issue, I hope I get to see a different result tomorrow. Things I did, that I perhaps shouldn't have: At the end, I thought, why not add some thinner to the medium sized flash of Vallejo Gray Primer, so I poured some of that into it. I also added a ball bearing, and so I had put that into the flask, no idea if that really helps with this kind of paint. I think I managed to get to airbrush the wing of an airplane model properly. I had the airbrush about 8cm from the model. I guess I thought that 20+ psi was ok, but with the trouble I had with the primer, I tried upping the psi towards 30 for airbrushing the color afterwards. I'll go back to 20'ish the next time. Noteworthy things: - Seems I should buy some cheap non Vallejo airbrush cleaner somewhere, because I used a lot on my first airbrush session. I cleaned the airbrush maybe four times, and felt comfortable doing it. - When I fill some airbrush cleaning liquid into the airbrush and adjust the paint flow ratio towards maximum, I see a nice spray, maybe 4 cm in diameter at 10cm distance (roughly). - I find it a little difficult judging how much paint is sprayed on a surface, if the surface already has some paint on it. - The best indication of flow, seem to when I spray cleaning liquid onto my hand (wearing a non-latex glove/100% "nitril"). - I realized I should improve the lighting a little. Best to have good lighting conditions, otherwise it is difficult to see how the spray is applied on the surface of the model. - I did try out airbrushing bare plastic, and it went well. If using the gray primer doesn't improve, I am tempted to simply airbrush paint without a layer of primer. No idea if the paint might chip off that way. I feel confident that I can airbrush a project soon, if I do a little planning to avoid making known mistakes.

Hi folks, Wondered if I could ask for some advice. I only do minimal amounts of spraying in a session and I only use acrylic based paints. Should I always be using a mask when doing this and if so can anyone recommend what would be my best option that isn't going to cost the earth Many thanks Kris

Hi All I'm looking for some advice on spraying Xtracrylix gloss. I'm using an Iwata airbrush with a 0.3 set up at around 15psi. I mixed the gloss with about 50% Xtracrylix thinner mixed in the cup. The gloss seemed to go on well enough but has has a rough, pebbly finish. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong & also what can I do to repair the mess I've made? Thanks

Hi all, Recently got my first airbrush in an attempt to move into the future a bit, was intending to spray primarily tamiya acrylics but also potentially others such as xtracrylic, was looking for: How should I thin the tamiya paints? How should I thin any other acrylics? How should I clean the airbrush? Do you have to strip it down? Does Vallejo cleaner work on tamiya paints? Cheers!

Hi, I've asked for an airbrush for my birthday, a Badger one of some description (I'm sure I can find it if it matters. I'm planning on using it for some Airfix tank models and a Spitfire. I do have some previous experience with models,although I've only done about 8 before. I was just wondering how much I should thin my paints for use in the airbrush. I'm planning on using Humbrol acrylic paints (they do say that they can be thinned for airbrushing, but they don't say how much I should thin it). Also, would water be sufficient for thinning? If so, any advice on what amount of paint to water I should use would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hello everybody, did anyone succeed in airbrushing Humbrol acrylics? I found this paint cannot be thinned with ethanol, my favorite airbrush-thinner. It rather turns into a sludge or does not disolve in the ethanol. Water, on the other hand, works very well with Humbrol acrylics. Citadel seems to be similar in this aspect. But I never succeeded in airbrushing anything thinned with water, as the paint immediately forms beads or tiny puddles on the model's surface. I have more or less the same problem with water, water with detergent, window cleaner (a German variety, I can't get Windex here, but it is probably similar) and even 70% IPA (=30% water). The problem seems to be that the water does not evaporate soon after hitting the surface as other, more volatile thinners do. On the other hand, I often read that people are using water or water-containing thinners for airbrush, so i wonder how it works. Ands sometimes it would be nice to be able to spray Humbrol or Citadel. Actually, the problem arose with a Folland Gnat that I had planned to spray with a Citadel silver (looks better than Tamiya's) and Humbrol's Fluorescent Red. Do you have any experince on this subjects? Thanks in advance, Ole

What airbrush cleaner should I use for Alclad Grey Primer and Micro Filler, the Alclad airbrush cleaner stuff is crazy expensine for such a small bottle. Can I use Isopropyl Alcohol/Isopropanol (99%)? What do you guys use?

Some time ago I settled on Vallejo and find I'm fairly competent at airbrushing both Air and Model colour through my Iwatas; I prefer Air, but if I thin the Model Color with plain water and a drop or two of artists flow enhancer, it goes on OK. For the first time, I just tried some Vallejo fluorescent stuff, and couldn't make it work. Even adding more water and half a dozen drops of flow enhancer failed to prevent it from clogging up very quickly. And what gets onto the model is very thin, watery, feeble stuff. Is there a special technique? I wanted to use an Airfix aerosol fluo colour but blasted Antics in Bristol were out of stock yesterday... Thanks, Tony

I want to airbrush some automotive paint - will it ruin my airbrush? The paint is a 2 pack; base colour & lacquer in rattle cans. Will it work ok? Do I use standard airbrush cleaners after? And how about decanting the rattle cans - any tips? Thanks in anticipation, Andrew

I've recently started airbrushing for the first time. After a few failed attempts with Humbrol paints I decided to give "Vallejo Model Colour" a try. Using the Vallejo Primer and thinners I seem to be getting fairly good results and I am happy. So when looking online to further my range of Vallejo paints I noticed they do "Vallejo Model Air", which is a range of paints designed specifically for airbrushing. And this has left me thinking do I buy more "Model Colour" or try "Model Air" Has any one tried these before, if so what is your opinion of them? Would you recommend one type over another? Is there one which is a good all rounder, i.e. For brushing and for air? And does anyone have any other tips or tricks for these paints? Many thanks!

I'm flitting between enamels & acrylics as I get more into my airbrush. I've been using rattle can cleaner, which seems to strip everything (including dissolving the nitrile disposable gloves I was wearing!) but I've got some Vallejo airbrush cleaner on order. Will this work if I switch back to enamel, as I did this afternoon? Thx & happy Christmas one & all Andrew

Hello modellers I have been using an airbrush for about 3 months now and I am loving the experience. BUT, recently I have had some trouble with it (splattering and such) it has worked (for me) very well in the past but I am looking at purchasing a better quality airbrush that ins't overly expensive but still decent quality. (so maybe not H&S, Iwata, etc) Any recommendations? P . S I use windex and various other products that contain ammonia.

Hi everyone, I have some money left over this month from my wages and rather than spend the money on a revell compressor or the lidl set(if it is still available), I am thinking about buying the compressor and airbrush set from the link below. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Gravity-Feed-Airbrush-Dual-Action-Compressor-Kit-Nail-Body-Art-Spray-Tattoo-/400356877974?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item5d37212696 Could you let me know if it will suitable for use in painting large and small scale models and also if anything else will be needed to go with it ? Thanks in advance. Rick

Hi all, I'm a complete novice just trying to get my kit together before embarking on some (hopefully) great modelling journeys. I've an airbrush which I haven't yet used, just a bargain basement thing from eBay (didn't see the point in splashing out straight away, I can always expand at a later date). The one thing I feel the need to purchase is a respirator or mask of some sort; my modelling will be taking place in the garage and there are no windows and with winter almost here, I'll be keeping the door shut! Can anybody recommend a mask or respirator? It doesn't need to be too flashy and the cheaper the better, but it does need to be effective. Thanks in advance, Scott. PS: If anybody has any tips they learned from when they started airbrushing, please feel free to share

I'm hoping someone out there can help me! I've come back to scale modelling after a 30+ year hiatus and am loving it! My first attempt was a 1/72 Airfix Mosquito (see my profile pic), which I brush painted. I started reading around the subject and learnt loads of techniques which I enjoyed trying out. Next stage was clearly to move to airbrushing so I searched the t'interweb and ended up buying a Badger 200nh single action suction feed airbrush. As I'd already forked out a load setting up my work bench I couldn't justify a compressor so I'm using canned air for the time being. The problem is that I simply can't get any control out of the brush! Instead of controllable fine lines, I get a random sequence of large wet splodges, nothing but air and then a very thin dusting of colour. I tried in vain to pre-shade the panel lines on my 1/72 Airfix Sabre (using gloss black, that someone had recommended in an article I read) and pretty much painted the whole model. Nothing like it looked like in the article with nice narrow lines over the panel lines. In a review of the 200nh, the reviewer sketched a little smiley face no wider than a scalpel. I must be doing something wrong! I tried spraying while twiddling the needle adjusting screw and that didn't seem to make any real difference. Seemed to be simply on or off. Are you supposed to be able to vary the intensity of the air? I've ended up using a whole small tin of Badger air and half a big tin with no meaningful results. Is the tinned air the issue? Perhaps it's the paint? I'm using Humbrol enamels thinned with Humbrol thinners. I've read the ratio of paint to thinners should be 50:50, to a milky consistency. But are we talking full fat or skimmed?! Or even gold top?! Dosing thinners is easy with a pipette, but I'm struggling to dose the paint. Any tips? Could it be that the mix is too thick? or thin? I'm using the glass jar with siphon pipe but perhaps a Badger metal cup would be easier? I'm getting good at stripping down the brush & cleaning it and to a layman's eye, there's no apparent damage. So I'm feeling pretty disillusioned at the mo - got a new toy but don't know how to play with it. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks in anticipation for a bit of inspiration Beardylong (and the irony is I haven't got a beard any more!)

Hi everyone, I recently bought a Revell starter airbrush set and rather than a compressor it came with a 750ml can of propellant gas. I am just wondering if anyone can tell me how long this can will last as I want to start using it to paint some of my upcoming kits with it ? Also if anyone has a recommendation for a compressor, please pass them along. I don't want to start painting my Star Trek Into Darkness USS Enterprise if this can isn't going to last. Cheers, Rick

Hi Guys, My last few kits have been all brush-painted, and while I'm getting to be pretty good on small details I'm absolutely useless on the large areas of base colour. I think the way forward might be to get an airbrush, but the more I read about them, the more confused I seem to end up! I think I'm looking for a double-action gravity feed airbrush with a compressor, but I've no idea what makes or models to go for. I've never even held an airbrush, so I don't want to spend too much in case I don't take to it, but equally I don't want to buy something that's cheap because it's poor quality and liable to pack up in a matter of weeks. The kits I'm currently working on are fairly large - 1/144 Saturn V, (2.5 foot tall rocket) Space shuttle stack, Space shuttle on Boeing 747 (the plane is just huge!). I considered rattle cans, but Humbrol don't do all the shades\finishes I need and I'm not too sure what other makes to try - slightly off-topic, but I'm still wondering if rattlecans might prove better than an airbrush for these type of kits? Anyway, I think I'm looking for a beginner airbrush that's good for large areas, but maybe with the option of allowing some finer work. I basically work with Humbrol enamels, but wouldn't mind trying some of the Alclad metallic lacquers for an iron man kit I picked up a few days back (been seeing some great builds on here!), not sure if that would also affect the choice of airbrush. either (problems with thinners eating away the seals?) I also don't know how far a given volume of paint will actually go when spraying, so I don't know what paint cup size would be best to start with. I've been looking into these two setups: Expo airbrush and compressor (£110) http://www.modelzone.co.uk/airbrush-and-compressor-kit.html AB-AS-18 Airbrushing Kit with Ultra Airbrush (£127) http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/Harder___Steenbeck_Kits.html Would either of these be any good, or are there better starter kits around I haven't stumbled across yet? And are there any other questions I should be asking at this point but haven't thought of yet?

Hello, I need to connect an Iwata Revolution airbrush (HP-TR2) to my Revell Standard Class compressor. Can someone tell me what sort of coupling I need? I'm possibly being slightly dim, but it doesn't seem to be obvious how the advertised sizes relate to the fittings. For example, the hose I have for the airbrush claims to have 1/8th inch connectors and fits the airbrush quite happily, but, whichever way I measure it, it seems much larger than 1/8th inch - the internal diameter of the threaded female connector is about 3/8th inch by my reckoning. Thanks, Andrew

I recently managed to wreck the tip (part VLT-3: brass 'cone') on my old Paasche VL. In short, the needle got pushed through and split the thing. Anyway, I ordered a replacement set online, i.e. needle, tip, and air cap. So far so good. I decided to fit the new needle (VLN-3) and air cap (VLA-3), along with the new tip. With all those in place, the airbrush flatly refuses to spray much of anything (even water), except over a very small range of the needle's travel. Cue a long session of cleaning the brush. Still no joy. It appears that not enough suction was being generated to pull the liquid out of the cup. Swapping various components in and out, it became clear that the culprit was the air cap. With the old air cap fitted, everything works more or less as before. This despite there being no discernable shape difference between old and new air caps. (For the record, the old one was stamped with the digit '3', whereas the new one has three engraved stripes around the circumference.) Anyway, I'm happy now that everything works again. Just a bit of a head's up in case anyone comes across a similar problem. Clearly something changed between my 'old' Paasche, and the newer models that makes the parts not fully interchangable. regards, Jason

At the end of last year when I got back into modelling I bought an airbrush and compressor. I tested it and then dried it and put it away for a week or two until my new bench was ready. Then we decided to move. The short story is, I now do not have the space to use it (4 people in a 2 bedroom bungalow does not make for lots of hobby space) So, in that it will.be stored for at least a year, is there anything I should do to it? Shoot some sort of lubricant through it and leave it like that? What about the compressor and tank? Thank you for any tips on keeping it in hood condition.

So, Mrs Tentacles got me an airbrush, a compressor and a stand for Xmas. Mrs Tentacles is awesome! So now what? I've been told I'm not allowed to use it at the kitchen table where I usually work, so I'll have to move my aircraft factory into the spare room. (Is this why she got it? ) I guess I need some sort of spray booth with an extractor? I expect I need to wear a breathing mask? What sort? And safety specs?? I have loads of humbrol enamels - can I spray these if I thin them down? Itching to get started with it, so any advice gratefully received. Thanks - and happy Christmas!

I have laid down my base coat on a 1:48 Airfix Spitfire Va. The Painting diagrams are not to scale. I could try and scan them in and enlarge the diagram to make paintiing masks. I see some people use blue-tack. I am not that skilled with an airbrush yet so I would have to mask the camo. I see in Brett Green's video he raises the mask with blue tack. Of course he is working with a commercial product and on a 109, neither of which help. Any suggestions?