Airbrush Indecision

[MajorCalloway]

Hi first post. I’m looking to buy a new airbrush having had a paasche h for many years. My need has become more desperate as my paasche has got clogged up I think (it’s spitting clear drops regularly) and I can’t get into it due to losing the Allen key that came with it. Nothing seems to fit it. I have a key that seems to be the right size but it doesn’t work. Anyone any idea what size it is? I’d still like to use my paasche anyway.

 

On to my indecision. I had decided on a H&S evolution cr plus probably with a .4mm needle. But I have seen a few bad reviews and experiences that have put me off. So now I’m considering an Iwata Eclipse CS which is currently on offer at graphicair for £133. I’m still drawn to the H&S to be honest but can’t bring myself to order it having seen the criticisms. Thing is the problems people have experienced could be down to their bad practise but there’s more than one with similar experiences I’ve read. Anyone with their experiences to add? And is the Iwata trouble free?

 

btw I use Tamiya paints diluted with their thinner.

 

Thanks

Darren

Edited July 5, 2020 by MajorCalloway

[denstore]

There are no trouble free airbrushes. That said, I can recommend the Iwata Eclipse. Its a great airbrush. It has a very solid feel, and few things that go wrong.

Sure, the H&S airbrushes are good as well, but I like Iwata better.

[Pete F]

The Eclipse is a great workhorse. Like all brushes it has to be well maintained. I have found the trigger can get a little sluggish. I use a tiny amount of lubricant and it seems to sort it. Other that that I've had over ten years of use out of it and have no complaints.

[uncletommy]

Another vote for the H&S.  I've got two Evolution's (0.2 and 0.4) and an Infinity CR Plus 2 in 1 and they've all been trouble free.  Just keep them cleaned properly (which is quite easy to do on the H&S) and they just keep on keepin on.  I'm very happy with all of them.  

 

Can't speak to the Iwata I'm afraid though.  

[MajorCalloway]

23 hours ago, uncletommy said:

Another vote for the H&S.  I've got two Evolution's (0.2 and 0.4) and an Infinity CR Plus 2 in 1 and they've all been trouble free.  Just keep them cleaned properly (which is quite easy to do on the H&S) and they just keep on keepin on.  I'm very happy with all of them.  

 

Can't speak to the Iwata I'm afraid though.  

Do you find the 0.4 okay for most jobs? I was going to get that option if I got the cr plus. I mainly build 1/48 airplanes and 1/35 vehicles.

 

Darren

[uncletommy]

2 minutes ago, MajorCalloway said:

Do you find the 0.4 okay for most jobs? I was going to get that option if I got the cr plus. I mainly build 1/48 airplanes and 1/35 vehicles.

I mostly use the 0.4 for primers and clear coats.  Typically the 0.2 gets the actual painting tasks.  But of course that all depends on how thick the paint/primer/clear coat you're putting through them and how well you've got it thinned.  It's all a bit of a learning curve.  Or black art and superstition if you prefer.  

 

You could get either the 0.2 or the 0.4 and then get the other needle/nozzle/air cap.  Swapping out the needle/nozzle/air cap on the H&S airbrushes is a doodle.  Takes maybe 30 seconds.  Just be careful of the needle tips.  They bend easily and being quite sharp, will draw blood at a moments notice.  Ask me how I know.

[MajorCalloway]

I went for the H&S CR plus. The iwata from graphicair was going to take up to 10 days to despatch and then 5 more days to arrive so that helped me decide as I couldn’t otherwise! I got the .4 needle for now. 

[spruecutter96]

As some of the previous respondents have said, any airbrush can give you issues. 99.9% of these issues are caused by incorrect cleaning. If you are a little bit paranoid about the cleaning-process, you should be fine.

 

If you want to revive an old airbrush, I've had cellulose thinners recommended to me (but haven't tried using them, admittedly). Be very careful though, as cellulose can actually dissolve the sealing-ring, depending on what material it's made from. Don't breath the cellulose fumes, either. It's very corrosive stuff. 

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Chris. 

Edited July 9, 2020 by spruecutter96
Amending information.

[MajorCalloway]

35 minutes ago, spruecutter96 said:

As some of the previous respondents have said, any airbrush can give you issues. 99.9% of these issues are caused by incorrect cleaning. If you are a little bit paranoid about the cleaning-process, you should be fine.

 

If you want to revive an old airbrush, I've had cellulose thinners recommended to me (but haven't tried using them, admittedly). Be very careful though, as cellulose can actually dissolve the sealing-ring, depending on what material it's made from. Don't breath the cellulose fumes, either. It's very corrosive stuff. 

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Chris. 

Thanks, I might try cellulose. Is it worth giving white spirit a go? I’ve tracked down the correct Allen key/wrench but doesn’t seem available anywhere in the UK right now. If I can’t get into it anyway there’s nothing to lose. I’ve bought proper airbrush cleaner this time so will make sure to keep the H&S clean

 

thanks

Darren

Edited July 9, 2020 by MajorCalloway

[MajorCalloway]

Within an hour of ordering it Everything Airbrush have dispatched it! And it’s coming tomorrow. That’s some difference to the 5 to 10 days graphicair are experiencing! 

[spruecutter96]

It's probably worthy running some white-spirit through your 'brush first. It can't hurt. Good luck sorting out your old device. 

 

Chris. 

[MajorCalloway]

The good news is that the airbrush came in less than 24 hours. The bad news is that it doesn’t attach to my compressor hose thingie. Never occurred to me 🙄 I’ll probably have to wait two weeks for connector now 😂

 

Admittedly a new compressor is next on my list of purchases, but I wanted to try out the airbrush first.

Edited July 10, 2020 by MajorCalloway

[nheather]

On 7/10/2020 at 5:05 PM, MajorCalloway said:

The good news is that the airbrush came in less than 24 hours. The bad news is that it doesn’t attach to my compressor hose thingie. Never occurred to me 🙄 I’ll probably have to wait two weeks for connector now 😂

 

Admittedly a new compressor is next on my list of purchases, but I wanted to try out the airbrush first.

Plenty of adapters on eBay for around £3 delivered.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

[MajorCalloway]

Got a new hose for it. Had my first session with it this evening. It’s the first time I’ve used a double action brush so it could be me not using it properly but it came out a watery mess. I’m not sure how to control the amount coming out. With my paasche single action I adjusted the nozzle, opening it up or closing it. With double action are you supposed to control it by how much you pull back the trigger? I tried pulling it back different amounts but it never came out evenly and ‘dry’ looking like it did with my paasche when it worked properly. 
 

Darren

[nheather]

Watery mess.  Four possibilities, too high a pressure, paint too thin, too close, pulling the trigger back too much - I suspect the latter.

 

With double action, first press down for air, then pull back gently to feed paint.  Pull back a little for little paint, pull back a lot for a lot of paint.

 

Practice on some paper, drawing lines and you’ll soon get the idea of how much to pull back for the effect that you want.

 

If your CR Plus has an adjuster on the back then you can limit how much you can pull back the trigger. You can use this to stop you pulling back too far while you get used to the double action.  In this way it will work almost like a single action.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

[MajorCalloway]

26 minutes ago, nheather said:

Watery mess.  Four possibilities, too high a pressure, paint too thin, too close, pulling the trigger back too much - I suspect the latter.

 

With double action, first press down for air, then pull back gently to feed paint.  Pull back a little for little paint, pull back a lot for a lot of paint.

 

Practice on some paper, drawing lines and you’ll soon get the idea of how much to pull back for the effect that you want.

 

If your CR Plus has an adjuster on the back then you can limit how much you can pull back the trigger. You can use this to stop you pulling back too far while you get used to the double action.  In this way it will work almost like a single action.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Thanks Nigel, I think you’re probably right about me pulling back too far. I think I’m probably not always remembering to turn on air before paint and turning paint off before air also. Basically I haven’t worked out how to use it yet! 

 

another problem is I seem to have managed to get the airbrush stuck to the hose! The airbrush comes away from that part that connects to the hose but the hose is stuck to that part of the airbrush 🙄 I only screwed it together the way it seemed to fit 🤷‍♂️ 

 

Hairy sticks are so much simpler!

 

darren

[nheather]

41 minutes ago, MajorCalloway said:

Thanks Nigel, I think you’re probably right about me pulling back too far. I think I’m probably not always remembering to turn on air before paint and turning paint off before air also. Basically I haven’t worked out how to use it yet! 

 

another problem is I seem to have managed to get the airbrush stuck to the hose! The airbrush comes away from that part that connects to the hose but the hose is stuck to that part of the airbrush 🙄 I only screwed it together the way it seemed to fit 🤷‍♂️ 

 

Hairy sticks are so much simpler!

 

darren

Yes can happen if the hose is too tight on the valve.  The valve unscrews as well as the hose, and as you found the one that will unscrew is the one that needs the least effort.  Need to have a good grip on the valve body when unscrewing the hose.  No harm done though.

 

I’d recommend getting a quick release setup.  It comes in two halves, one you screw to the airbrush and the other to the hose.  They just push together and then to release you just pull back on the part on the hose and the airbrush disconnects.  Great for when you have more than one brush but also when you want to disconnect the brush to clean or service it.  The part on the hose self seals so you don’t get air rushing out of the compressor.

 

Just look at your favourite airbrush shop or eBay for airbrush quick release coupling - no need to spend more than a fiver.

 

You can get plain ones or ones with a control valve to fine control the air pressure as you work.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

 

 

[Kev The Modeller]

On 09/07/2020 at 14:31, MajorCalloway said:

Within an hour of ordering it Everything Airbrush have dispatched it! And it’s coming tomorrow. That’s some difference to the 5 to 10 days graphicair are experiencing! 

If you want prompt supply and delivery you can't go wrong with Martin at Here everything you'll ever need to airbrush and super quick delivery, order before 2pm and I normally get it the next day, I kid you not.   

 

As with all tools, there's always going to be a learning curve, the more capable the tool the more the learning curve, stick with it you've made the right choice 

[MajorCalloway]

I must admit I’ve not tried it again since as it seems such hassle. I’ve been brush painting instead 

[johnd]

39 minutes ago, MajorCalloway said:

I must admit I’ve not tried it again since as it seems such hassle. I’ve been brush painting instead 

That's my conclusion too. I'd strongly advise anyone tempted to dabble in the airbrush world to try one first. Difficult to see how at the moment but it's an expensive mistake if you don't take to it.

 

John.

[nheather]

I have airbrushes, three in fact.  One thing that stops me from using them more regularly is the feeling that I must plan everything the job to make it worthwhile.

 

At the moment I’m doing figures for wargaming (28mm size).  With so many figures to do it can be quite daunting and common advice is to break the job up into groups of 4 or 8 at a time - clean, assemble and fill the parts, then prime, then paint, then move onto the next batch - this breaks the monotony up and helps you get through the 100+ figures you have to do.

 

For priming, and even some of the base coats it would be nice to use the airbrush but I find it hard to face the time and the faff of cleaning up after just a few minutes spraying.

 

It is those small jobs that I find it difficult to summon the will to get the airbrush out.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

[dromia]

If an airbrush tyro then I would suggest that you set time aside to acquire the knowledge and skill to use the tool.

 

Trying to teach yourself to airbrush whilst working on a model is a recipe for frustration and disappointment.

 

Get old models,bits of plastic and sheets of paper even and get trigger time where you can concentrate on descrying your airbrush without the worry of spoiling your current pride and joy.

 

Don't rush it and don't expect instant results, there are so many variables to ken that experimentation is needed to build up experience and knowledge to be able to wield an airbrush effectively.

 

You need to start with an open mind and not be tied to paint brush methods, expectations and outcomes.

 

Also airbrushing really does need its own dedicated area due to its ancillary needs, if I had to set up and pull down my airbrush set up each time I would soon loose heart.

 

Like all things of value in this life you get out of it in direct proportion to that which you put into it.

Edited July 22, 2020 by dromia

[MajorCalloway]

I’m going to have a go with it on a piece of paper later today. Is the knack learning how to pull the trigger back a small amount? I suspect I was a bit heavy handed.

[Dads203]

17 minutes ago, MajorCalloway said:

I’m going to have a go with it on a piece of paper later today. Is the knack learning how to pull the trigger back a small amount? I suspect I was a bit heavy handed.

An old CD is good for practicing on, avoid paper or card as they soak up the paint and behave different to a plastic model. You’ll lure yourself into a false sense of security if you use paper, when you hit a model for real you’ll probably get runs or spidering of the paint. 

[dromia]

Spraying onto paper will help enormously with trigger control, I "taught" my self this way with diluted food colouring as it was cheap and I could get lots of practice in without using up my precious enamels.

 

However as the previous poster has rightly pointed out that won't help with getting the paint consistency right for non absorbent plastic, that would be your next step learning the best consistency of your paint, being absorbent paper is relatively forgiving, whereas plastic isn't and too thin a paint, too high a pressure too close to the subject will give spidering, pooling runs etc. So look at learning airbrushing in stages, you are doing the right thing seeking to get familiar with controlling your brush once you have mastered that then you can work on your paint consistency with the human spraying variable removed.