Broke my AB, need recommendation for a decent AB and compressor please

[Tasrar]

Long story short, have been using a cheap AB/Compressor combo for a year now, today I broke the AB after cleaning it and now looking to replace both the AB and the compressor. I have a budget of about £250 max to replace both. Any suggestions please?

 

I did try to search the forum before posting but searching for "Recommendations", "Airbrushes" or "Compressors" brought up LOADS of posts :-)

[Stef N.]

I'd highly recommend Iwata brushes personally but I have been hearing a lot of good things about Mr Hobby brushes, which are a bit cheaper.

 

And Sparmax make great compressors (I have the 501). Would recommend too.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Stef N.

[Steve Noble]

Best compressor you can afford and Mr Hobby, Iwata or Tamiya brushes. Always used those 3 brands and never had any problems. Sparmax are worth a mention too..

[IanC]

I love my Harder & Steenbeck Ultra. Described as an 'entry level' airbrush but does everything I need and not expensive.

[dromia]

Iwata or Mr Hobby/Procon!

 

Nothing else comes near for quality, performance and choice.

[Tasrar]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the advice 🙂

[kiseca]

I had a budget brush and compressor combo. The airbrush still works great but the compressor was giving up the ghost. I went for a compressor with a tank, which is a huge improvement over the one I had. Much better flow quality. The one I got also has a cooling fan since a lot of the comments I read about many of the compressors available was that they overheat. I got one for about £70 on Amazon. Branded ones like Sparmax are, I assume, better, but will be more expensive.

 

For an airbrush I tried a Harder and Steenbeck Ultra 2 in 1 but I got a faulty one - seemed like a sticky valve or something, it would continue letting air through at random pressures after I'd released the trigger. I swapped it for an Iwata Revolution CR instead and that has been good so far. Easy to use and easy to clean. When I got mine the CR, with the bigger cup, came with a 0.5 nozzle which is a bit big for small parts - need to be careful to avoid flooding them - but not long after I bought mine I noticed that they had released the CR with a 0.3 nozzle too, which would be a better option.

 

Those are about £110 - £120, so all in, just under £200 and I'd recommend if your budget is 250, use the rest to buy a better compressor. But definitely get one with a tank.

[Pin]

My vote is for H&S, I have old Eclipse and slightly newer Evolution; prefer them to Iwata mentioned above but IMO they are on par. 

 

Compressor:

https://bartsharpairbrush.co.uk/product/airbrush-compressor-ac01-bartsharp-airbrush/

It is not expensive (well, cheap), initially I only wanted to connect an airtank to my Sparmax but as it turned out this compressor provides me with everything I need. 

 

Both will be well within your budget