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Intrigued by airbrushes


Jeff J

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3 hours ago, Noel Smith said:

What airbrush depends on what you want to do with it. 

 

Not exactly sure what you mean. I mean this is a modelling forum, so, you know, I want to airbrush models! 🙂 

 

Specifically, I see myself using it for applying undercoating, and for smooth coats of paint for the larger surface areas such as camouflage on wings and fuselages, tanks, or the dominant yellow of the Twin Otters, or the HUGE surface area of the USS Voyager model that I started 10-15 years ago.

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3 hours ago, Jeff J said:

Not exactly sure what you mean. I mean this is a modelling forum, so, you know, I want to airbrush models! 🙂 

 

Specifically, I see myself using it for applying undercoating, and for smooth coats of paint for the larger surface areas such as camouflage on wings and fuselages, tanks, or the dominant yellow of the Twin Otters, or the HUGE surface area of the USS Voyager model that I started 10-15 years ago.

I think what Noel is asking; do you want it to paint fine details or just big areas, or both ?

 

The basic Humbrol or Badger airbrush is excellent for covering big areas. It can go down to do an area about the size of a 10p coin, But is no good for detail work. It will cover large areas in a jiffy

Tasma_ab650.jpg

 

For fine details, like the Luftwaffe Scribble camo you'll be wanting a different type. These are great for doing fine painting but not so good for large areas like you mention. The biggest area they cover is about the 10p coin, A lot of refilling that cup and a long time spent spraying large areas

AB-135-1.jpg

If you can, buy one of each, then you're prepared for whatever size area you want to paint

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6 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I think what Noel is asking; do you want it to paint fine details or just big areas, or both ?

 

The basic Humbrol or Badger airbrush is excellent for covering big areas. It can go down to do an area about the size of a 10p coin, But is no good for detail work. It will cover large areas in a jiffy

Tasma_ab650.jpg

 

For fine details, like the Luftwaffe Scribble camo you'll be wanting a different type. These are great for doing fine painting but not so good for large areas like you mention. The biggest area they cover is about the 10p coin, A lot of refilling that cup and a long time spent spraying large areas

AB-135-1.jpg

If you can, buy one of each, then you're prepared for whatever size area you want to paint

Thanks.

 

I suppose it depends on the definition of "fine details", but what bothers me with brush work is the danger of getting visible brush marks in the finish, and that it's hard to get soft lines between colours, such as between the brown and green camouflage on an RAF airplane, or Luftwaffe camouflage styles, or tank camouflage etc.

 

Basically airbrush finishes just seem to look much more genuine.

 

I've not considered using an airbrush for e.g. painting an exposed engine...

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Stay away from the Badger siphon brush, it’s a complete load of tosh, no control of paint flow and the pressure control just makes the splatter bigger or smaller. 
You will be very disappointed. I had one years ago and threw it in the bin. I then bought a badger 200 brush. 

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The siphon type that Black Knight showed on his post is the one that Dads was disappointed with.

It is the most basic that you can buy and lacks control. Not recommended!

The two siphon types that I mentioned in my post are the Badger 350 and Paasche H, that have adjustment and are good for spraying model car bodies for example.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I started out with one of these kits....

 

Sparmax Arism Compressor and Max4 Airbrush Kit (just google it)

 

....they were only just over £100 then....a bit more expensive now though. The compressor is really small and compact and ideal for indoor use. The only downside is that because it doesn't have a 'holding tank' for the conpressed air it can 'pulse' a little. OK for most work that you're ever likely to do unless you want to tackle fine work such as mottling. The airbrush itself has a 0.4mm nozzle so will be better for general spraying and camo where you are using masking. If you want fine work then you will need a smaller nozzle airbrush like 0.3mm or 0.2mm.

 

But you should be able to get both an airbrush and compressor for no more than £100 if you shop around on the internet or traders listed on this forum (Modelling Tools for one)

 

Try popping these into Google....

 

Sparmax max 3

Sparmax SP20x

 

Crenex AS186 Airbrush Compressor

 

The compressor comes under various names such as Crenex, Fengda etc. They're basically the same from China. I've had one for 4 years...no problems. Make sure you get one with a moisture trap (most do)

 I think you could end up looking and looking and never making a decision. Just try one to get you going and then you may want to update later when you've had practice and want to do more fine work and freehand camo etc.

 

Hope that helps?

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I'm not looking quite as much as you think I am! 😄

 

That compressor was on offer for free by a neighbour (we have a WhatsApp group for the road - 187 members!) but someone got to it before me.

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A long time ago I was asked to test a simple compressor like the ones named here.

I discovered that using a simple vinyl hose between the compressor and the airbrush eliminated the "pumping" problem - it worked particularly well when using a double-action airbrush :)

Unless you're going to be painting C-130 1/48 or the like you won't need a honking big reservoir 😁

Which scale and what objects do you usually build?

 

Cheers, Moggy

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1 hour ago, Moggy said:

I discovered that using a simple vinyl hose between the compressor and the airbrush eliminated the "pumping" problem - it worked particularly well when using a double-action airbrush :)

Thats my exact set-up and haven't had an issue in years. I added a 10” box fan to keep the compressor cool for long sessions. Ive painted for up to 6 hours with no problems at all. 

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