Airbrush Advice Wanted

You cant go wrong with a gravity feed, especially with an IWATA. I used and Iwata and a Tamiya HG for years and has never let me down. I also have a syphon feed Paasche but I rarely use it.

My advice is if you are painting large surfaces you can use any feed, as long as the paint cup holder is large enough without the hassel of refilling it often. Gravity feeds are more reliable when it comes to detail work like blast marks.

Thanks Luis.

The gravity feed model I am looking at has a 1/3 oz cup, which looks to be about average overall. Do you think that is about right for painting up pieces without stopping too much? Oh, it also comes with a .3 mm needle stock. I believe you can swap in a .5 mm, too. The siphon feed comes with the larger, and I know you can swap the smaller needle in.

I've owned both styles and I prefer a gravity feed. Just one less component that can cause a clog or an air bubble.
Just my opinion.

I use an Iwata HP-CS gravity feed. Highly recommended. I am still learning control, but it is quality and to me, gravity is easier to use. It's easier to clean, quick to change colors. I just add what I want, spray, run some diluted simple green through, and repeat. When I am freestyling something, I'll even just mix colors right in the cup. Make sure to use a moisture trap and a good length of hose.

Also, 1/3 oz goes farther than you may think. You aren't gonna paint your car with it, but for modeling and such it's good.

Paasche dual action gravity feed for me.
If you buy the VL, it has both

I love my Airbrushes.. Its like a part of my hand when painting.. Just like a pen

You wont go wrong with the gravity feed bro and the 1/3oz cup as well! Just shoot me a PM if you have any more A/B questions ;D

Originally Posted by slave1pilot

Paasche dual action gravity feed for me.
If you buy the VL, it has both

I have the same one, but its 30 years old.

Still works really well though.

Thanks for all of the advice--it really is helpful and I might go get my hands on one today. S1P, that is the other airbrush I had been considering, as it is A: really well rated and B: has that small siphon cup option, not just a jar. Long ago I had a single action Paasche. I liked it well enough, but really didn't know what I was doing.

I actually have both a gravity feed and a siphon feed. I use the siphon one to put down base layers and some misting/shading depending on how much area I"m working with (think armor, backplate, jetpack) then use the gravity feed when doing detail work, battle damage, and weathering. I have a pretty simple single action panache for the siphon one, works well for applying base layers. I have an Itawa for the other but have really been thinking about getting one of these... Grex Tritium.TG2, Top Gravity Airbrush, 0.2mm Nozzle It has a .2mm tip and you can change out a .3mm and a .5mm. It also has 3 paint cups that you can change depending on what size you need.

Originally Posted by Slowmo

I actually have both a gravity feed and a siphon feed. I use the siphon one to put down base layers and some misting/shading depending on how much area I"m working with (think armor, backplate, jetpack) then use the gravity feed when doing detail work, battle damage, and weathering. I have a pretty simple single action panache for the siphon one, works well for applying base layers. I have an Itawa for the other but have really been thinking about getting one of these... Grex Tritium.TG2, Top Gravity Airbrush, 0.2mm Nozzle It has a .2mm tip and you can change out a .3mm and a .5mm. It also has 3 paint cups that you can change depending on what size you need.

Nice! That looks like a hot brush! I ended up getting an Iwata Eclipse CS. Thanks to all for the advice. For now I have a friend with a single action siphon that I can use if I really need to lay it down (like back armor). But for this and the other hobbies I have, the CS made the most sense. I began exercises with it the other day, but I feel a little like Luke on Dagobah:

"I feel the force"
"But you cannot control it. This is a dangerous time for you..."