Suggestions on what one should look for in a starter Airbrush kit?

Hey all!!!

I am getting to the point where paint will soon be hitting plastic, and inevitably airbrushing will be required. I have a compressor that I use for around the house, and the PSI can be changed to accomodate an airbrush, so I have that covered. The questions I have are:

1. What are good makes/models of airbrushes that aren't going to break the bank.
2. What features should one look for in an airbrush? Single? Dual? Cup or mixing jar? I am so confused.....
3. What sort of paints should one use when painting the armor?

If anyone has any other pertainant information about airbrushes that I may have neglected, please feel free to let me know!!
Thanks!!!

ive seen some pretty cheap airbrush kits at lowes/home depot...though ive never used one, so i wouldnt really be too sure on the amazingness of these kits...they run for around 50 bucks i think though....btw...you accidently made a double post just a heads up

Yeah I see that I posted twice. Dunno how that happened, and now I can't delete the post, so I will leave that up to the admin staff...sorry about that. The Home Depots up here in the great white north don't have cool things like airbrushes, and conversely, we don't even have Lowes up here. I tried Michaels and they have a few different varities starting at $75 or so, but not sure if I should buy one of these, or if I should try and pick up something a little better. Basically is cheap good enough, or is a few extra bucks going to make a huge difference????

yeah i seen the $75 michaels one youre talking about...i could only assume that it would be a decent airbrush...considering its being sold by an art store...but youll probably want to take advice from someone whos a lot more experienced in the airbrush department i tend to think price = quality...i know its the wrong way to think...but i cant help it! haha

good luck!

75-100 u can pick up a pachee or badger single action airbrush, mabye a double action on sale. check local hobby and art suplies for those. or if u want campus- hausfield had some for 30-40, there a good start to get the trick of brushing dwn, and there not so complex to break dwn for cleaning! check local tool sections or wharehouse tools like harbor-freight tool. just what ever u pick up either buy a hose w/ a built in moisture trap or put one n-line urself!! seriously makes or breaks a really smooth paint coat!

I use a double action Badger 150 that I got from the big E a while back for about $90. My suggestion would be to go with a double action. With DA you control the amount of paint with the trigger. If you get a single action its a continuous flow, more like a can of spray paint.
Good luck

Do these require an air compressor? Or are they like the Wagner power sprayers thatare self-contained? I realize the Wagners are airless sprayers - what I'm really asking is do you need to get an air compressor on top of the $90 for the air brush kit?

Brian

Having an air compressor is ideal yes. You can use the "air in a can" usually from Testors. They have small low PSI compressors made specially for air brushes or you can get a larger compressor with adjustable PSI so that you can use it for other things like I did. I just found that for the money the larger one was the better deal.
As far as I know, Wagners are made for painting or staining homes etc. Completely different animal so to speak.

I use the double action, internal mix Paasche VL-Set. It runs about $70. My air compressor I bought at Home Depot made by Husky for $100 after buying a tiny piece of junk at Harbor Freight that a lot of people recommended...

Get a Badger 150, its cheap, easy to clean, and the needle tip wont put a big scratch in what you are painting when you are going for super fine lines. Some Paache models have needles that stick out from the spray tip, and I have ruined car hoods with them(they are frickin' sharp!). If you get too close with the Badger, you just have some paint to clean up and redo. College bookstores (some) sell airbrushes cheaper than art supply stores. The canned air only lasts a short time. You can put it in hot water to get the last bit out of it, but I would use a good strong compressor. Don't use a Badger compressor, it will spit condensation into the hose, even moisture traps don't always help.

Originally Posted by TK612

As far as I know, Wagners are made for painting or staining homes etc. Completely different animal so to speak.

Yeah, wasn't planning on trying the Wagner. I was merely using them as reference for technology comparison. IMO, they aren't even good for painting houses - at least the one I used to have wasn't!

So air compressor it is....better start saving my money.

-Brian

make sure ur comp. has a pressure regulator, or add one too it. and also a moisture trap on ur hose line. (moisture trap also filters out all the little debree and particles as well, ones which can do costlley damage)

. ive been using paashe for 18 years now, nver ran into a problem w/ a needle sticking out, never would get that close to scratch a surface if it did. i use a vsr-90 double action paashe for detail/ general, a badger 150 for larger surface, and cheap campus-hausfield for primer/clearcoat. and i gave up on expensive air- brush comp., i picked up an oiless 2 gal all- trade for 60 bucks at samsclub, had that for 5 years now, no issues..and it came w/ a regulator...

everyone