Airbrush or not?

[matchlesswdg3]

I have been rediscovering the joys of military vehicle/plane kitbuilding and with the level of detail now available via the likes of Hasigawa and Tamiya, etc, I feel my end result is now getting let down by painting using a brush and spray cans. I have seen youtube demos of airbrushing and this appeals, but the kit is not cheap (at least for something the experts regard as fit for purpose) and I do not want to fork out for something overly high-spec for military modelling. Any recommendations most gratefully received! Ferg :undecided:

[earlymb]

After having glued together my last kits together at least 15 years ago as a kid I was surprised with the Revell 1/48 B-25 I got last christmas. Since this is the type my grandfather served with I decided I really wanted to do my best with it. So I bought some paint, borrowed an airbrush from a friend & had a go at it.

 

I must say the results, even for a first time user like me, are something I could never hope to archieve with a brush. If you decide to get one, the really basic starter sets are a waste of money. These are usually single-action, which means they are basically spraycans where you put in your own paint. The double-action models give you seperate control over the airflow, and the paintflow. A basic compressor will do (piston preferrable over membrane), but you can upgrade those to a model with a small air tank. I would suggest a combined moisturetrap/pressurevalve & meter to go with that.

 

As for paints, you can use about any sort of paint, but cleaning the airbrush can be a hassle sometimes. If you use enamels you have to clean with paint thinner, and those can eat away the O-rings and gaskets. Personally I only use waterbased acrylics like Vallejo now. You'll only need water to clean it. Tamiya acrylics are very good too but are alcohol based, and as such need to be thinned with 90% alcohol. The fumes are toxic too.

 

In all, for about 120 quid you should be able to get a decent set that will serve you for years to come. Some specialised vendors sell their own brand of airbrushes, which are usually perfect as startersets. They might also have used ones. Unless you already know you will pick up modelling hardcore there is no need to spend some serious cash on the high-end brushes. The one I use now is a Premiair G35, but pretty soon I'll have to go look for my own set too...

[timbo]

Have used both Badger and Iwata - the badgers are a little agricultural so I would pay the extra for the Iwata - beautifully engineered and a lot easier to use and clean. Get a good compressor too as the cans are not very useful. For cleaning get a stock of the spray cleaners they make life a lot easier.

 

Go for the best you can afford and if you can't afford then I would save a bit longer as you'll quickly outgrow a cheap one and have to pay out twice. Lots of good tips on youtube!

[robin craig]

I can't vouch for what percentage of alcohol you get in yours, but over here our winter windscreen washer fluid is highly alcohol based and worked perfectly with Tamiya acrylics that I used.

 

I would say that the basic Badger airbrush with single stage was fine for what I did in 1/35 but then i'm a hack anyway.

 

The only thing I did was put a foot control pedal in so that with model in one hand and brush in the other I could turn the compressor on and off easily without dropping things. One of my mates used a sewing machine foot pedal on his as he didn't want a tank.

 

I only ever found very humid summers had any result as far as water in the line, but that was out here.

 

Here is what I produced.

 

Robin

[Enigma]

Years ago I bought a chep airbrush set and it worked fine.

A friend made a compressor from a sort of machine part or something, worked fine.

I used oil based paints.