Buying My First Airbrush (or Compressor) Questions.

[Pete J.]

Just checked the price on both Coast and Chicago to Canada and they were each within pennies of $27 with shipping. Choose your poison. As they use to say, "Parts is parts".

[Dave Ambrose]

My first airbrush was Paasche VL set. It was great. You could tackle just about anything with it. We were doing model railroad and the occasional aircraft. When the friend who loaned it to me needed it back, I replaced it with an Iwata Eclipse BC. It worked, but I could never get a nozzle large enough to work well with hobby paint. It was awesome for ink tho.

When I got back into cars, I got another VL and have been using it ever since.

I mostly use enamels and lacquers.

[fseva]

This is not free shipping.

I tried to replicate your order and came pretty close...

Notice in the lower-left corner, you have 2 "free" choices for shipping?

[935k3]

The order I showed is from Coast Air. I am just saying that if two places sell an airbrush for the same price I will always take the one with free shipping. I have bought a few airbrushes directly from amazon, they do have some of the best prices. Parts are another story, they all charge shipping for parts.

[Pete J.]

My problem is not with cost. Unless I have an issue with a seller or particularly feel an affinity for one, I will choose the lowest net cost to me and that includes shipping, handling charges and sales tax. Having has a long career in sales though, I get my dander up with a seller attempts to deceive me even in a minor way. If they want reduce their profit to cover the shipping that is fine by me. Just don't try and BS me with "free" shipping. It ain't free! If the seller is willing to bend the truth that way, I always wonder if they may be deceptive in others ways and I will never be a loyal customer. Want to cut me a break on the price? Fine, I am good with that, but don't tell me such transparent lies. I don't like that.

[dawgvet]

Hello, I'm needing to upgrade to a better airbrush for painting model cars. I had an Aztek 470 but it was lost when we moved into a new house a couple years ago. I've about got it narrowed down to the Badger Anthem 155 due to it being American-made, good warranty, and reputation for ease of assembly/cleaning. What do you all think of this choice? I really want to keep it below $100 and Chicago Airbrush has the set with an air hose for $89.

What do you think? All input appreciated.

Thanks,

[935k3]

see Don Wheeler's review here https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/badger-155-anthem. You can't go wrong with chicagoairbrushsupply.com. They have good prices and excellent service.

[DaveM]

I have the Anthem, and I really like it. It took a bit of getting used to as the trigger had a very different feel than the Aztecs I had been using for a Year or so before I bought the Anthem. It offers a lot of trigger control. You can shoot really thin Wicked colors at low P.S.I. or you can pull the needle all the way back and run acrylics through as if it were a firehose! The first time I used it, I shot a test batch onto a chunk of foamboard, and after about three passes, I had used up the whole jar of paint! Once you get used to finessing it, it is a great airbrush. I shoot most of my model car parts with it. I get nice coats on my bodies with it and I can also make some camo lines on aircraft with it. It is easy to clean, but it can get some acrylics built up on the nozzle. (Gunze Sangyo paints seem to be the worst offenders here.) The neat thing is that I don't have to worry about choosing the right needle for the right job. I just have to resist pulling the trigger all the way back when I am working with fine details and thin paints. (I can be a bit ham fisted when airbrushing. Normal people should have no problems with it.)

[my80malibu]

The badger most likely has the better parts availability, and customer service. Than the other AB you were considering.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

I have a soft spot for the Badger 350...

[Agent G]

I've had a 155 for nearly 20 years now. It's my go to ab for most jobs.

G

[dartman]

I really like my Badger 200.Have had it for years and always works great.

[fseva]

I have the Anthem, and here's why it's so versatile - it comes with a .75mm needle/nozzle - to compare, the Patriot comes with a .5mm n/n, and consequently you have to thin your paints slightly more to get them to atomize properly with the smaller n/n. Now, are you sure you want a siphon-feed airbrush? This can come in really handy when you know you'll be airbrushing a lot of paint in one session - too much for a single gravity cup - you can attach lots of different size bottles to the Anthem, and even change colors just by changing bottles (of course, you should blow out the excess paint from the inner workings between each color change as well).

[anarximis]

which is better a gravity feed or suction feed

[Krazy Rick]

Go with a Paache - easy to clean, solid & good paint flow. listen to Pete - get your stuff at Coast Airbrush, great service, solid place - when shopping for one, avoid trying to cut corners; you'll get what you pay for and a place with useless service.

[Mike Kucaba]

There is a lot of reasons to like a lot of airbrushes, I know, and have about 10 of them. Everyone has a trait that is"ünique" that is a reason I own/bought them. I have Badger, Paasche, Iwata etc. and like ém all.

[Helper Monkey]

I would personally stay away from the Badger 155. Because it is a siphon feed. I find that siphons have a larger chance to sputter than gravity feed ones. I personally own the Iwata HP-CS http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/eclipse/hp-cs/. It does almost everything I want it to do. I do not know much about badger other than they have a good reputation.  I do not know the difference between the different lines. I know a lot about the Iwata Lines however. I got training from Iwata a few years back at my job. 

It has a .35mm tip on it. The  problem is that it can only take stuff with small pigment size.   I also have an extra needle , jet and jet housing to convert it a  .5mm. I was trying out the Daler Rowney F.W. Pearlescent Inks and they had a hard time with them. Metallic Paints just tend to need larger air brushes. It clogged a lot less when I thinned the paint down with golden's airbrush thinner and using the .5 needle conversion. I also  modified my airbrush with a MAC valve http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/accessories/external-mac-valve/ So that I can adjust the air pressure on the fly and the preset adjustable handle that  you can see here http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/accessories/hardware/. The handle is great as it controls how far back I can pull on the trigger so I can maintain a certain spray pattern size.  I effectivly turned my airbrush into a higher end model like this one http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/hi-line/hp-ch/. 

If you want a good starter Iwata use the Revolution series.  http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/revolution/cr/.

 

[fseva]

I agree with Matthew... for general airbrushing of hobby products, don't buy anything smaller than .5mm. I have a Patriot that I installed a .75mm in, and it works great, especially for metallics, etc. I also use an Anthem with a .75mm, when my paint session requires more than a single gravity cup of paint. It works very well. I find that my problems start with a .5mm Iwata Revolution, if the paint is heavier than milk. The only time I have a need for a finer point is when I'm shooting Alclad or any of the other chrome substitutes. It just allows me to better control the amount of paint I apply. So, the airbrush companies that like to tout their newest releases with ever-finer tips, are not telling you the absolute truth when it comes to applying hobby paint. If you want and need to use a fine detail airbrush, be prepared to use higher air pressure and thinning the paint more.

[grassy49]

I purchased the badger105 as my first airbrush last month,it is a great air brush and now all you need is practice

[showrods]

Contrary to what some have said DON'T buy anything cheap.  You get what you pay for.  Sooner rather than later it'll break down or not work properly and you'll just get frustrated with the botched paint jobs, wasted time and wasted materials.

I recommend an Iwata HP-C Plus, Iwata I900 compressor and Iwata water trap.  

Someone above said that it's important to know how to take apart, clean and put back together the air brush BEFORE you shoot any paint.  He's absolutely right.

There's a great you-Tube video of a guy from Iwata taking apart, cleaning and putting back together this exact airbrush.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2015 by showrods

[KeithJackson]

I bit the bullet at ordered a compressor, air brush, and spray booth.  I still need to get a couple more things before I can start painting, but I am wondering what others use to practice on.  I have heard of using plastic spoons, but I was wondering if there was something larger that could be used.  I assume that old car bodies would be good, but does anyone have a good cheap source for them?  I have about a half dozen NASCAR models that I know that I will never build, but I don't feel right about opening them up just to mess up the bodies.  Also, once you have painted the body, can you strip it and use again for more practice or is it more of a one-and-done thing?  Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[crazyjim]

Sure you can strip the paint off a body, Keith.  Might be easier and cheaper to just practice on plain white paper.  You can experiment with different paints, pressures, AB settings.

[Vampira]

My first airbrush was the cheap testors one with the rubber hose and the can of air. But I recently bought a metal one from Harbor freight it seems ok but I am not really building show quality models..

[Pete J.]

My first airbrush was the cheap testors one with the rubber hose and the can of air. But I recently bought a metal one from Harbor freight it seems ok but I am not really building show quality models..

I couldn't resist commenting on your post.  Although I understand your comment, I would say again that the magic is in the magician, not the wand.  Every airbrush is designed for a given use and can produce a good finish if you stay within those parameters or are willing to work to get a better finish.  Anything that atomizes the paint and gets it to the model will work.  From there it becomes a matter of working with the result to get a perfect paint job.  You can sand and polish almost any paint job to perfection.  It just takes time and effort.  The quality of airbrush and the type of paint is was designed to lay down, determine how much time and effort you have to expend to get the job done.  Having said that, a cheap airbrush can be treated as a kit that with care can be modified to work very well, but it will involve micro polishing parts such as the needle and nozzle to make the paint flow through smoothly. 

  Keep in mind that paint is not a single consistent product.  Viscosity, particle size, carrier and solvent all effect how it goes through a brush and these will vary by type of paint(lacquers, enamels and acrylics), manufacture and look(metallic, metal flake, solid color, candies, etc.).  So you can't just say I use model paint and leave it at that.  Then you also have to consider how you paint.  Do you want something with a wide pattern for doing bodies in fewer passes or are you laying down fades that require a tight pattern.  Perhaps you want to have a scale accurate overspray like you see on 70's Chrysler products.  These are all considerations.

  If you don't know, it might be a good choice to get a brush with interchangeable needles and nozzles of different sizes to start.  My old Badger Crescendos did just that, and I learned a lot about using an airbrush and what paints that I used required.  I then bought a second brush to do what I did most.  That is how I wound up with four brushes that I use for different reasons.  

[greger]

my firs tone was the neo for iwata. and i actually really love it. i planned on getting  a cheaper on to start with then upgrading but so far i havent found any reason to upgrade.