Buying My First Airbrush (or Compressor) Questions.

[Slotto]

I bought this about a month ago. Wanting to up my paint game I thought I'd give it a try. I got them at Harbor Freight for about $118. Not knowing a whole lot about airbrushing I consulted You Tube and learned a few things. I've used it 5 or 6 times so far with pretty good results.

So far I've shot the crafting acrylics mixed 1:1 with IPA 70% at 25psi and finger nail polish mixed with remover mixed 1:1 at 25psi. The only downside is the clean up process. I still use rattle can for bodies but have found this to be real useful to paint the head liners.

Just my .02

 

[GoForItPainting]

Airbrush Nozzle Test 0.15 vs. 0.4 mm

 

[Vintage chromoly]

I’ve been using a Pasche H that my parents bought me back in the early 80’s. 
I don’t have any experience with any other air brushes, but this old Pasche works well for me.

[GoForItPainting]

I hope this is useful.

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Robert, your post says a lot for the quality of that old Paasche H airbrush.

Similarly, I have a couple of old Badgers that I have had for many years that have served me well.

[Zippi]

The Paasche H is what I started with and been with ever since.  As the old saying goes, If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Joe Nunes]

A couple of questions if I may as I am going to try airbrushing for the first time.

1). I have a NIB Crescendo 175-7 airbrush that will be connected to a Porter Cable 6 gallon pancake compressor via a separate dedicated air takeoff plumbing line having its own air gauge and moisture collector.  Anything to  watch for when using this particular airbrush?

2) Considering a Pasche H airbrush as a dedicated enamel paint spray brush?  Good idea?

3)  What is a comparable Iwata airbrush to a Pasche H?  Which would be the better, the Iwata or the Pasche H?

Joe

 

[Miatatom]

The Paasche is a great airbrush. You can spray both enamels and lacquers with it. It's probably cheaper than an Iwata.

[TransAmMike]

 

 

Joe, you might want to look into this.....GSI Creos Mr. Airbrush Procon Boy PS-290.  Spraygunner.com has it on sale for an even $100 and free shipping.  It is a trigger type (like an actual spraygun) gravity feed brush.  I will say the only issue is the tips are not changable.  It has a #5 tip.  The Proton 275 has a #3 tip.  I cleans up very easily.  By the way, I do also have a Paasche H and it does just fine but I just like the trigger on the Proton PS.

Good luck with your search for the right one.  

Edited January 28, 2023 by TransAmMike

[Miatatom]

34 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Joe, you might want to look into this.....GSI Creos Mr. Airbrush Procon Boy PS-290.  Spraygunner.com has it on sale for an even $100 and free shipping.

TransAmMike is right. I use the PS-290 for bodies and it perform like a spray gun does on 1:1 cars. The Paasche is good for everything else. That price from Spraygunner is great too. I paid $130 for mine but even at that price, I don't regret it. If you're on a budget,  the Paasche will work. If you want to do it right the first time and can afford it, the PS-290 can't be beat at that price.

[Joe Nunes]

Thanks for sharing your above comments!  I already have the new Badger Crescendo in the shop (where it has been on the shelf , unused, for many years. The suggestions above will allow me to consider a more simplistic airbrush approach as   a newbie airbrush user. I need all of the help I can get!  😁😉

Joe

[TransAmMike]

1 hour ago, Joe Nunes said:

Thanks for sharing your above comments!  I already have the new Badger Crescendo in the shop (where it has been on the shelf , unused, for many years. The suggestions above will allow me to consider a more simplistic airbrush approach as   a newbie airbrush user. I need all of the help I can get!  😁😉

Joe

Ha, I've been using airbrushes for a few years now and still feel like a newbie.  I looked up the Crescendo and nothing says what size tip(s) it has. Also. I do prefer a top feed paint cup over the bottom feed.

[Joe Nunes]

 The Crescendo 175 manual I have calls out the tips as Fine, Medium and Large. Looks like the tips are described this way due to the dual action trigger feature. I am going to try out this airbrush over the next day or so using edible food colors and distilled water. That should provide some chuckles!  😀

Joe

[belugawhaleman]

Iwata, definitely Iwata. In particular, the Eclipse series. Great 'brushes.

[Dave G.]

On 1/28/2023 at 6:48 PM, Joe Nunes said:

 The Crescendo 175 manual I have calls out the tips as Fine, Medium and Large. Looks like the tips are described this way due to the dual action trigger feature. I am going to try out this airbrush over the next day or so using edible food colors and distilled water. That should provide some chuckles!  😀

Joe

I know I'm late to this thread but figured it's ok, just general info. Depending on your paint style or technique you can probably do everything model  related with either the  fine or medium tip and needle with the Crescendo. The fine tip is .5, the medium should be around a .7ish size and the largest  1 or 1.05 or so. There isn't anything wrong with a Badger Crescendo 175. The same tips interchange with the 105, 155, 175, 200NH ( not to be mistaken for the plain 200). Any of those do as fine a job spraying as any other decent quality brush with the same tip range, assuming you want double action and siphon feed.

[Joe Nunes]

Your certainly not late for this party, Dave.  Thanks for sharing your comments.  I have done quite a lot of research regarding my new Crescendo airbrush and haven't seen any reason not to use it.  I bought some liquid green food coloring (food grade) and will be practicing with a food color/distilled water mixture in the airbrush.  Like anything else new to me, I just need to get familiar with the tool.  I am one of those people that like to use the fat round ballpoint pens as they feel good/comfortable in my hand when writing. The Crescendo 175 feels the same way to me, that is, it's comfortable to hold in my hand so that's a good start. 🙂

Joe

[Dave G.]

13 hours ago, Joe Nunes said:

Your certainly not late for this party, Dave.  Thanks for sharing your comments.  I have done quite a lot of research regarding my new Crescendo airbrush and haven't seen any reason not to use it.  I bought some liquid green food coloring (food grade) and will be practicing with a food color/distilled water mixture in the airbrush.  Like anything else new to me, I just need to get familiar with the tool.  I am one of those people that like to use the fat round ballpoint pens as they feel good/comfortable in my hand when writing. The Crescendo 175 feels the same way to me, that is, it's comfortable to hold in my hand so that's a good start. 🙂

Joe

One of my airbrushes ,Joe is a Paasche VL which is comparable in design to your Badger. It puts down a beautiful well atomized pattern even with the largest tip . I like that feel, it reminds me of the Paasche H in grip style but internal mix. In Dons review of these two airbrushes he claims the 175 to have a smoother transition from very fine misting to laying the paint on heavier. I can understand that because my VL is pretty rapid in that regard, you don't need to move the trigger much extra and you're getting more paint than you really wanted, the 175 is said not to be that way. Your 175 can last you through your entire modeling lifetime. I have an old style Badger 200 still going strong since the early 1970's !!! That's my fine needle airbrush, the .25 tip lives on that one.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Dave G.

[ctruss53]

In my opinion, Iwata makes the best airbrushes for the buck.

The Iwata NEO is a great starter airbrush, and you can buy it with a mini compressor that works well enough for most things. The set is only like $60-$70 at Hobby Lobby for the combo.

Once you get better and want a little more capabilities, you can get pretty much any compressor, as long as you make sure you have a pressure regulator, water trap, and filter. Paasche sells a compressor that includes everything you need for about $125 or so.

With the compressor upgrade, the NEO airbrush should do just fine for most work. If you need more control upgrade to the Iwata Eclipse, or Harder & Steenbeck Evolution.

Oh, and I have found no reason to use anything other than a gravity feed style airbrush.  Siphon feed is a pain to deal with cleaning the jar.

[Dave G.]

It's always been curious to me the big draw on Neo and Iwata and the idea by some folks that Neo is Iwata. Especially given Neo is made in China by parts from Taiwan and made for Iwata. Not that they are a bad airbrush mind you and Iwata does back them, they're decent enough. It even says on the box Neo For Iwata. It's just Interesting.

[ctruss53]

16 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

It's always been curious to me the big draw on Neo and Iwata and the idea by some folks that Neo is Iwata. Especially given Neo is made in China by parts from Taiwan and made for Iwata. Not that they are a bad airbrush mind you and Iwata does back them, they're decent enough. It even says on the box Neo For Iwata. It's just Interesting.

So.

If you buy a small GM vehicle, it is a Daewoo made in Korea. It still has a Chevy or Buick badge on it.

I don't know about you, but I like saving money. So I will gladly buy an airbrush designed by Iwata, made in China, and save a load of money.

Edited March 8, 2023 by ctruss53

[Miatatom]

22 minutes ago, ctruss53 said:

I don't know about you, but I like saving money. So I will gladly buy an airbrush designed by Iwata, made in China, and save a load of money.

The Procon line is supposed to be a clone of the Iwata products. I have a Procon PS 290 that I really like.

[Dpate]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:56 AM, ctruss53 said:

So.

If you buy a small GM vehicle, it is a Daewoo made in Korea. It still has a Chevy or Buick badge on it.

I don't know about you, but I like saving money. So I will gladly buy an airbrush designed by Iwata, made in China, and save a load of money.

Iwata airbrushes are made out of Japan.

On 3/8/2023 at 11:20 AM, Miatatom said:

The Procon line is supposed to be a clone of the Iwata products. I have a Procon PS 290 that I really like.

From my understanding there made in the same factory 

[Merkur XR4Ti]

I am struggling with MCW enamels lately and am wondering why. I have a Paasche Millennium double action with a side feed, and I usually don't have trouble with lacquers or Tamiya paints using it. But with these MCW enamels I can't seem to get them thinned enough to flow smoothly through the airbrush. Either I thin it 25-30% and it comes out dry, or I thin it 40-50% and it comes out far too thin. And with metallics I can't seen to keep the metallic particles suspended properly.

 

Is there an airbrush you guys might suggest instead? Should I spend the $$$ and get a Grex trigger action airbrush?

[Miatatom]

I love my Procon PS-290. Trigger action. Spraygunner has it on sale at $40 off retail. If you get it, add the Iwata handle. The pistol grip makes it super easy to use.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Miatatom

[ctruss53]

11 minutes ago, Merkur XR4Ti said:

I am struggling with MCW enamels lately and am wondering why. I have a Paasche Millennium double action with a side feed, and I usually don't have trouble with lacquers or Tamiya paints using it. But with these MCW enamels I can't seem to get them thinned enough to flow smoothly through the airbrush. Either I thin it 25-30% and it comes out dry, or I thin it 40-50% and it comes out far too thin. And with metallics I can't seen to keep the metallic particles suspended properly.

 

Is there an airbrush you guys might suggest instead? Should I spend the $$$ and get a Grex trigger action airbrush?

My suggestion is to use MCW lacquer paints instead of enamels.  They are pre-thinned and ready to spray.