My First Airbrush - Shopping list

[dreadpyrat]

Hi all,

Buying my first airbrush and I want to make sure I get everything I need. I'm an experienced builder but hanvet used an AB since I was a kid. Getting back into it and dont want to miss any essentials. Looking for advice on anything I might be missing from this list or on the items themselves. Thank you!\

 

My First Airbrush

Iwata Revolution CR

Iwata Medea Compressor - do I need an Iwata? Or is there a less expensive model that will work just as well?

Iwata Spray-Out Pot

AB Cleaning Tools - Do I really need these? Is there a better set to get?

Vallejo Airbrush Thinner

Iwata Airbrush Cleaner

Anything else I need? Any recs on a good set of "starter paints"? I'm doing a military themed vehicle so that might suggest the color selection I'll need....

Thank you all!

Rob

[Miatatom]

If you want to save some money, here are my suggestions.

Airbrush: Paasche H Simple, cheap and does a great job. About $40 to $60

Compressor: Go to Harbor Freight and buy a decent one for around $100. While there, pick up their airbrush cleaner brush set and their spray out pot. Look for coupons.

For cleaning, I use lacquer thinner (Walmart, 1 gallon about $15) for lacquers and enamels or 91% isopropyl alcohol (Walmart, about $3) for acrylics.

You'll need to decide what type of paint you're going to use. If fumes are an issue, you'll probably be using acrylics. I'm using Createx right now and like it.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Miatatom

[Psychographic]

Something not many people think about, lube. It's not necessary, but it will make an airbrush work and stay working very smoothly.

 

I would avoid a HF compressor, they might work for a while, but what happens when you need to replace a part? Look on ebay for a compressor, I bought two on there very cheap, one was brand new and one had abut 15 minutes of use, both were way less than $100.

You don't need any special tools to clean an airbrush, acid brushes, rags and pipe cleaners will do the job just fine.

[Pete J.]

There are a lot of choices for Compressors.  You have chosen an airbrush only compressor which has the advantage of being very quite but is essentially a single purpose item.  Any source of air that will give you a consistent pressure is usable. "Shop style compressors"  are around the same price but can be used for blowing up tires, kids toys and running air tools in the shop.  They are also great for blowing dust off(or around the shop) .   The downside is that they are noisy.  If you get one, get one with a decent reservoir tank and be sure to get a good pressure regulator(the ones that come with the compressor are adequate but not really consistently accurate) and a moisture trap.  Also make sure your tank has an easy to access water drain in the bottom and drain it frequently. The advantage of a good size reservoir is that you can charge it up and turn the compressor off.  Airbrushes don't use a lot of air, so one tank full will generally last a whole session. 

[Snake45]

35 minutes ago, Miatatom said:

If you want to save some money, here are my suggestions.

Airbrush: Paasche H Simple, cheap and does a great job. About $40 to $60

Compressor: Go to Harbor Freight and buy a decent one for around $100. While there, pick up their airbrush cleaner brush set and their spray out pot. Look for coupons.

For cleaning, I use lacquer thinner (Walmart, 1 gallon about $15) for lacquers and enamels or 91% isopropyl alcohol (Walmart, about $3) for acrylics.

You'll need to decide what type of paint you're going to use. If fumes are an issue, you'll probably be using acrylics. I'm using Createx right now and like it.

I agree with all this, except for the compressor I'd go to Walmart and get (another) Campbell-Hausfeld. 

Above all, keep it simple! 

[drsnapper55]

Yeah, good list, and I agree with the compressor idea and lube.  No matter where you are locating this setup, I would definitely get a moisture trap.  They are inexpensive and can save you some trouble with paint jobs.

[Psychographic]

I forgot about the moisture trap. You will also want another length of hose, you don't want to mount the trap right at or close to the compressor as the air wont have time to cool so the moisture in the air will pass right though the trap and condense in the line or airbrush. Nothing worse than getting the perfect paintjob get ruined by a spit of water.

 

You want to run a length of hose to the trap and then another hose to the airbrush, You can get a small trap with a regulator for about

$20-25

Edited March 15, 2018 by Psychographic

[dreadpyrat]

Thanks all. I've been poking around Amazon and the two main brands I see for Compressors are PointZero and Master Air. Are either any good? The reviews for both are all over the place. 

Also, how important is it to have a tank? 

I do see that all seem to come with moisture traps, which is good. 

[gotnitro?]

Since your looking at the Iwata airbrush, hobby lobby sells a screw on moisture trap that attaches right on your brush, hobby lobby has them .

Doing military theme most builders use either tamiya , testors , or AK paints lately.  Most are acrylic that simple 91 percent alcohol will easily clean .the testors is enamel,  use their cleaner the ab will last yrs.

I just replaced my iwata hpcs after 10 yrs, with another cause I used Delstar thinner and it melted the seals

[Snake45]

14 hours ago, dreadpyrat said:

Also, how important is it to have a tank? 

It's absolutely vital IMHO. The tank gives you a steady stream of air. Hooking your AB direct to your compressor gives you pulses of air. 

My Walmart compressor has a 2-gallon (maybe 3, I forget) tank. With this, I can turn the compressor on and let it fill the tank to the cutoff limit of 125 psi--takes maybe three minutes?--and then turn the compressor off and run an entire airbrushing session on the tank alone in complete silence. If I leave the compressor on it will kick in again as the pressure drops to 75 psi or something, but as normal AB working pressure is 20-40 psi, the tank will last a usably long time all by itself. In fact, it's rare that I have to turn the compressor back on in any one shooting session. 

[Pete J.]

1 hour ago, gotnitro? said:

Since your looking at the Iwata airbrush, hobby lobby sells a screw on moisture trap that attaches right on your brush, hobby lobby has them .

Doing military theme most builders use either tamiya , testors , or AK paints lately.  Most are acrylic that simple 91 percent alcohol will easily clean .the testors is enamel,  use their cleaner the ab will last yrs.

I just replaced my iwata hpcs after 10 yrs, with another cause I used Delstar thinner and it melted the seals

Jeff, it is nice that you have a brand new airbrush but you can replace seals.  Your new airbrush probably has teflon seals that are impervious to almost all thinners and you can get them for your old Iwata.  Put in the new ones and you are good to go. I have been running teflon seals in all my brushes for probably 15 years and using automotive grade lacquers and urethanes for almost as long.  The Teflon holds up just fine to those.