| Jeff W | 05 Dec 2011 12:26 p.m. PST |
link I've been wanting to pick up an airbrush just to basecoat and paint camo on 15mm vehicles; does anyone have any experience with the item linked? Since it will be kind of a uni-tasker, I don't want to spend a great deal of money on it (already own a compressor). Other suggestions appreciated. Jeff |
 Steve Roper  | 05 Dec 2011 12:53 p.m. PST |
For basecoating I use this one link On sale often for 7.99 – I find it better because there is essentially no cleaning required. Works like a champ! |
| ming31 | 05 Dec 2011 1:23 p.m. PST |
It looks like an obsolete badger .Which makes it a decent unit , the last model they had ( dual action) WAS an old badgser as I used it for spare parts on anold badger . |
| VonTed | 05 Dec 2011 1:24 p.m. PST |
Coupled with the 40 or 20% off, you can't go wrong :-) But for camo…. not sure if it holds a fine line. |
| ScoutII | 05 Dec 2011 1:24 p.m. PST |
Badger 350. They have been around longer than I have – should you need to have a replacement anything 20 or 30 years from now…you can still get it. They are also made in the US which is considered a good thing by many people. link Should be able to pick one up for a bit over $30. As an added benefit, you can actually spray PVA glue from a 350 without it gumming up (found that out this weekend when explaining the benefits of a 350 to someone else). the last model they had ( dual action) WAS an old badgser as I used it for spare parts on anold badger . Correction. It was a Chinese knock off of a Badger. The Badger factory is in the US, and all of their range is made here. I am not sure if anything that Harbor Freight sells is made in the US (pretty sure even the boxes they ship stuff in come from Mexico). |
| Dawkins | 06 Dec 2011 3:51 a.m. PST |
As a general rule, if you are not sure if you want to use an airbrush, always pick up a cheapy just so you know how it feels. You wont't be able to do any nice details with them but for your purpose it will do it's job. Most cheap brushes work pretty well for base coats and primers. After that, if you enjoy it invest in a more expensive brush. I just got into airbrushing a year ago after a 5 year layoff from it. Just bought 2 Iwata airbrushes and relearning the consistency of paint needed. Damn you tip dry! |
| link hunter 99 | 06 Dec 2011 3:10 p.m. PST |
iwata is good. harder to learn with bad brush as you never know if you are doing wrongly or the airbrush is doing wrongly. get compressor, canned air is a very expensive way to clean airbrush. |
 javelin98 | 07 Dec 2011 10:11 a.m. PST |
Jeff! I sent you an email last night about loaning you my Badger. |
| Jeff W | 07 Dec 2011 1:12 p.m. PST |
@javelin- Got it, sent you a reply just a bit ago. Thanks! |
| Dawkins | 07 Dec 2011 9:04 p.m. PST |
Just a head up. AC Moore has coupons in their weekly emails and in the paper for 25 – 50 percent off. AC Moore sells a badger starter airbrush kit for about 60 bucks. Comes with a bottle and a hose I believe. Might be worth your consideration. |
| Drac Blau | 21 Dec 2011 11:31 a.m. PST |
Actually the airbrush posted by JeffW75 is a nice double action airbrush. Don't let the low $25 price fool you, I have several of these and they compare well to my $150 Badger 150 which is what it is modeled after. In fact these have become my favorite for detailed work as well as general painting. I bought these for $20 each at my local Harbor Freight. The simpler airbrush posted by Steve is good for simple painting of groundwork or scenery but is too rough for figures in my opinion. I have many Badger and Paasche airbrushes too and prefer to buy American, but for starting out this is a nice buy. I've got too many airbrushes! |
| 1905Adventure | 15 Mar 2012 12:57 p.m. PST |
The harbor freight compressor is actually fairly nice for an airbrush compressor. It's the same one sold by make-up artist distributors for airbrushing nails and faux-tanning solutions, but rebranded for a hardware store. The air brushes they sell are perfectly fine. Nothing amazing, but good for non-professional use. If I were to get an airbrush today, I'd go for a $30 USD Veda 130 or 180 gravity fed one off of eBay direct from Hong Kong. Gravity fed uses less PSI than the siphon feed in the above links and thus it's easier on the compressor and needing of less air flow. Also easier for fine work. But for $17 USD, that harbour freight one will do what you want. |
| 1905Adventure | 18 Mar 2012 6:35 p.m. PST |
Did some more research on the compressors. Turns out some of them have bleed-regulators. What this means is that to maintain whatever pressure you choose, it simply bleeds off the excess air. This is obviously very, very wasteful and puts a lot of needless strain on the compressor. The 1/5 horsepower one has the bleed regulator while the 1/8 has a proper regulator. So the weaker/cheaper one is actually better. Another option is to simply connect your own proper regulator to the 1/5 horsepower one and leave the regulator it comes with wide open. Unfortunately, Harbor Freight's regulators that are available separately are all the crappy bleed type, so you'll have to go elsewhere for a regulator that actually works properly. |
