"Airbrushes, doing miniatures and cakes with a single set-up?" Topic

I'm thinking of getting an airbrush set, whilst my wife also has her eye on getting one in parallel for her cake decorating (they seem to be all the rage in baking now).
Obviously elements of the kit will need to be kept separate for food hygiene purposes, am I right to think that the only thing that could be shared would be the compressor?
If that's the case, are the hose connections for them pretty universal? i.e. could we get different brands of airbrush, and share the same compressor? Any guidance would be appreciated!

The connectors are pretty close to universal, and you'll be able to get an adapter if required incredibly easily. Definitely everything but the airbrush can be shared.

What airbrush to get is a difficult one. You can get some really low priced units on eBay that are really hit and miss in regards to quality. In almost all cases the components are fine, it's the assembly that is shot to hell. There are several online guides on how to re-assemble el cheapo airbrushes to get them up to scratch.

Cake decorating airbrushing isn't something I know squat about, but I'd consider getting something like this to start your wife out (and that you can use)
auction

For wargaming/modelling the best starter airbrush out there in terms of quality to price is the Neo for Iwata. I got two form this seller on eBay, he's legit and fast postage.
auction

McWong73 is spot on. The Iwata Neo is a great starter airbrush. At the price they're selling for these days you could get two. That way you wont have to worry about that nasty food dye contaminating your minis. O.o

link

Here is a good review of the Neo:

link

Apparently, Iwata contracts a Chinese company to buil them for Iwata. Iwata does stand behind the brush if you have any issues.

Since the Neo has a .35mm nozzle you may quickly find that you will need a smaller nozzle, like a .25mm for finer work. Also make sure you get a gravity feed design (over siphon feed) and a dual action design (over a single action one). Dual action means that the control lever controls air flow and nozzle opening at the same time. This is a good thing. The Neo's are dual action and come in both gravity and siphon feed models.

I can only assume that cake decorating doesn't require the same detailing as with our hobby. I'm sure your wife will be fine with the Neo. In her case, a larger nozzle like a .50mm may be even better, as she is spraying a larger surface area than you generally will be doing.

The difficult choice is the compressor. A good beginner compressor is the Iwata Smart Jet. Very quiet, portable, light, oil-less and has "Smart Jet" monitoring so the compressor doesn't run continuously. It has a moisture trap and bleed valve.

link

Other manufacturers will make similar compressors with similar features. I do have the Smart Jet and have hot rodded it to have a storage tank and to bring the pressure down to 18 psi for detail work. But that's for later, when you aren't a beginner.

Oh ya, buy a small in-line moisture trap that goes just before the airbrush. They are very cheap and will provide moisture free painting, no matter what the climate.

Regards connections, quick release couplings will be your friend. link

This is great advice. Thank you guys, I feel much less like I'm stepping into the unknown now!

My wife and I use airbrushes, mine for my gaming and hers for cake decorating. We found that my compressor was too powerful even at a low setting as it "blew" the frosting around a bit. We eventually just purchased a compressor made specifically for cake decorating. So make you get a compressor that you can turn the pressure down pretty low.

We found that my compressor was too powerful even at a low setting as it "blew" the frosting around a bit.

Good point. Most compressors, like the Iwata Smart Jet, let you drop the pressure by opening the bleed valve in the water trap. The only problem is that the compressor runs all the time, defeating the "smart" part of the design. That shouldn't be an issue.

The Iwata compresses at 30psi. When running the airbrush this drops to 25 psi. Opening the bleed valve reduces this further down to 15-18psi. I don't know what Rdfraf's compressor would run at. But there are times when the 25psi pressure is ideal, like painting 1/56 scale tanks, or terrain.