Airbrush - Purchase Help

[umbral isle]

Hiya People, feeling very overwhelmed when looking into taking the next step in my mini painting adventure.

I'm looking to purchase an airbrush and compressor and tank kit. There is a lot of noise out there around what to buy, however the majority is US facing in terms.of tanks and compressors, however being UK based this isn't overly helpful.

Can anyone provide assistance with any good articles or suggestions/recommendations.

Thanks in advance for you assistance.

[jovial solstice]

Hello! Roughly you have a choice to make as to how cheap you want to get into airbrushing (also known as: what do you want to do with your airbrush?)

• You can go fairly cheap => get a cheap airbrush brush, probably still recommend to look for a good compressor (with proper tank) since that is something you won't need to change in a long time. Amazon has a ton of bundles of this style, and the references in the US-centric threads are actually the same here for the compressors. The airbrush doesn't matter so long as you're getting a 2-action (push + pull lever towards you) gravitational (paint tank on top) one. These simple airbrushes are perfect for priming (including zenithal), varnishing, adding extra layers of color. Their main limitation is that their control will have sme limits (so you can't go crazy accurate thin layer in a specific place, in general) and you get your money's worth, so when they break they break and you throw the thing away and get another. I got an almost-cheap-but-not-quite airbrush that I still have and still use reguraly for priming. I'm sure you can learn far on these brushes, but I personally think there's a limit to the exercise as some of the learning will start to be airbrush-specific (to be accurate, you "learn by heart" where the airbrush shoots relative to how it's positionned, how far you press to have the flow of air you want for a certain paint application, and how far back you rock the trigger.)

• You can go more expensive, and here I personally advise to look for a brand where extra / replacement pieces are easy to find. Harder & Steenbeck are probably a good option since they're Germany-based. You don't need to go crazy Infinity CR10 from the start here, you can look for their middle-range airbrush and be happy with it for a long time. Note that less expensive brushes come in particular with non-rubber seals, which resist harder cleaning liquids & thinners. (Well, most of them.) On top of having finer-crafted pieces, which allow for more control, and are generally more durable.

I noted you didn't ask for advice on paint, but I'll just mention I don't recommend getting airbrush-specific paints in general (unless you're painting armies and need the same colour). I've gotten some and never use them really, 'cause good old standard paints thinned work like a charm most of the time (just beware of metallics).

I hope this helps.

[umbral isle]

Budget wise I'm probably looking for something middle ground as I don't want cheap crap, but conversely don't want to go too expensive while I get a feel for it. Don't want to ruin a nice bit of kit being a dumb newby.

If the compressor and tank side is similar then I think there's enough out there for me to find something to start with, just researching an actual airbrush brand.

Thanks for the very detailed response I appreciate it.

[fickle verge]

If you're looking for a starter airbrush, look into Fengda. It's a Chinese knock-off of the main airbrush brands, so you get nice features for very cheap. I started with it and it lasted me years. Quality is pretty decent and finding spare parts was easy.

First airbrush, you'll probably abuse as you learn, clean it badly, bend a needle, that sort of thing. So I'd personally avoid jumping straight into expensive brands.

Their compressor is pretty solid, and has all you will ever need (tank + pressure regulation) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airbrush-compressor-reservoir-Fengda-FD-186/dp/B019CKXBOU/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=312V92FT3J1T6&keywords=airbrush+compressor+with+tank&qid=1688988337&sprefix=Compressor+airb%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-4

[ripe sluice]

I would opine to get a quality airbrush. It's harder to mess them up, a solid one will last years without issues. Cheap ones break easily and are frustrating to work with. You don't need to get a top-tier one, but avoid the cheaper Chinese stuff.

Iwata, Harder, and Badger all made decent entry level brushes that won't break the bank.

[lilac smelt]

The above answers are pretty good already, but here's my two cents in addition:

• For a beginner brush one of the cheaper brushes from a known brand should do the trick (harder&steenbeck, badger, iwata are the most common that I know of in Europe). I'd personally get a chinese cheapo brush **only **if I'd be willing to risk having a suboptimal experience, the one I currently have seems to clog very easily and obviously doesn't have replacement parts. Even cheap brushes from the likes of H&S are most likely going to serve for a good while.
• For a beginner, a basic 0.3 nozzle is fine, or if you know you want to do super fine details, get one with 2-in-1 that includes a small and bigger nozzle. No smaller than a 2mm though, even that one will need some practice.
• People say don't cheap out on the compressor and to get one with an air tank, but I'm using a cheap one without one and it's fine. It does make sound constantly and might be missing on some features, but the noise is low and it pushes air to my brush and that's enough for me 😄 BUT if you want to look for a brand compressor, here's some that I've heard about: Sparmax, Iwata and Euro Tec.

[halcyon bolt]

I like to recommend a decent compressor cheap airbrush combo to start. A lot come with replacement parts such as (needles, nozzles and caps) but you can get the replacement parts for about 10 usd for a pack of 3 needles, 3 nozzles and 3 caps. I still use my chinese cheap airbrush that came with my compressor for priming

I think it’s better to start cheap because I’m those who believe you will break/ruin something as has happened to me and everyone I’ve talk to. You need to get in the habit of protecting the front of your airbrush and learn how to clean/maintain it properly.

When you bend a needle or break the nozzle threads, the fix is a couple of dollars vs H&S when just the needle is about 50-60 bucks

Now, if you don’t mind the expense, get a H&S, I do love mine

[ripe sluice]

A needle is like $15 lol

Don't scare someone away with incorrect pricing please

[halcyon bolt]

Harder & Steenbeck 0.2mm Nozzle Set (v2.0) [126834] https://a.co/d/1SIm1j9

[ripe sluice]

Amazon has the worst prices and that is a needle and nozzle

[halcyon bolt]

That’s where I was basing my current pricing from, I apologize if I offended you

[ripe sluice]

I'm not offended - it's just not an accurate representation of the average price at all

[lilac smelt]

which H&S if I may ask? Going to get one myself soon.

[halcyon bolt]

I have the evolution silverline