You are going to get lots of opinions here, for what it's worth II would say Harder & Steenbeck. H&S brushes are very well engineered & are pretty flawless in my humble opinion.

The Infinity 2 in 1 is obviously there top whack brush, but the Evolution uses pretty much the same innards & is a bit cheaper. The Evolution Solo comes with a 0.2mm N/N set as standard along with a 2ml paint cup (a bit small for some?), whereas the Evolution 2 in 1 comes with 0.2 & 0.4mm N/N sets & 2 & 5ml paint cups.

N/N sets of 0.15, 0.2, 0.4 & 0.6mm are available for any of these brushes, as well as paint cups from 2ml up to 100ml.

You wont regret it!

Maybe a Badger Patriot or Velocity, Iwata Eclipse HP-CS or HiLine HP-CH  or an H&S Infinity. And they progress in price pretty much in that order. When finances permit I'm going with an Infinity. I like the Badgers I have now but would like to try something different. I like the flexibility of some of the H&S brushes and have heard no negatives about them. The Infinity just happens to have the features I want. They're all proven, you couldn't go wrong with any of them.

Tony

Iwata CR Revolution.

Runs about $100 USD.

But if your in the US and near a Hobbylobby they can be had for about $60.00 plus tax. That is when Hobbylobby has their 40% of coupon available, which is frequently.

I love mine.

M1 A1 A2 Tanker

Iwata CR Revolution.

Runs about $100 USD.

But if your in the US and near a Hobbylobby they can be had for about $60.00 plus tax. That is when Hobbylobby has their 40% of coupon available, which is frequently.

I love mine.

I have not seen the Iwata Revolution line at Hobby Lobby in any midwest city (From Ill to Tx) yet. They have the Eclipse in stock, both the HP-CS and the HP-BCS. The HL Iwata pack comes with the handgrip filter and is a better deal than internet order when using the 40% coupon.

You can get the Iwata Revolution HP-CR at slightly over $70 on the net, but shop carefully to get free shipping. The CR is popular with the UK modellers.

Bill,

I have a Badger Patriot 105 fine needle, a HP-CS and a H&S Evolution Silverline. All of them are good enough for modeling. But the design and finish quality varies. Try them in your hand to find out which one feels best to you before purchasing. Since you already have an Aztek and the Paasche H, think about what aspect you want improvement over them. Ask specific question about those potential improvements, you will get better answer.

Personally, I like the Iwata HP-CS as the best all-round, cheap airbrush for modeling. It comes with the 0.35 nozzle. I added a 0.5 mm nozzle/needle/cap set for less than $20 total from Hobby Lobby. I have not use my CS long enough to need spare yet. Eventually I will. The best part is Iwata parts are cheap and readily available from Hobby Lobby local to me.

Bill, when you say 'take it to the next level' do you mean in terms of value as well?

I'd recommend a SATAgraph 3. If you're willing to invest in a quality and excellently engineered tool, check this out: SATAgraph 3

German engineering is the best; and after using this airbrush for a while I'l never go back.

Depends on your budget.

Under $100: Badger Patriot or 100LG

$100-$150: Badger Renegade Velocity, Iwata HP-CS, Grex Genesis or H&S Evolution Solo

Above $150: Any Grex, H&S, deVilbiss, Sata will do. At this price point the differences are more to do with color or look than anything else. Heck, at this price point it should turn your cleaning solution into wine!

Bill makes a good point about budget. There are some great airburshes out there, but over a broad range of prices. In the $100 range I like the IWata Eclipse HP-CS from my personal  experience. It's easy to use, has a nice range of spray pattern, easy to clean and very durable.

I also like the Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH Plus with the micro air control valve if you want to move up into the $175+ range.

I'm sure there are other nice airbrushes out there, but I can speak to these from my experience.

Bgrigg

Heck, at this price point it should turn your cleaning solution into wine!

Would you recommend a cabernet or a merlot?

I like them both, but will always reach for the Merlot first!

I can recommend the rarely mentioned Tamiya HG and HG SF. I've used them for 4 or 5 years now and have never even had to disassemble them for cleaning. My painting has gotten so much better after switching from an Aztec A470. I like them so much my new Grex Tritium is just sitting in the box. I tried it once or twice and it was fine, but I went back to the HG SF. It has a .2mm nozzle but does everything well, including large coverage( I do mostly 1/32 aircraft). They can be found in the $120-$150 range.

I can highly recommend Paasche's new Talon gravity feed DA AB. I originally had a Paasche VL (and still do) but I wanted a Gravity Feed and settled on the Talon.

It's a joy to use and the adjustment knob at the rear of the handle is an added plus for fine adjusting the spray. It's extremely user friendly and clean-up is a cinch compared to the VL...

Dom

Hi Bill

I'll throw my two cents in also

My current setup.. (it changes allot)

3) Badger Velocity's .21 n/n ........which I thought sprayed better than my Iwata Micron's (which I sold) I still can't believe this??.  Anyway I also ordered the Badger Rage .33 Nozzle/Needle/Aircap setup (around $25-$30) for any of the Velocitys (fits just fine/works GREAT)  when I need a little more paint but want to keep the great (tight)spray control.

I also have an Iwata Eclipse with the Gravity feed cup. It's a .35 n/n and can convert to .5 n/n pretty cheap also. This is the brush I use allot for primers,  sprayable glues like for static grass and Future etc.

I keep the Velocity's for paint only and the reason I have 3 (Besides being a little off)  is I can load up all 3 of my camo colors and paint/repair on the fly. Very handy- very fast- very efficient.

Also these brushes are extremely easy to clean when changing colors or putting away for the day. None of the nozzles screw in......... which for my big hands is a real pain

Best of luck

I did a little checking into the Tamiya HG SF and found that it's made by the same company  that makes AB's for Iwata and others, also other forums give rave reviews but it seems most of them use acrylics, do you?  What hose do you use?

Thanks,

Bill

Just curious, where did you get that info?

I love my Badger Velocity. I have an Iwata (which I keep) but I find myself reaching for the Badger more often.  I do prefer the trigger on the Iwata but I like the way the Badger lays down paint.

From several comments on this and other forums on the internet, but like I said I did a little checking.

Bill

For what's its worth, I believe this to be nothing more than a rumour. I have searched for proof about this for years, and never found even a single piece of hard evidence to support it.

That is not saying that the Tamiya airbrushes arn't nice. They sure are. But they are made by BB Rich, which is stated on the boxes. And I have never seen any BB Rich made Iwatas. 

If you researched for years, I'll take you word.  I only researched for 30 minutes.

Thank you,

Bill

I used MM Acryl for a long time with no problems. I have recently switched to Gunze Mr. Color and love it. I use a Badger hose with Iwata adapter.

Jay

denstore

For what's its worth, I believe this to be nothing more than a rumor. I have searched for proof about this for years, and never found even a single piece of hard evidence to support it.

You aren't the only one - I have noticed plenty of statements regarding the commonality of Rich, Richpen, Tamiya, Iwata & Sparmax. There are some factual links between these companies, but there is also plenty of speculation over & above the facts, some of which I suspect may be true. Where is Sherlock Holmes when you need him?

A few of things for sure - H&S are made in Germany, Badger & Paasche in the US & SATA in Germany - Although H&S were apparently involved in SATA's airbrush range?

Milairjunkie

 

denstore:

 

For what's its worth, I believe this to be nothing more than a rumor. I have searched for proof about this for years, and never found even a single piece of hard evidence to support it.

 

 

A few of things for sure - H&S are made in Germany, Badger & Paasche in the US

The Paasche compressor are all made in China now. No sure about their airbrushes, particularly the newer models. It is not important that where they were made, but the engineering and quality control that goes into the airbrush. There is no question that the German and Japanese made have an edge that triggered all those rumor about the origin of some airbrushes.

keilau

The Paasche compressor are all made in China now. No sure about their airbrushes, particularly the newer models. It is not important that where they were made, but the engineering and quality control that goes into the airbrush. There is no question that the German and Japanese made have an edge that triggered all those rumor about the origin of some airbrushes.

I was refering to airbrushes only -  excluding airbrushes, most everything else that airbrush manufacturers market / sell do not originate from themselves.