Looking to buy

Go to Wal Mart - they have an excellent deal on a compressor with tank for under $100.00

For your airbrush, I am a Badger Fan and would suggest a Badger 150 as a good place to start. If you want something more advanced go for the Badger 360. Sotar, Paasche and Iwata are also good. Best on-line source for airbrushes is http://www.dixieart.com

I'm with Swanny. I like my Badger airbrushes and see no reason to go with anything else. I don't have a 150, but I have an Omni 3000 and 4000 and an old Badger 200. The Omni 4000 is a gravity feed double action, and something like that is what I'd recommend to anyone. With a hose they will cost about $80 at Dixie Art. The 3000 is a siphon feed double action and is about $10 less than the 4000.

Even though I haven't used one myself, I understand that the Badger 360 is, as Swanny mentioned, a great choice in that it will switch from a siphon feed to a gravity feed. The only drawback is that the color cup is very small.

But don't worry ... the Iwata Clan will be here soon!

Thanks guys I have allready checked out the web site for Iwata and I try to stay away from things that do not show a price. That is all I have found with Iwata, no price out of range.

Iwata makes great airbrushes, no question of that, but they are a bit more than Badgers. I don't know which model is better for modeling, Saltydog will let you know, but they are around $125 at Dixie Art.

The Thayer&Chandler (Badger) Omni 4000G is a great brush. The suggested compressor from Swanny is a great choice too. They also have a comparable one at target with Pressure regulator on it. It's a good match up.


..... BADGER!!

I was in your shoes as well modeling is a tough thing to start on a tight budget, but I'm doing well within mine so far. I purchased an omni 4000 and the quiet air compressor from Wal-mart. I have been extremely happy with both. There are other ab out there and great ones at that not nockin the other brands out there, but for what I had to spend and looking for a quality product that will last for a long time omni was my choice.

omni airbrushes are good but the iwata eclipse hp-cs is GREAT!!! i own both and cant seem to get around to using the omni anymore. but, its personal preference and by the looks of your signature you do cars mostly eh? if so, i'd go with the iwata revolution hp-cr. the hp-cs lists for $105 and the hp-cr is around $60. later.

Saltydog cars are not all that I do. I love a/c and that was all I did 15 years ago before I had to get out of modeling. It is that roadkill_275 talked me into this Group Build because I had all of these cars of Dale Earnhardt (God Rest His Sole) that was unbuilt.At this time the cars are all I have but I have been slowly getting back into the wingey thingeys and will start building them soon.

salt,
why do you recommend the hp-cr for car modelers? what gives???

QUOTE: Originally posted by sigman salt, why do you recommend the hp-cr for car modelers? what gives???

Not trying to answer for Chris but I would imagine that he is recommending the HP-CR because it is cheaper and does not spray quite as fine as the HP-CS.
Since many people only spray a car model a single color it is not necessary to have an airbrush that is more precise. If you do more complex paint jobs on cars then by all means use the same airbrush that aircraft modelers would use. I think that sometimes we assume car modelers don't need anything more than a spray can to paint their cars, but I think that stereotyping is unfair as some car modelers spray some very intricate paint jobs that makes painting aircraft look easy.

Mike

Mike V that is so true man thanks to all again for the advice.

Swanny, can you link me to the deal at Walmart? I'm really interested...I'll have to pick it up. How loud is the compressor?

MikeV has answered for me well fellows. that is exactly what i was thinking and i apologies to any car modellers as i'm sure you do some very fine spraying as well. i just know that the .5mm n/n on the hp-cr will spray a broader pattern that would play well into the hands of base coating. the larger needle/nozzle combo facilitates the application of metalizers as well. thats all i meant, i certainly don't want people upset with me for stereotyping anybody. later.

BTW, i'd advise against the walmart "quiet" compressor if its the Campbell and Hausfeld model i'm thinkin of that sells for like $80. this little jewel loves to run hot after about 30 minutes of airbrushing and will stall until it cools below a certain temp. its not at all quiet either. yes, it is more silent than a normal compressor, but in a small room she'll drive you up the wall!! lets put it this way, you couldn't crank this puppy up at 2am and not tick some one off in the house. i donated mine to the local waste management engineers. later.

Chris is right about the Quiet Compressor from C-H.
It is notorious for dying young, although most of the ones I know of were being used for T-shirt airbrushing which is really tough on a compressor because of the higher pressures and longer days they are used.
If you do get one I would recommend a fan next to the motor to keep it cool.
I even put one behind my Badger Million-Air to make sure the motor runs cooler.
Just remember that heat is the worst enemy of an air compressor and the cooler you can keep them, the longer they will last.

Mike

Hey,

I'm new to modeling and just bought my compressor yesterday at Sears for $98.00. I haven't sprayed paint with it yet but I did dink around with it, filling up my tires and playing with the airhose and all. After doing research for a long time I decided to choose a compressor that has more than one use, which seems more practical for the money compared to a hobby compressor. As for airbrushes I have an Aztec 470 although I'm scared to use it after reading all of the negative things people have to say about them. But I'll try it out for awhile and see how she does and if it gives me too much heartache I think I'll try an Omni 4000 which seems to get good reviews and is affordable. Good Luck.
Oh and by the way thanks to all of you veteran modelers for sharing your thoughts, opinions, tips and tricks it has been so helpful!!

QUOTE: I'm new to modeling and just bought my compressor yesterday at Sears for $98.00. I haven't sprayed paint with it yet but I did dink around with it, filling up my tires and playing with the airhose and all. After doing research for a long time I decided to choose a compressor that has more than one use, which seems more practical for the money compared to a hobby compressor. As for airbrushes I have an Aztec 470 although I'm scared to use it after reading all of the negative things people have to say about them. But I'll try it out for awhile and see how she does and if it gives me too much heartache I think I'll try an Omni 4000 which seems to get good reviews and is affordable. Good Luck. Oh and by the way thanks to all of you veteran modelers for sharing your thoughts, opinions, tips and tricks it has been so helpful!!

Hey yourself Welcome to the forum and to modeling. Glad to have you with us.

Many of us have done the same thing in purchasing a compressor that wil perform in more than one area. I use a big, noisy Porter-Cable compresor for airbrushing as well as everything else I need a compressor for. I'd like to have a nice, quiet one for airbrushing, but what the heck, this one works just fine and I have it in the far corner of my basement so it doesn't bother me or anyone else except my cat.

There are quite a few negative posts about the Aztec airbrushes, but there are some positive posts as well. Don't be afraid to use it, there are a lot of people using them very successfully. An airbrush is just a tool and the what is accomplished with any tool is more up to the person behind it. Just use it up and if it dies, then it dies.

can you water-cool your compressor, ala pc style?

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1337 can you water-cool your compressor, ala pc style?

I don't know of anyone who has done that.
Most people just use fans. I put a 105mm fan behind my Million-Air and aimed it at the motor head to keep it cool. It is quiet and it works pretty good so far.

Mike

hey 1337 that sounds like a job for Tim Taylor from Tool Time. MORE POWER!!!! HAR HAR HAR......

does anyone know how much a used refridgerator costs? i wanna get one, so i can use the coils to cool the compressor for that compressor.

105mm fan Mike... Sounds like a big Howy shell to me?