I HATE AIRBRUSHES!!!!! (a minor rant...) and Recommedations for a New One

I put a 1/25 scale '69 Corvette body into the sheetrock a few years ago. Well... it was my hand more than anything, and the model happened to be in my hand.

My impression is... you're gonna soon join the ranks of Omni airbrush users :) They're good, consistent workhorse airbrushes. They're built as rugged as airbrushes can get, with substantial/sturdy needle/nozzle parts.

The airbrush that my experience is coming from is Omni 5000. I've also had an Iwata Eclipse BS which required baby-ing. I have a Paasche VJR too, but that one is more qualified for really small jobs.

My Tamiya HG Trigger airbrush has given me years of faithful, trouble-free service.
5 minutes of care gives me hours of use.

From personal experience I think that the vega 2000 with fine tip is an excellent airbrush which takes me about 6mins to fully clean and lubricate the needle and it performs awsomely. Another good thing is that its super cheap but really good quality as it is now made by Badger. The airbrush can produce very fine lines and also produces a nice smooth paint flow , I can safely say that I have never had any problems with my airbrush and I think you should look into investing in one yourself!

I love my Iwata airbrush but admittedly it does require a lot of babying. You get what you pay for with an Iwata. They're good airbrushes. Now here's the surprising part. I also have an Aztek with the plastic nozzles and I love it just as much! The tips are user-friendly and they can be switched out in seconds. They're inexpensive which means if one is in need of replacing then I don't feel like I'm out a whole lot of money. Go figure. I've got a good professional one and a sort of cheapy one and I love them both.

Eric

PS. I'll only speak for myself here but I'm sure a lot of people will be in the same boat: Even though I've been at this hobby for nearly 30 years I still screw up an airbrush job now and then! I don't think anyone can really "master" it but I think one can become familiar and comfortable enough with whichever AB they own and know how to work with, and often in spite of, its flaws. Mistakes will always be made no matter what especially when it comes to airbrushes. It's not a science. Practice on a scrap model or a piece of plastic or even a piece of cardboard first to get comfortable first. I've even painted the outside of my workshop garbage can as I adjusted needle valves, paint flow, air pressure, etc before turning it on a model. Best wishes and good luck! Patience, young Jedi.

i think the babying balony is BS!! i have 2 iwatas that still have the original needle/tips since i've bought them. now, when i was a newby at airbrushing, yes, i bent plenty of crap on an airbrush due to mishandling. i purchased the iwatas later, after i had a little experience, and have had no trouble cleaning or maintaining the brushes. any tool with small delicate parts have to be handled with care. if your are spending over 30 seconds cleaning your airbrush after a painting session, you spending way to much unnecessary time and effort cleaning the brush. if you thin your paint a bit, the appropriate thinner should clean the majority of paint from the brush in a 20 or so second blast at about 30psi. then, every now and again, do the major breakdown and cleaning. later.

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when will you folks get it right? badger badger badger badger badger 155! ok fine, i don't know how iwatats work, but the 155 is a truly amazing airbrush truly truly amazing.

Have to agree with Saltydog, no problems with my brushes either.
Ocassionally strip the brush down and give it a good cleaning and you should be a-ok, said that I am not a fan of home-brewed thinner replacements.
Like Saltydog i also have bend a few needles but those are quickly replaced, now always keep a spare set of nozzle and needle at home(accidents do happen).

Never heard a complaint from Tamya HG, Gunze, Wave, Olympus, etc users either and those brushes are made in the same factory as the Iwata brushes.

A good battery-powered paint stirrer also goes a long way towards a good paint finish.

Looks like a problem with paint thinning. IMHO even the best AB will choke when loaded improperly. My Tamiya HG came with recommended thinning formula for both enamel and acrylic paints. Always observing such formula, I never had problems with it.

But as extra precaution, I always clean it up after using by simply spraying through it some lacquer thinner.

Forgot to mention I clean/empty my A/B as soon as I am finished with a color.
Don't let your A/B sit and wait while there is paint in it for longer than a short time.

For this I pre-mix my color and store it in spare paint bottles, thin a small amount jsut prior to putting it into the A/B.

I've been using a Badger 155 for the past 10 months and love it. I just disassembled it to clean it for the first time last week. Normally I spend 2-3 minutes cleaning up tops. It's a very user friendly AB.

Darren

Thank you all for your responses! I almost have the drywall repaired, can't get the AB back, a mouse must have taken it. Anyway.....

I always, always, always, use the correct thinner for the paint. Why? Wrecked a model about 18 years ago.

obie won -echolmberg -kenobi: I understand the patience, but, holy cow. It works right once, but not the next time? Ack! I need a light saber...

dwight: the paint i use now (although it has happened with others) is badger modelflex. in the handout i have, they state not to thin, unless doing something special. i always shake the bottle till my arm falls off, use a stirrer, and even then, I have always used a screen filter.

IS THE SCREEN THE PROBLEM? Don't see how, but, ya never know.

also, it was mentioned to run lacquer thinner through to clean out. any good general cleaner like that for acrylics?

museum: always thought the battery shakers were a gimmick. i will drop back, punt, and get one. thanks for the heads up.

tankmaster: why the 155? to tell you the truth, after my experience with the badger 200 NH, not leaning towards them. however....my humbrol was a dual action, just too cheaply made. Why not the 175?

off to get the spackle.........

on the badger 155.

QUOTE: Originally posted by rockythegoat museum: always thought the battery shakers were a gimmick. i will drop back, punt, and get one. thanks for the heads up.

This is the goodie I am talking about, sold by quiet a few companies:

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bad/bad121.htm

Never heard of a user that didn't love theirs.

QUOTE: dwight: the paint i use now (although it has happened with others) is badger modelflex.

I tried Modelflex one time ... never again. I tried it straight from the bottle, I tried it thin as water. I tried 15 psi I tried 40 psi. I never got it to spray correctly.

the 155 clean in about 3 mins max, takes less than 5 minutes to disassemble, requires almost no babying (careful inserting the needle from the back) sprays fine and coarse, parts are cheap as dirt, it's the ultimate siphon airbrush. period

I agree with everything 1337 just said. it is so easy to clean, sprays pencil line to 3", and has a really nice feel in your hand.

QUOTE: Originally posted by rockythegoat BUILD AN AIRBRUSH THAT CONSISTENTLY WORKS AND DOES NOT REQUIRE 20 MINUTES OF TEAR DOWN/CLEANING FOR 5 MINUTES OF USE!

There are many out there already.
It is not necessary to tear down the airbrush after every use.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by rockythegoat dwight: the paint i use now (although it has happened with others) is badger modelflex. in the handout i have, they state not to thin, unless doing something special. i always shake the bottle till my arm falls off, use a stirrer, and even then, I have always used a screen filter.

Hmmm. I think I know why the thinning formula supplied by Tamiya works. You see I bought this AB with the Tamiya Spraywork basic compressor. I figured Tamiya may have made this formula to suit the strength of its compressor that's why it is almost perfect.

Since you buy your AB separately and maybe using an industrial type of compressor, I suggest you make certain tests on different paint types and brands to get the most suitable thinning ratio (if necessary) for you.

Good luck.

Badger 155 or 360... (almost the same except the 360 can go gravity feed also) I've had the 360 for a couple years now.. takes me about 5 mins to clean and put away.. and I have never had a problem with it... still on my first needle and tip... and sprays great.. I use mostly enamals and some acrylics....

my Badger 175 is also a good basic double action brush but takes a bit longer to clean up...

Hey Museum, how about the shaker style, similar to what is in paint stores?

All: Okay, I will accept that paint thinning could be an issue for the paint not coming out of the brush, BUT, why, after it was checked to make sure everything was opened/not plugged (it wasn't) not even water/cleaner mix would go through? It started to, then stop. Kept getting air flow. Adjusted air from 10 PSI - 40 PSI, up and down, no change.

And finally, what difference, plus or minus, bottom feed v. gravity feed?

QUOTE: Originally posted by rockythegoat Hey Museum, how about the shaker style, similar to what is in paint stores?

Never used one of those, so I can't give an opinion here. But I would assume that those work best when a glass beads or similar are added to the paint.

QUOTE: And finally, what difference, plus or minus, bottom feed v. gravity feed?

Pretty much personal preference, I prefer gravity feed myself.
Bottom feeds are nice if you need lots of paint.

Bottom feed airbrushes pull the paint into the airbrush body from underneath. Gravity feed airbrushes let gravity pull the paint into the body from above. Because the bottom feed units use the airflow to generate the suction to pull the paint up from below, they might need higher air pressure to get the paint to flow. I have a Badger 200 bottom feed and haven't really found that to be a problem. I'm not sure what possible drawbacks exist with gravity feed, maybe the small size of the color cup or awkwardness of having it above the airbrush rather than below. I used an Aztek with a gravity feed color cup and never experienced any issues with the gravity feed.

As far as a recommendation for your original question, you might consider a Paasche H single action. Although, I've not used the model H, I do have a a really cheap Paasche airbush (made in China and marketed under a number of differenet labels including Paasche) that has the same sort of a needle arrangement as the model H. The thing lays down a nice coat of paint, and it passes almost anything. For example, I've used it to spray a "mud" slurry of ground pastel chalk and future, and it didn't clog up. The occasional breakdown cleaning was fairly easy, and the needle is more cone shaped and a lot less delicate. Early in my airbrushing career, I experienced all the frustrations that you have described and kind of wish I would have started out with one of these.

http://www.paascheairbrush.com/single_action_airbrushes.html#h

i prefer side feed but what the heck i love my siphon feed badger 155

rockythegoat i my self have a badger 155 and for me it works great easy to clean and use if its what your looking for i recomend it
also gravity feed allows you to get almost every drop of paint out and lets you use small amounts of paint for detail work with a bottomfeed i have read you can make it get almost all the paint out by heating the siphon tube carefully and bending it twards the front of the cup and airbrush

gian

like 1337 said the 155 is a great brush feels great paints great
gian