best Airbrush for $200AU or so????

well, first off, "best" is in the hand of the user. but me, i'm rather partial to the iwata breed. the iwata eclipse HP-CS is the "best" airbrush i've ever had the pleasure of wielding. it runs $105 US beans, but the HP-CR is an excellent choice for the budget minded. impeccible iwata quality at a wonderfully low price. good luck with your choice my friend. i get excited about purchasing a new airbrush, sometimes i wish the HP-CS would fail me, just so i would have a good excuse to buy another one!! later.

Given the exchange rate that would give you almost $154 US dollars.
You can buy many different airbrushes for that much money, but as Saltydog already mentioned, the word "best" is a relative term.
What do you need the airbrush for?

Mike

Camo mainly, but also just painting 1/35 choppers... i'm not a fan of brush paintin,. i do it for a living. i'd rather use an airbrush if i can get away with it.

And thanks for the info guys

Nezbit

Personally I recommend a gravity-feed airbrush with a large color cup and that would mean a Badger 100LG or Omni 4000.
Both are excellent and both are half as much as you have to spend.

Mike

i agree with mike, if you like doing free hand camo, then i'd go with a gravity feed too. gravity feeds are capable of spraying at a slightyly lower air pressure than siphon feeds. the key to freehand camo is low pressure, thinned paint, and getting in close to the subject. any of the brushes mentioned in this thread would do just fine, although i've never had experience with a 100LG or HP-CR. its just decision time on your end my friend, good luck. later.

thanks for the advice guys... i think i'll try a siphon and a gravity feed.... can never have too many tools.

For Siphon I only have experience with Iwata HP-bcs which is a workhorse but you need higher psi for good painting. Best brush I have had in my hands is Omni 4000G fot modeling. Easy to load with paint, responds well to trigger moves, only needs a small amount of paint, but the color cup full will hold nearly enough paint to paint a 1/48 scale WW2 fighter. Clean up is extremely easy, the easiest of ANY, I mean ANY ab I have ever owned.

How 'bout them badger 155 anthems? I hear from my sources they're a dang good brush!!

Tanky,

I would agree. You would be hard pressed to find a better siphon-feed airbrush on the market. I am anxious to try the new Anthem hybrid that is coming out soon.

Mike

Love by Badger 155. Easy to clean and the single all purpose needle is great.

I think i'm headed for a badger 155...

Any good small compressors reccomended?
be good to get an aussie perspective as it might be hard to get some US ones.

nezbit;

For a compressor try checking out Kmart, Woolworths, Bunnings they usually have them for around $100, these are general purpose home handyman type compressors with storage tanks, You will also have to purchase a moisture trap to go with it. Some of the hobby shops have smaller compressors, usually without storage tanks but are normally 2 to 3 times the price.

If you require more localized info, go to the Aussie Modellers thread in the general modelling discussion folder and ask there, Im sure you will get plenty of useful info there.

thanks mate