Starter brush

I'd recommend a Paasche H.

It is simple, rugged, inexpensive, easy to use. You can pick up the H Set for usually about 50 bucks. It has everything you need but the compressor.

The H paints lines that are fine enough to be more than adequate for even 1/72 freehand camo. It is single action and therefore is easier to get the hang of using. Cleanup is snap. The parts are a little less delicate than a higher end double action airbrush.

Eventually, your 14yr old might want to go with a more expensive double action unit, or maybe not. There are not a lot of modeling situations that would exceed the H's ultimate capability. A lot of people recommend jumping in immediately with a double action AB, but I find the myriad details of airbrushing to be sufficiently complicated to get consistenly right that I think it makes a whole lot of sense to start out with a simpler unit.

Contrary to what was written in a letter to FSM editors a couple of months back, the real trick to obtaining a good paint job, is not the airbrush, but rather the skill with which it is used.

Thanks for the info. I told my son that the H was the way to go, but he wanted an Anthem or Crescendo ( like his old man ) but I didn't think he had mastered the skill for a double action. I let him practice on my old Model Master ( Aztek ), but it was a little less than perfect. Of the three spray options available, fixed, double, and fixed double, it doesn't seem to do any one of the three very well. We will spray with the H this weekend and I'll report the results.

Hmmm, excellent!!!!! More youngsters in the hobby!! I myself am 14 years old, and I used to use an Aztek contempo double action. But I have now moved on to my Anthem. Boy is that a great brush! I love it, can do free hand camo like a snap, I run it ona blue ice min compressor, which holds it back a little, but I have no plans to purchase a new one soon... On second thoughts, you better not let him see this post. I actually think the aztek is a good starter brush.

i got my anthem not long ago, and i too was worried about the whole double action thing, but in all honesty , after only a few times using it, i have got the the hang of how it works, and i can get some fine - ish lines happening.... if i were u id get hime a DA and he will learn to use it, its not too difficult....

I've got a 9 year old nephew who likes the double action Omni more than the Paasche H. You don't have to be doing high-skilled, ultra-talented airbrushing to be using a double action. It's just a convenience to be able to control paint flow even when doing block by block paint jobs like my nephew does on Gundam models. I'd say it takes almost the same amount of time to learn basic part-painting with either single or double action. Part-painting is the lowest denominator in model airbrushing, but it is something that people still need a little practice in to get good at it.

I'd have to concur that the single action (like the Paasche H) is the best overall starter brush for a from scratch beginner, regardless of age, especially since you're going to have to buy a whole airbrush set up, right? They're also easier to keep clean (an absolute must) and are rather cheap.The H is a tried and tested design of long standing. (I still use a single action airbrush after 18 years back in the hobby.)

I have to say I'm not a big fan of the Aztec line. I had an opportunity to try out a couple models through my local modeling group. I found them just OK. But be ware that many on this forum don't like the Astec brushes. You can buy Paasche H sets cheaply both on-line or at eBay--some of them with a simple piston compressor as part of the airbrush package. To such a set, I'dl ike to _strongly_ suggest adding a bottle siphon tube filter and an inline hose water trap. Adding both will help reduce some of the annoying airbrush problems your 14 year old is likely to encounter. Also, Kalmbach Pubs has a very good booklet on airbrushing and have offered several really fine articles on same in past issues (still available) of FSM. Check the on-line FSM index.

--Ken

The decision is yours but I feel single-action airbrushes are something I do not want or need. I have never owned one and probably never will unless I start collecting them.

Mike

i'm with mike, bite the bullet and start off with a nice double action. it really don't take that long to get the hang of it, then you have all the control you need in one place, the trigger. later.

same here... double action... one brush to learn on.. one brush to use when he gets good at it... no relearning to airbrush from a single to a double...

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 same here... double action... one brush to learn on.. one brush to use when he gets good at it...

One Brush to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

Josh,

Have you been watching Lord of the Rings again?

Mike

I agree, start with a double action ab. It'll be the brush he stays with. Omni 4000 is a great brush... the easist to clean and paints excellent

QUOTE: Originally posted by MikeV Josh, Have you been watching Lord of the Rings again? Mike

And reading the books too

badger 155. it's only about $50 + a compressor, I have one, I can't find a better airbrush anywhere (until I can find the money to buy a peak c5 and airhose)

And, since you already have a 155/175, why not just share? sharing is caring. sometimes.

QUOTE: One Brush to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

lol! actually I put that in my original message and took it out before I posted it... shoulda left it in...

Well, I'm glad to see that you're on the right wavelegnth Tom!

Tom and Madda, that was absolutely priceless. Well, the decisions been made. I'll let him try both types, single and double. This forum has inspired me so much, I'm going to rebuild my old Badgers with parts from the LHS. I will remove the air valves and soak the bodies and heads in Lacquer thinner to bring them back to 100% operating order. So I guess I'll end up with both old school and new school. With my two new acquisitions and my refurbs, I 'll have 5 usable brushes. As you can see, over a 27 or so year period, I've never thrown away a brush completely. By the way, anyone have the very old Badger 200 with the vertical screw on siphon bottle? I may need parts........

5 airbrushes!!! Geez, if you'd mentioned that little detail I wouldn't have shot-off my virtual mouth. No need to buy any new brushes for him at all. Indeed, recycle your old ones! I've been refurbing my three airbruses for years. I have two single-action Binks Wren models (1 A & B) and an even older double-action Thayer and Chandler "AA." Surfing around eBay I've been able to find pare parts for them and even whole models to use for parts--pretty cheaply, too. Why about a year ago, while at a garage sale, I ran across another, never-used T and C "AA" still in its original hard snap case. Still had the original unfolded instruction sheet, too , and even a never used hose, a spare needle valve & single "A" head, and a large color cup. I offered $5.00 but was schmoozed up to $8.50. Snapped it right up! I think I'm set for life--I've master all three airbrushes and have no plans to buy any new ones to learn on.

I should say that I shoot mostly single color projects. But when needed I've used both the Wren "A" and the T and C for fine detail work. Personally, I find switching between both single-action and double action brushes rather easy--and the single action brushes are always easier to clean up.

--Ken

Well Ken, you know how kids are these days, they don't like used, recycled, or anything old. They like new out of the box. But of course if I'm paying....

At any rate, we did a little airbrushing yesterday on a R/C car body ( I know, I'm a heretic ), using Pactra racing paints and a Badger 200 with an IL needle and head. Definitely not the right choice for such a large project and thick paint. Should have used the Paasche H with the large head. At 30psi for a 20 minute run, my little compressor got pretty hot but didn't fail. Didn't get to finish due to a large storm system that rolled through. He had fun though and that's what counts. When this coat cures, we'll hit it again with the Paasche. F/A-18 and Anthem this weekend!!

Hi. Start using a Paasche H and continue with a Paasche VLS. Just like me.

When I was a kid of 11--back in the late '50s in San Diego--my father, a commercial artist and photographer by trade, introduced me to kit modeling...and a little later (via lessons) to his trusty classic Paasche airburshes, w/color cups. (Sorry, I don't remember any model numbers after so many years.) I then began airbrushing models out in the garage using heavily thinned Pactra and Testor's enamels, knocking the socks off the other modelers, both young and old, I ran into at my local hobby shop's monthly model contests. Nobody else was using them waaay back then, at least in my area, or probably even thought about doing so! At that point, he'd had those Paasches for 20+ years. (When he was a young man in the 30s, he was one of Chicago's highest paid commercial artists, doing a lot of promo work for the Paasche company, among others.) Being allowed to use one of his professional airbrushes as my own was quite an honor, and I wouldn't have wanted to own a new one anyway.

I mention this, H3nav, by way of suggesting that you might point out that using your airbrushes is actually a personal legacy (of sorts) and it's not the brush but the hand and eye that wields it that's most important. I know I wish I could've kept one of those old airbrushes as a momento. But they're long gone now--but not the memory of using them while under his watchful and patient eye..

--Ken

Well said!!