Advice on a Compressor needed

Henrique - ¡Hola! The pressure the compressor puts out is not as important as having an air regulator to adjust the final output of pressure from the airbrush. In the US they run about $20.00 and you can get them at any hardware store (where they sell building materials)

here is a pic of what one type of regulator looks like (with a built in moisture trap):



they vary but will have a gauge with an adjustment knob on the front, side or top of it. A moisture trap is also recommended but not mandatory, but moisture from the compressor may spit out the airbrush onto the fresh paint if you do not have one. They both can be found where they sell air compressors.

Typically depending on the type of airbrush you have a pressure between 12 and 20PSI is normal for average spraying, with lower pressure for close in detail work - such as fine camoflauge patterns.

Good luck to you! Where do you live in Venezuela? My sister in law (cuñada) is from Caracas, My wife and her family are from Medellin,Colombia.

Hi, I am new to this forum. I am planning to buy a compressor as proppellent cans are way to expensive here in my country (Venezuela). I have benn building a Revell Airbus A 321 and have consumed two cans so far, and i'm pretty far from finishing it. I get a can for about 25 US$ and I tell you, this is a lot for us venezuelans. Today I went to see some comercial compressors to a local hardware shop, but operating pressures seemed to high for me. I've read that hobby compressors deliver around 20-40 psi while these compressor i saw today have an operations pressures ranging between 80 - 110 Psi.

My question is, how does pressure influence airbrushing and, is there any way to control pressure. These compressors come with a 25 liters (4-5 gallons) tank.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Henrique

with the ab check out ebay, ull prob need to search worldwide.... but be warend.... u may have to pasy a import tax (i think it was 'quarrantine fee') which doesnt make buying a 2nd hand ab so attractive....also u never kno if theres anythin wrong with it tilll u use it, i guess i was lucky....
if u want brand new id reccomend ordering it from the states, even with shipping it works out 2 be cheaper than buying one here in oz.... check out www.dixieart.com/ ive heard good things bout them, and theyre prices r pretty good.... some good brands r badger (#1 ) thayer and chandler, iwata and paasche. id stay away from an aztec, theyre problemsome from what i heard....ive owned a badger 155athem for about 3 months and luv it! and after some practice ull be laying down great paint jobs....
hope this helps ya out

Cheers Tominator! I will have a look this weekend. Now just need to find a well priced airbrush!

also, tho the tank is smaller, u will get a very good amount of spraying from a full tank... i cant really give u an estimate, but its more than enuf to spray a 1/24 car body, so i wouldnt go for the one from bunnings just coz its got the bigger tank....

mate, welcome to the forums!!! always good 2 see some more ozzies on here!!!
as for what compressor, check out bigw, coz the have a small comp (smaller than the one at bunnings) for 99bucks i think.... i know its the same as the larger one from bunnings, but im assuming it will also be alot quiter....
i only wish i had seen this compressor b4 i orederd a campbell hausfeld comp off ebay from the states!
as for noise, id say its pretty similar to the one at bigw, coz the specs r pretty much the same, and it still is pretty noisy, maybe a bit louder than a vacuum cleaner.... ialso turn the thing off once the tank is full coz the compressor kicking in a 1am will scare the crap outta anyone!!!
hope this helps ya mate!

I picked up a 2 HP compressor with a 4 gallon tank, auto shut off and a regulator for $130, it needs a moisture trap, although I have one hose with a trap built in and I have an Iwata trap that serves as a grip for the brush. I highly reccomend one with a tank, this will prevent pulsating and will allow the air to cool a bit and reduce moisture build up. if you can afford it, look into the Iwata airbrushes, for not much more money you can get an outstanding unit.

Raver - Scott said it all... and as far as regulators I dont thing thereis a good and a bad to them, they all do pretty much the same. Although it is easier if you get a hobby regulator versus the commercial one. the hobby regulator is incremented in 1psi marks versus 2.5 or so. So if you get a gravity feed brush it will help you set the pressure low and be somewhat on the mark.

And getting a quality airbrush is important, that doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money... but look around here and see some of the recommendations and see what sounds good to you!

Wow that was a fast reply ! Yeah I was thinking along the same lines, air is air. Being a big unit, I could also find other uses for it around the house as well as using it for my models. :)

However I think that I would have to spend the $ on a good airbrush rather than a cheep $30.00 unit?

Air is air. As long as it's dry and constant the airbrush couldn't care less. The major difference between the general purpose compressors and the hobby-specific compressors is noise. General purpose compressors are normally noisy whereas hobby-specific compressors are normally quiet. I have a 5-gallon Porter-Cable and it works just fine for airbrushing.

Whatever you get make sure it has a regulator and get a moisture trap for it. Water spitting out the airbrush can make a mess of a paint job and a moisture trap is cheap insurance.