Newbie to airbrushing

That's a pretty good amount. If you can buy online (or your parents will for you) then check out Bear Air and Dixie Art. They're probably the cheapest placest to get an Airbrush, Dixie has free shipping. Or wait for a Hobby Lobby (if there's one nearby) half off sale.

I have the Badger 150 dual action siphon feed which is a pretty good AB, but the Crescendo or 155 Anthem are also good. You should be able to find an AB for around $70US (I have no idea where you live). Iwatas are just a few bucks more.

The compressor is going to set you back more, though. You'll need to think if you can afford a fairly quiet "hobby" compressor or save some money on a noisy "garage" style compressor. The smallest Paasche compressor will set you back another $110 or so. Going to Home Depot or Walmart should get you a much more powerful one with a tank for less than that. I can buy one at my Home Depot right now for $79 CDN which is about $65 US or so. It all depends on where you can do the airbrushing.

I have a bigger garage style outdoors with a 50' hose running into my house, it's very quiet. For me!!

So, go to Dixie Art, buy the Crescendo or Anthem and a Paasche hobby compressor for $170ish and you still have some left over for a kit and some paints!

Would a single action be better since I'm just starting out?  Or is it worth getting a dual action from the start...  Which one of the above is the "best"?  Or is it just up to preference.

 Oh and if I want to go the Iwata way which one would be good?

There's really six things to choose from (other than price):

Single vs Double action

Siphon or bottom feed vs gravity feed

Internal mix vs External mix.

MusicCity has an excellent article on Airbrushes. He leads you through the various features of the above.

Some people argue that single action are easier to use than double action. Personally I don't see it. I think if you can use a single, then the double is not that much harder and the benefits outweigh the difficulty in controlling the paint flow. I think of them as single pole light switch (light is off/light is on) to a dimmer switch (light is dark, less dark, more light, full light). The double action can do everything a single action does, but the single can never be a double action.

There is no "best" though each have their fans. I was given my first AB (an ancient Badger 150) and bought a new 150 so I have interchangable parts. The fact that more than 20 years seperates my brushes in age, but not in features is a testament to the design. I also have a preference for US built products (even though I'm Canadian!). Iwata fans are almost rabid in their praise, and I'm sure that the brushes are every bit as good. They do cost more to purchase and buy replacement parts, and that cuts into the kit buying, doesn't it?

People will argue that gravity fed brushes are "better" because they use less pressure, and I can see that. But I also think they can have their issues with balance while using them. I will eventually buy a gravity feed brush (I can't make up my mind between the Badger 100G or 100LG) to augment my 150, but it isn't vital that I do.

Really it's up to personal preferences. If you can find a hobby or art store that stocks airbrushes see if they will let you handle them. They probably won't let you squirt paint through them, but you can get an idea of weight, balance and smoothness of the actions.

Read the rest of MusicCity's Website and admire his models. He is one of the masters around here. He'll probably be along shortly denying that, but don't listen to him!

I think I may get the Badger 150 and this compressor.

That's not too dissimilar to the one I started with, same size and pressure anyway. Make sure you get a hose (I prefer the 6' vinyl to the 10' braided as they are lighter, but the braided usually comes with a swivel head connection which is nice), and let them know you need to connect your Badger AB & hose to the Paasche compressor as the fittings are not always the same. I would suggest getting a Medium needle as the Fine clogs quickly with pigmented paints. The Heavy is too coarse for model painting.

I would also recommend an air regulator and moisture trap. They can be bought at a local Walmart or auto parts store. I bought both of mine for under $20, so don't spend too much. The ones sold by online stores are excellent, but expensive! You'll want to control the pressure as that is really where the fine control comes in, and the last thing you'll want to happen is a big glob of water hitting your freshly painted model! Again, don't get sucked into buying a $20-40 regulator, you can find them for $10!

One last thing you might want to order is Regdab needle lube which helps lubricate the needle and action, as well as helps prevent paint buildup on the needle and premature drying. That little bottle will probably last decades!

Good luck! I hope you enjoy the airbrush as much as I enjoy mine!

Thanks, you've been really helpful to me.

No worries! Glad to help.

34erd,
The main thing to keep in mind is to get an airbrush that will be easy to use, clean and, most important, not intimidate you. I owned an airbrush for years before I had the courage to use it! Seriously, I had a basic Paasche single action brush with a compressor but shelved it after my first bad experience. I tried to spray paint that was too thick at high pressure. Yuck.

Lucky for me I read some of the great posts on this forum and got my courage up again. Now I use it more than I use my brushes! Don't be afraid to screw up. Just do it on an old model, hehe.

Practice, practice, practice. If you have any problems, this is a great place to get them worked out.

Cheers,

Dennis 

A good practice material is plastic milk jugs, or similar. They're free, paint won't soak in like paper and cardboard, lots of compound curbs, and if you make a mess, you merely place them in the trash/recycling bin and dust your hands!

Thanks, I have a little snag now though...  My mom isnt too fond of the idea of me stinking up the house.  I do it in our basement/garage but she's still really sensitive to chemicals.  I have a window open a foot from me and I use a respirator so I dont have a problem.  I could use a filteres spray booth but I dont see how thats going to fit into my budget.  I might have to build one then.  I dont needa nything too powerfull, just something to exhaust most of the paint particals and fumes.  Would building a booth out of fire resistent plywood and then just putting a brushless fan in the back and exausting the fumes through a dryer hose work well enough?

That would probably work just fine, however if there is a window a foot away I'd get an inexpensive window fan and put it in the window blowing outward.  That should exhaust the bulk of the vapors but it may not get all of them.

What kind of paints are you using? Acrylics are less hazardous to anybody's health, and only require water for cleaning (you can use it for thinning too!). MUCH less stinky for your mom! Who, if she's anything like my wife, will still smell it!

I concur with MusicCity, a window fan will probably get the majority of the fumes. However having your own booth really helps with the smell, and also doubles as a fairly dust free place for the models to dry. I'll try to get some current pics of the booth I built last summer. It rocks!

Thanks.  Yeah my mom still smells acrylics.  Thats just with brush painting, so with all the surface area of atomized paint she'll probably semll it even more.

With a half decent spraybooth and a good fan vented outside you should be able to get away with it. I live in a fairly cold climate and somehow managed to get my spraybooth inside the kitchen. As long as I keep the fan going when I paint there is no complaints.

Half decent can be a cardboard box with a bathroom fan ducted to that window which should appease your mom. There is an old saying: "If Momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!" so you want to keep her happy!!

Tell her that modeling and smelly acrylic paints are much better than hanging around in gangs causing trouble! Works for me!!

Is buying a used spraybooth on ebay and then just replacing the filters ok?  Or is it best to buy one new from a store.  I think I saw a used paasche spray booth go for $100 but I'm not sure.  Then teh new filters are only like $10 so it seems good way to go.

I would think it would be fine.  I just yesterday received my new paasche hobby spray booth and I like it very much.  Got it via Ebay (Paasche is still selling new ones for around 190 with shipping - good deal I thought).  I especially appreciate its size - the base is 24x24" and I think it's 18" tall.  In addition, the fan and rear of the booth are set at an angle facing downward.  This means that you still have a great amount of floor space with which to work and I feel like the fan is doing a suitable amount of work exhausting fumes.  The filters are available online like you said for around 10 bucks I think together.  Not bad and I think they should last for a while.  The only downside to the paasche is that it does not have a built in light (I installed one that I purchased from home depot) and that it also does not have an on/off switch.  Simple enough, I attached the light and booth plugs to a power strip, and that's my on/off switch.  It's made out of sheet metal too, so should be plenty durable.  Just my .  Happy shopping

Ooh look what I found:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Paasche-Hobby-Spray-Booth-Tamiya-AMT-MPC-Fujimi-ERTL_W0QQitemZ6027751897QQcategoryZ774QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There are still 5 days left but at least the start bid is low.