New to Airbrushing - Need help

James, Take a look at Revell airbrushes for you first 1, They come in a kit with all you need to get started AB, bottles and a can of gas, I learnt with 1 of these, now I've got an Aztek with a compressor after mastering the basics. Just my . Here you go http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=RV29666

Scott 

This is one of those situations where you have to make a leap of faith and plunge in. Kind of like wanting to race, but only being able to afford a Trabant. Sure, you can show up on race day, but you won't enjoy yourself!

Those cheap kits are actually not bad airbrushes for the money, but are only capable of spraying a broad swath of color. No you can't upgrade the brush itself, only buy a better product. I actually bought one myself, it was on sale for $10 and came with a hose and adapter for my trusty Badger 150. I bought it for the hose and adapter as it was cheaper than buying those items seperately at the LHS. I ended up using the brush to spray on Future as a clear coat. Works fine for that.

Fact is airbrushes are fairly cheap to buy. Good compressors will cost you far more money. Consider buying a decent brush (Bear Air is selling the Badger 200 single action for $35) and getting an air tank you can fill at the local gas station (tanks go for as little as $20). Once you find out how great airbrushes are, you can upgrade the air supply and airbrush. Or not upgrade the airbrush. There are many excellent modelers who use the 200!

I have a similar Badger oiless compresser to the available Cyclone 180-1.

25 years old now and running like the day I bought it.  It is an investment but a good one IMO.

My airbrush start was alot like Bgrigg suggested.  I bought myself a Badger 200 over 20 years ago and started painting 1/72 and 1/48 WWII aircraft with it using the canned air (Propel?).  I soon found that it wouldn't work very well and would cost a lot of money.  My ever-resourceful dad got me an empty freon tank and a worn regulator from where he worked.  We used one of those 12 volt air pumps (type you carry in your car) to put air in the tank - usually just by holding the connections together by hand, or slipping the teflon line from the tank into the tire adaptor!  That pump could put about 60 psi max in the tank (it got the pump pretty hot by 60,).  That was usually enough for one decent coat of paint with enough air for cleaning.  I never used a moisture or grease trap but it would have undoubtedly been a good idea.  Lubricate the cylinder in the pump too much and you got oil in the tank.  But if you can get someone else to fill a tank for you, it might be better air and possibly more in the tank.  If you get a bottom feed aribrush, I would suggest you get one of the detachable swivel paint cups.  I got one and it helped a lot to make the AB easier to handle and clean (though the detached paint cups will fall over pretty easy).  If you work out something like this, then you can use it long enough to decide if you want to get into airbrushing more.  Then you can get an air compressor if you decide to stick with it.  You can get the samller ones in the low 100 dollar range, and they have a lot of other uses like pumping up tires, blowing out dust, etc.  Good excuses for justifying the purchase, by the way.   Once again, my good old Dad came through and gave me one of these small compressors and it works nice.  Nice enough for me to want another AB, so I ordered a 100G from Dixie Art just the other day. I mainly paint Battletech miniatures nowadays but I have some good 1/48 kits still squirrelled away. Might be time to try another "wave mirror" squiggle scheme on a German or JAAF fighter.  Have fun if you try airbrushing - it's a bit of work but rewarding once you get the hang of it.

Hi James,
I, myself, am working with an airbrush for the first time. I'm fortunate enough to have a friend at work who does A LOT of 2D airbrushing on paper and canvas who handed down to me a Badger 200. Between him and this forum, I've learned a lot pretty quickly. Five pieces of advice have been crucial to my relative success as a beginner, and I hope it will help you. 1.) Check out the article "ABCs of Airbrushing" available on this forum. It's packed with great, simple to understand information and lives up to its title. 2.) Practice, practice, practice. 3.) Before airbrushing your model, practice on a plastic milk jug. Sounds kinda silly, but I was surprised at how much more similar to a real model it felt to spray a milk jug rather than a box or other paper product. I spray that thing before every session to make sure I have my air pressure and spray width correct. 4.) Do a thorough cleaning of your airbrush regularly. 5.) When in doubt, ask. Especially use this forum. The guys (term used universally) in this forum know what they're talking about and are always ready to share their experiences with us rookies. They're great, and you'll appreciate them.

The only thing I would add personally is to urge you to relax. If you have any experience modeling, it won't be hard to transition to airbrushing. From the first airbrush pass you ever make on that first model, you will NEVER go back to spray cans again, no matter how much cleanup or maintenance you have to do. It really makes that much of a difference. Also, I don't have experiences with any other airbrushes, but I love my Badger 200. And if it really is only $37 at Bear Air, by all means, pass on the $20 E-Bay airbrushes and get what you really need. The Badger 200 is a hybrid between a single and dual action. Acts like a single, but you can adjust the spray like a dual. Great beginner brush.

Anyway... hope that helps. Just stay focused on the enjoyment part of our craft, and all the other stuff will fall into place. Good luck. Looking forward to seeing some of your work.

Dan in Virginia Beach

Whoops I misquoted the price on the Badger 200!

Well not exactly misquoted the price, they do have a 200 for $35, but the SG which has a tiny built in color cup. My bad!

The 200-20 detail siphon fed AB is $39. They also offer a kit that comes with an airhose, airbrush cleaner, some paints (not very good I hear) and a wooden tray to keep it in for $45. The airhose is worth $6.

My point is still valid. For not much more you can get a pretty good airbrush, for a lot less than you might think. And the rewards are much greater than the price tag!

I really appreciate all the help, guys. Thanks for setting me on the right direction. I would have really regretted buying that inexpensive airbrush. I guess if you're going to do something, you might as well do it right.. or at least have the tools to do it right (still a newbie to be). I have access to an air compressor so I'll go with an air tank as a propellent for now. I was also wondering if anyone has any experience using refillable aerosol cans. My first project will be finishing up an Aztec vs Conquistadores (1/72 scale) diorama then testing my skills on a few Sci FI ships that I've purchased over the last couple of years.
Thanks again,
James

I was also wondering if anyone has any experience using refillable aerosol cans.

Airbrushes don't care what kind of air source is used as long as the air (or other gas) is at a reliably constant pressure and dry.  A lot of guys use carbon dioxide or nitrogen tanks since they are completely silent and inexpensive to have refilled.  Any compressor will work as long as it can reliably put out at least 0.5 cfm of flow at around 20 psi.  A large "General Purpose" compressor will work just fine as long as you can regulate the pressure down to around 15-20 psi and get it to connect to your airbrush.  Air tanks, scuba tanks, any tank that can hold pressurized air and regulate it down to the necessary pressure will work fine.

Aerosol cans typically do not work well.  As they are used the escaping and expanding gas causes the can to chill.  After a few minutes of use ice will typically start to form on the can.  This causes the pressure to reduce dramatically so you have to open the regulator more to compensate.  When you stop spraying the can warms back up and when you start back the regulator is open too much so you have to adjust it down, the can chills, you open it back up, etc, etc.  You waste a lot of time and cause a lot of frustration just trying to get things adjusted so you can paint for a few minutes.  Sitting the cans in a pan of warm (NOT HOT!) water helps, but not enough.