Airbrush choice

MikeV wrote:

Bill, If you want a siphon-feed because of the larger volume of paint it has then those are good choices. I would also ask that you look into the Badger 360 Universal which gives you a siphon-feed as well as a small cup for gravity-feed from the same airbrush.

I've been using the 360 for about 3 yrs now and have never had a problem with it.  I rarely use the siphon feed since the cup is large enough for most things.  Fine lines are no problem.  Tamyia runs through it with no problem but Modelmaster needs alot of thinning. 

You're very welcome.

Some other answers you might be looking for are:

1. Under the couch.
2. It might be already too late.
3. And, of course, 42.
   

Cheers!

Bill 

BGrigg, just want to thank you for answering some of the questions i was thinking of posing.

I've got a Paasche H and want something finer in dual action - i'm almost certain that i'll now go for the 100LG.

Thanks all - all my questions answered without posting one question!

cml

I know http://www.dixieart.com ships to APOs and I believe http://www.bearair.com does, as well. Both are excellent places to buy online.

This is why I ended up with so many airbrushes!

The gravity fed can do a slightly finer line (certainly finer than I'm capable of!) than the 150, but as they are virtually the same brush, it really is negligable. For the example you pose the 150 would be an excellent choice.

There IS a cap for the top of the 100LG, but as one oaf to another, you learn fast! The cap is a bit of a pain to use, and I leave it off except for storage.

Whatever you do decide as your final choice, do yourself a favor and order a couple of extra needles, a couple of spare head washers and some needle lube (Badger Regdab or Iwata-Medea Super Lube) for spares.

The nice thing about the 150, is if you do decide in the future that a gravity fed is a must have, the parts are all interchangable with the 100LG.

Bill,

If you want a siphon-feed because of the larger volume of paint it has then those are good choices. I would also ask that you look into the Badger 360 Universal which gives you a siphon-feed as well as a small cup for gravity-feed from the same airbrush. 

The 155 Anthem is also a fantastic airbrush and I highly recommend it for a siphon-feed only airbrush. I have most all of the Badger and Omni line so if I can help please ask.

First off, thank you for taking the time to help me out.  I've done a fair amount of reading here in the forum and one of the common themes I'm seeing as that some, if not most, people feel that the difference between gravity feed and siphon feed, as far as how fine a line you can paint, is negligable at most.  With that being said I'm concerned about the quantity of paint a gravity feed brush can hold.  If I want to cover, say a base coat, a 1/32 Tomcat will the 100LG do that w/o refilling?  If I have to paint an entire model as in my last example I would prefer to use only one batch to prevent slight color variations due to differing rations, even if they're off by just a touch which is why I asked that question.  Also, to be honost, I'm a touch of an oaf and it looks like there is no cap for the top mounted cup and so I'm concerened I'd spill it.  Your thoughts please.

The 175 has the "new" head, which was supposed to be a one size fits all, as opposed to the fine/medium/coarse head/needle combination of the 150. IMHO the 175 is more a brush for the Tshirt painter, than the modeler. It is capable of spraying an incredible (!) amount of paint when "full" on. I may be biased as the 150 was my first AB.

In fact, I have three ABs: 150, 100LG & the 200-20. Same series of airbrushes, actually. The 150 is siphon or bottom feed and the 100 is gravity feed, both are dual action (trigger controls on/off air and the needle position for paint control) and share all parts except for the body. The 200 is a single action (on/off air, needle position is set by an adjustment at the rear of the AB). It uses the same head and tip assembly as the 100 series.

If I was to go out today and buy only one airbrush, I would buy the 100LG with the medium head. Similar in price to the 150, the gravity fed system allows for finer lines, and is a little easier to clean up.