Looking to upgrade to a double action

Mick: going from single action to double action is quite a change. It is a better way of airbrushing IMO, and it will take some practice, but it's worth it. I started out airbrushing with the exact same Badger you have (200NH) and have successfully (I think) made the switch to double action. Much more control once you get onto it.

Now, for you choice of airbrush, I think all those you mention will do the trick. For finer lines I think the 100LG is the best choice, however almost any with a gravity feed will produce a fine line - it's just easier with a finer head assembly. I use Iwata's now and I've never used any of the brushes you list - keep that in mind too.

Rich

MusicCity wrote:

Fine lines are as much in the hand holding the airbrush as they are in the tool itself. I have a Badger 200, Badger 100G (with all three heads and needles), an Omni 4000 (gravity feed), and an Omni 3000 (siphon feed).  With the same paint thinned exactly the same way the Badger 100 with a medium tip will paint a slightly finer line than the Omnis.  Most of the time I use my Omni 4000 but when I do camouflage I switch to the Badger 100.

Thanks Scott, I have visited your website and seen your work. Both are excellent. I don't remember if it was you who suggested practicing on milk containers, but I have colored a few of them before trying a practice model. I enjoy the challenge of learning to master the technique.

MusicCity wrote:

Thanks Scott, I have visited your website and seen your work. Both are excellent. I don't remember if it was you who suggested practicing on milk containers, but I have colored a few of them before trying a practice model. I enjoy the challenge of learning to master the technique. I do recommend that technique from time to time, but I didn't invent the idea.  I don't know who came up with it but it is good practice, and better than spraying paper in my opinion.  Plastic just behaves differently from paper and 3-dimensional objects are more difficult to paint on than flat paper. Glad you liked the web site and models.  Did you happen to notice this image (I don't remember what page it's linked from): This isn't really indicative of the "Best" that either brush can do but it does compare the Omni 4000 and 100G.  The paint was some dark gray I was spraying on an A-10 the day I got my 100G.  I decided to compare the line widths but the paint was pretty thick to be spraying at low pressure so it is a bit "Fuzzy" on the edges.  You can see that the 100G with exactly the same paint will paint a slightly finer line than the Omni. Both are great brushes, and either would be a good choice in my opinion.

Sounds soo familiar..thats how I came to be introduced to Iwatas.  Having owned the BCS, CS, BS and HP-C, I have settled on, and I am having excellent "over-all" results with the Revolution HP-CR.  It is Iwata's very inexpensive, gravity-feed airbrush, introduced a few years ago, marketed towards first-time airbrushers to the experienced artist.  For modeling, the .5mm nozzle/ needle design is VERY friendly to our hobby/ modeling paints, ie..acrylics, laquers, enamels..etc.  This has resulted in excellent atomization, paint flow, and smooth finishes.  I'm still very shoked at what this airbrush can help me achieve for my 1/72nd scale camouflage schemes at it's price point.  Soo far its achieving wide, fine-line, detail, and weathering as good, if not better than any other airbrush I've ever owend.  

Both 1/72nd scale F-15C and F-16C were airbrushed entirely with the Revolution HP-CR.  The camouflage was applied freehand.

Thanks I-beam.  The backdrop is a stock photograph, enlarged.  The only thing photoshoped were adding the sun and erasing the display stands.  Thanks again for the comment!  And just to stay on topic...I concur with I-beam on the "pre-set handle" assessories.  I have one of these and sometimes attach it to my Revolution during critical camo work.  Because I use enamels and tip clogging is not often an issue.  The pre-set handle just serves as insurance against pulling back on the trigger for too much paint volume at such close proximity to the model. 

Italeri's 1/72nd scale A-7E Corsair, VA-46 "Clansmen", Desert Storm 1991

*Painted and weathered entirely with the Iwata Revolution HP-CR