spraygun to take the plunge or not?

[Morgan Darkstar]

Hi peeps

since starting a new job and finaly having some moneys to my name I have been thinking about purchasing a spraygun.

however I am hesitant to do so, as to be quite honest i am unsure where to start.

is GW's spraygun the best way to start? or are there better entry level guns you could recomend?

also tips on best usage would be appreciated :)

[Kataklysm]

I have seen so many of these things it is starting to hurt my eyes. Sprayguns are IMO a waste of time and money. If all you are looking for is a tool to base an army in a color, i would say stick to "army painter" color acrylic areosol paints. they are far cheaper than constantly buying propellant for GWs' flamer spraygun.

Now here is where the boys are separated from the men:

Have you considered an airbrush? for around $150-$200 dollars you can buy yourself a basic double action airbrush/compressor combo on many art websites. Ebay is also a good resource for this as well.

With a decent airbrush, you have just bought yourself everything that a spraygun can do, with about a hundred more aplications on top of it. It may seem like a big leap money and skill wise, but trust me, you will thank yourself in the end.

And if you buy said airbrush there are hundreds of tutorials on awesome effects all over the internet to watch.

my two cents.

yours,
-Kataklysm

[Uncle Nutsy]

if you want a spraygun, do it right. That means a compressor, filter regulator and proper gun. you want one that has a trigger pull and a decent gravity feed pot.

The reason I recommend gravity feed over say, a siphon feed is it's easier to load up paint in the cup rather than farting around with a container and screwing it off and on.

[Morgan Darkstar]

Hmm seems I was a little hard of thinking last night :rolleyes:

In retrospect I should have asked ... Airbrush to take the plunge or not? ...

[Kataklysm]

Hmm seems I was a little hard of thinking last night :rolleyes:

In retrospect I should have asked ... Airbrush to take the plunge or not? ...

Now you're cooking with gas :D

[Emerald Rose Widow]

There are so many things you can do with an airbrush that cannot be done with any other tool, especially old fashioned paintbrushes. For one the priming is a lot better, fills in a lot fewer details, and you waste far less paint. I buy the vallejo primer, and it goes on perfectly with that bloody thing, I love My airbrush.

There is one technique I am fond of, its simple but looks good. Say you base coated a model, now then take a similar colour but 1 or 2 shades lighter, and spray it from the direction light would come from, a sun, artificial light, it doesnt matter. It lightens up certain areas and looks really natural with a really good gradient.


My airbrush I got off of TCP global, spent about 88 on the airbrush (badger patriot arrow) and about 150 on the compressor and it has a tank (trust me that helps a lot). It has served me very well so far, the coatings are really even and don't go on overly thick, and the spraying area is really easy to control, and guide. It has taken me little practice to get the basics down, now I am just looking forward to trying other techniques.

[Meph]

http://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/COMPLETE-AIRBRUSH-KIT-AIRBRUSH-COMPRESSOR-WITH-TANK-/350446067151?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item5198369dcf

Nuff said. And I might recommend doing a search on this forum with 'airbrush' in the title

[Deadlift]

Hmm seems I was a little hard of thinking last night :rolleyes:

In retrospect I should have asked ... Airbrush to take the plunge or not? ...

Double action is a must :) far more control. I have used both badger and Iwata brushes and liked them both.

[bethor]

I'm a huge fan of badger brushes, but it sounds like that may be out of your price range.
I started with a kit from harbor freight tools. It was a compressor and gun for $100. The compressor was, and still is, great. The airbrush was okay. It worked for basecoating (most of what I still use the expensive brush for) but lacked some of the finesse needed for detail work (like german camo on my FoW models).

I have recomended that setup for beginners several times. You get what you need for painting toy soldiers for a great price.

[inquisitorsog]

I have seen so many of these things it is starting to hurt my eyes. Sprayguns are IMO a waste of time and money. If all you are looking for is a tool to base an army in a color, i would say stick to "army painter" color acrylic areosol paints. they are far cheaper than constantly buying propellant for GWs' flamer spraygun.


Here's an option for a little more control over those cans. No idea how well it works though and whether it works for brand of can, but at least in North America, spray cans are reasonably standardized.

http://www.micromark.com/can-gun,8777.html


Yes, that flamer sprayer is a waste of filthy lucre except maybe for some limited use(some folks end up buying a sprayer to supplement an airbrush if they find themselves working on larger projects regularly).

[Heavybolterbob]

I second the vote for buying from TCPGlobal. They are awesome! I bought a Master brand airbrush from them. It's a copy of the Iwata for a LOT less money. the action is not as silky smooth as an Iwata I bought later from a pawn shop, but it works just fine. I bought a used 3 gallon air compressor from a pawn shop. I have a combination regulator and water trap (also from TCPGlobal) at the end of the main hose which allows the air to cool before my final moisture trap plus it gives me fine control of my pressure right at my spray booth. I also highly recommend getting quick disconnect fittings so you can easily unhook your airbrush from the line.....its just so much easier for filling, etc. I built a spray booth out of some scrap wood we had around the house, a cheap furnace filter, and a box fan I got for 3 bucks at a yard sale. If I'm spraying something with fumes I open the window and exhaust the booth out the window....for regular GW paints, I don't even bother. The filter catches any over spray I have and there's not much. Once you're set up, DO THIS before you try spraying any minis! Buy a pad of newsprint and a cheap bottle of india ink from Hobby Lobby, or wherever. If it is Hobby Lobby, they should have the Iwata "Airbrushing, A User's Guide To Getting Started." It is a yellow booklet that should be near the airbrushes and its free. Do the first exercise, spraying dots and lines. Fill up 5 or 6 sheets of paper, cleaning your airbrush in between each page. By the time you're done with that, you'll have a good enough feel for your tools and how they handle that you should be able to move on to minis. All of the above steps are what I did, and after 5 or 6 pages of dots and lines I base coated and put 2 highlights on 110 models for a space Marine army in 5 1/2 hours including cleaning the airbrush between each coat. This post has gotten a bit long, but if you are looking for information, I have condensed many hours of searching forums into 2 or 3 relatively short documents on airbrushing. Hit me with a PM giving me an e-mail address and I'll forward them to you....may save you a bit of time and trouble.

[Uncle Nutsy]

The book is okay, but I find this tutorial to be much better.

Lines and Strokes (teaches you good brush control) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKLBy1yA64M&context=C4153d67ADvjVQa1PpcFOSRodRmDav9m4nzej90idq K68-l7p4CF0=) practice these until you can do them blind.

[AnEnemy]

I'm currently using a Iwata Neo double action gravity fed brush($45 USD) and a TCP Global compressor($80USD). The compressor was a kit, but I sold the brush it came with on eBay. The kit came with a hose as well. The compressor and brush are not the best, but they do the job for a beginner.

For paints I highly suggest the Vallejo Model Air line. You have to be careful about the colors though. They're mainly for scale model work so the color line is orientated towards military models like tanks and planes.