Best Airbrush?

[Drunkencorgimaster]

What do you folks recommend as the best airbrush for miniatures painting? I have three issues I'm concerned with:

1) Price ($100-200 range)

2) Precision (can it do small, intricate work?)

3) Clean Up (does it require a lot of fiddly BS cleaning?)

Your collective thoughts?

[wittdooley]

All airbrushes are going to require "fiddly BS cleaning" if you want to maintain it well. The Badger Krome is in your price range and does a nice job. I'm also quote partial to the Grex T3 I have, but the pistol style grip isn't for everyone.

Honestly, your compressor is just as important as the airbrush. You can get similar results with most brushes in that price range, especially if you can swap needles.

[Emerald Rose Widow]

The compressor is almost more important to get in a good quality sometimes than the airbrush is. I have the Badger Patriot arrow, and it works very well for my Mini painting. It has a really small spray area and because it is dual action it is easy to control how much area you cover. I havent done overly much for fine detail painting, but you really can get the spray area down pretty small, like a few millimeteres across. Nice part, when I bought it it was like 87 dollars and it works amazingly, I also love the teflon seals which dont dissolve and no issues there.

This brush for me is easy to clean, just unscrew the nozzle, pull out the needle, run some cleaning solution over the place with a Q tip. Takes me like 10 mins tops to do a deep cleaning, but basic cleaning takes a few mins at most.

[steelrudi]

I have a testors Aztec 470. You can change out the nozzels, as needed, and it is very easy to use, and clean. i also have a testors compressor. Paid around 350, on sale. It is fantastic for everything from aircraft, armor, ships, figures, you name it. I love it.

[Deadlift]

Harder and Steinbeck Evolution, it comes with 2 needle sizes, 0.4 and 0.2. They are made in Germany and its the best air brush I have ever handled.
Solid, easy to dismantle and clean, even comes with 2 detachable gravity paint cups in 2 sizes.

They also sell a separate cleaning kit / needle thing which is worth the extra few quid.

A sonic cleaner is a good investment later for cleaning, not too expensive and you can use it to clean all manner of things.

Compressor, what ever you get make sure it comes with a tank. Most cheaper ones don't which will mean your paint will pulse out of your brush as the pressure fluctuates. A compressor with a tank won't. I airbrush at about 20 psi

All Vallejo and liquitex air brush products are awesome.

Awesomepaintjob, buy painted and wargamers consortium are 3 good channels for techniques with airbrushing minis. Ichiban is good too

Hope this helps.

[lomaxxdurang]

Like the man said this is a great airbrush
http://www.amazon.com/Badger-Air-Brush-RK-1-Additional-Regulator/dp/B0078MEXX8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349167184&sr=8-1&keywords=badger+krome
I purchased one of these 2 weeks ago and am loving it. Clean up is great with a sonic cleaner. Definitely worthwhile. I also recommend purchasing from tcpglobal for your airbrushing equipment I placed an order on a friday and they had it their monday morning. Definitely an awesome company to work with.

[olberon]

most important imo is a good compressor. stay away from canned air. A tank is is always a good thing to have, i dont have one and have to say the sudden loss of pressure - the compressor has a small tank of about 1L- bugs me the most. Im currently saving up for a good compressor.

On the airbrush part..... As long as you buy one from the mainstream manufacturers your always good. Stay away from obscure brands since you will need replacement parts sooner or later. I have an aztec one (clone of Harder and Steinbeck) which works fine but loving my blackbull. Also be sure to have a gravity fed airbrush the one with cups underneath looks pretty and seem handy but they are a hell to work with.
as for the price dont be scared to make a little investment on the airbrush

[magickbk]

I have an iwata that seems good, but I haven't used it enough yet to get good at it. Seemed easy to clean though, since I clogged it 3 times the first time I used it. The secret is figuring out the right consistency. I was using Liquitex airbrush medium to mix directly in with Citadel paint. I got a set that included a compressor and some other accessories at an art store.

Test spray on some cardboard or old toss-away models before you hit your actual army.

[lomaxxdurang]

For a compressor I got one similar to this one
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/QuickViewService?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&R=202885344&catEntryId=202885344
Its a good deal then I just ordered a moisture trap on amazon and got the male on both sides screw in adapter to install the trap and screw in the air hose works great, constant pressure and even when its on its not that loud.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Thanks everyone! I knew this was the place to ask!

[wittdooley]

Also, since you're in the US, check out chicagoairbrushsupply.com Great Site for airbrushes, and they have bundles that take a sweet chunk off retail.

[Emerald Rose Widow]

Also, since you're in the US, check out chicagoairbrushsupply.com Great Site for airbrushes, and they have bundles that take a sweet chunk off retail.

thanks witt, I will keep this in mind as the place I got mine originally was out of Australia and shipping was a problem...as was the plug on my compressor

[Uncle Nutsy]

iwata revolution cr

not too expensive (I paid 120 bucks for it), works with any compressor and canned air.

It can do everything from a hairline to almost a 2" spread.

and cleanup can be fiddly, but can also be quick.

and the best part is? it's gravity feed, so you can load up/change paint colors fast.