Airbrush suggestions

What do people like for airbrushing n scale locomotives and cars.

I am modeling the Portland and Western (as my avatar may have suggested) and so there is a lot of painting of my own locos that will be undertaken. I am not in the market for a several hundred dollar airbrush. I would like to use one with a shop compressor, and I understand from a recent thread that I may need to have an additional regulator. Something that is easy to use and not a total hassle to clean will win over something that is highly detailed and can only be cleaned sonically (like my drafting pens).


What features do people like, and are there any particular brands or models that come recommended or that I should avoid?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

 

Hmmm, easy to use means single action. For that matter, it also fits the bill for easy to clean too. I like the Paasche, but there are oodles of them.

Here's a tip: craft shops sell very fine wire for bead stringing that also fits very nicely through the tip of an air brush. Sure cleans out the crud, better than shooting solvent through the tip! :teeth:

 

single action vs. double action

What are the relative advantages/disadvantages of single vs. double action?

I should have probably said in my original post that I am willing to accept a little more hassle to get a better result. If I am going to paint a loco I want it to look pretty good.

I saw in another thread someone suggest using Tamiya masking tape for taping off parts of locos that one DOESN'T want painted. Does that fit with your experience?

Adam

 

The Aztek A4709 is a great airbrush. It's a double action, and is very easy to clean. The A4709 is actually a kit that includes the airbrush and several tips for different painting projects.

My wife bought me mine for Christmas. Here's a link:

http://www.aswexpress.com/art-supply/catalogs/0049709000000

You can buy just the airbrush and all the tips separately, but I found this to be a better deal.

Greg

 

I figure that I should have about 10-20 min. cleaning. What I am trying to avoid is the hassle of having to use a lot of specialized equipment and spend a lot of time doing it. I have some Rotring drafting pens and they are all gummed up simply because you're supposed to use them more often than I do, put them in a sonic cleaner (about 40 bucks!!), have virgins rub them on their thighs, etc., etc. Total pain. As a result, I almost always use much cheaper non-refillable pens.

Thanks for your description of the advantage of a double-action. I am trying to find a local dealer for Paasche. Their website has a somewhat outdated shop finder. I went to one of the shops listed and they don't carry Paasche at all anymore. At least one of the other shops doesn't exist anymore, or at least I don't think it does. I will just have to check with my favorite hobby shop and see what they suggest.

The Aztec set looks really nice, too.

Adam

 

There is a critical question that needs to be answered-

Will you be using acrylic or solvent based paints?

It is my experience that if the answer is acrylic, the Aztec has a limited number of tip sizes that you can use without quickly gooping up the tip.
It is also a relative pain the disassemble the tip, pull out the spring and completely clean the parts of the tip, including the spring.

I would suggest that you look at either the Paasche or the Badger 150. The 150 is relatively inexpensive and is very easy to keep clean, even with acrylkics (which I use exclusively). My Aztec is sitting there collecting dust.

 

Going to a local Art supply dealer is a great idea, you can hold the different airbrushes and see what feels best in you hand and try the double or single action. (I compare it to writing with a pen, some people like slim pens other perfer thick pens) There are so many different brands and styles to choose from (not to mention top, side and bottom feed brushes - bottom feed is the most popular, it's easier to change from one color to another plus most bottles and designed for bottom feed) Plus you can ask the salesman all the questions you want, pros and cons about single and double action. At my local Art store, I found a customer who did airbrushing for a living and he was a wealth of information. I chose an Iwata airbrush after trying all the different models. I do recommend getting an extra needle and nozzle. These parts are very fragile and it's good to have extras on hand. Good luck and I think you're going to love the results you get from airbrushing. Oh, and have patience, it takes pratice controling your brush strokes.

 

My suggestion is to avoid the Aztec as Fotheringill mentioned. The tips are all plastic and once clogged, you might as well throw them away and replace them. I also don't care for the air valve, a simple piece of silicone tubing with a pinch valve on it.

I use a Paasche VL Double action internal mix. About the only thing I would trade it for it something from Iwata. The VL sets can be had for under $100 and come with all the available tips and needles. Everthing in the VL except the seat for the air valve is solvent safe so you can dunk it in thinner and soak it if you need to clean it. All parts are chromed brass or steel so it wears well and all parts available for replacement. I know, I have rebuilt mine 2-3 times in the past 8-10 years I have been painting.

Below is my primary use, besides model railroading. I have painted close to 1000 bodies for RC cars over the years. I still can't get used to painting up a railroad car, then painting it again to make it dirty.

 

I completely disagree. Sure, if you run 100% paint through any airbrush it will clog. You have to thin it every time. I thin water based paints 3:1 with 70% isopropyl and get great results. No clogging of the tip. For solvent based, it's the same ratio (3 parts paint, 1 part thinner) with thinner instead.

Cleanup is a SNAP. I run a little bit of thinner through the airbrush after use, then I generally take the tip off (it unscrews with my fingers) and drop it into an old baby food jar with lacquer thinner in it.

I've been using it this way quite a bit over the last 5 months or so and have had nearly ZERO problems.

My badger 200G on the other hand would clog on a regular basis. Nothing like paint splatter to ruin a good model. I've had it for almost 17 years and unless I thinned almost 1:1, I would have problems. Plus, it is a LOT harder to clean.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions

Thanks to all for your suggestions and for relaying your experiences. I am going to see who has airbrushes in my town and go see if I can try a few out. I also need to figure out what kind of paint I am going to use. I don't even know. I want to be able to mix my own colors and I want something that looks good and isn't going to dissolve off my locos by itself, but otherwise the field is wide open.

Adam

 

Greg-

Each to his own, I guess.

 

Adam,

I can only agree with Jim: Best to see what is available locally and if possible sign up for a clinic where you can try various brands and get a feel for single- versus double-action.
An additional consideration could be that spare parts are available locally.

Additional comment: Take safety serious! Always use a spray-booth (both for solvents and acrylics), consider a mask (even when using a booth) and though Jim's comment on stained hands make me chuckle (been there, done it) I strongly recommend surgical gloves to protect your skin. Trying to remove solvent paint is at least irritating(if not outright harmful) to your skin.

For what it is worth: I use a Badger double-action as it allows me better control over paint-flow. I use the same Badger for about 12 years, so it is very durable, but I replace the tip and needles on a regular basis.

Cheers
Dirk

 

i use an aztec as well. cleaning up the tips is easy. screw'em out, pull out the needle, pull out the needle holder and throw all three parts in thinner until you use them the next time.

 

I switched this year from a single action to a double action. I really like the double (Aztek), especially with water based paint like Polly Scale. One secret I learned to reduce drying paint in the tip was to reduce air pressure. It has worked very well for me. Seriously consider a regulator, it adds another level of air control. Which ever airbrush you choose, it comes back to practice, practice, practice.

 

I am only a novice so far at airbrushing. I have only painted a couple pieces of rolling stock and weathered a ton of my cars, but have been quite impressed with my results. I use a single action Binx Wren. I dont know what the cost of one of these are as I was given this by a friend in trade for a model car I had that he desperatelly wanted. For a compressor I use an old compressor from a refridgerator with an old propane tank with a regulator attached to it. I guess you could say I jerry rigged it together but hey it works.

 

Airbrush advantages

Single action mixes paint externaly, ie when it gets sucked out of the bottle. Double action mixes the paint internaly paint gets sucked out of the bottle into a mixing chamber mixes it there and then shoots out of the air brush better paint to air mix and your paint lays down better. I use badger single action for a primer, clear coat gun. I use my Badger crescendo 175 to do my painting. Shawn

 

I use a simple Badger external mix, siphon feed airbrush. with a little practice and experementation I,ve been able to do what i wanted to do. Although, if I start to do more panting l'll probably buy a double action pasche. It'll probably make life easier.:shade: