Airbrush: Which one and where to use it?

[amszterpeter]

I would like to get an airbrush to mix colors not available in cans and perhaps save money using bottled paints over spray cans.
Interested in your recommendations for an airbrush kit for that be used for model cars only.
I have used spray cans in my garage using a large paper box as a makeshift spray booth.
Can a spray booth/box be built and used indoors in my hobby room?
Where do you use your airbrush?
Thank you very much for your advice in advance.

Peter A

[f1rob]

Hi Peter:

I started out a few years ago with a Testors Aztec 4709 set. Was relatively inexpensive, and had several nozzles for both fine and wide spray patterns. Good for detail work, and car bodies. Easy to clean. Can be used as single, or dual action.

I recently bought a Tamiya single-action trigger style airbrush. Although I use it just for 2 part urethane clear coats, it would be fine for other uses as well.

As far a spray booths go - the most important item is to make sure it has an exhaust outside of the area you are spraying. I have heard of booths that have various organic filters that are supposed to remove harmful fumes, but as far as I am concerned, better to get them all outside. I have made my own fairly large booth inside a metal shelving unit by using a kitchen range hood on its side, and made an enclosure using corrugated plastic. This is exhausted through an exterior wall in the garage with a clothes dryer hose, but can just as easily be placed at the open window(if you want to use it in another room in the house or apartment) to get the fumes out as well. The dryer hose mounted through a hole in another piece of corrugated plastic secured by closing the window on it, can make this a temporary setup.

I'm sure there are lots of other suggestions on the site, as well.

Cheers,

Rob

[jmpsebring]

Do a search. Look under ebay for nail art dual action airbrush kits. Average about $20. I have 5. They are equal to my Eclipse Iawata gun. These are very nice airbrushes. Look for blue foam and a black box. They come in two different size tips. Been preaching about them for more than a year. You don't need to spend a fortune. These are VERY nice!

[billgtp]

I use a Passche single action gun on 99% of automotive projects. Easy to use and clean

[f1fan]

Peter,
In my opinion the Iwata Eclipse is a very good air brush and will last forever if you take care of it. It is very versatile. The most important thing is to keep it clean and oiled . They are around a $125.00. Also if you are able to vent a desk top spray booth to the outside via a vent hose like from a clothing dryer you should be able to spray inside. Just make sure the fumes don't blow back in your work area. Meaning seal off the area where the hose goes out. I do all my parts in my garage where my booth is. I paint cars for a living so I paint the bodies at work.
Hope this helps , Jere

[smbrm1]

In addition to supporting the points already made about the spray booth, you want make sure that however you are exhausting the booth, you should have about 100-120 ft/minute of airflow(going in) at the front face to ensure the fumes are going in/staying in and not coming back at you as you spray in the booth. The exhaust pipe from the booth should be as short/smooth as possible to minimizes losses and generate the air flow at the face. These are important points to sizing the fan you will use for the exhaust. You may also want to consider a downdraft booth where the fan sucks from the bottom of the booth. That way everything in excess of what is going on the painted parts benefits from gravity as well as the fan suction. An overhead exhaust can lead to paint dust above what you are painting. An organic filter mask is also a good investment regardless of how well your booth can exhaust.

Cheers. Stephen

[JonMW]

I'm a long time fan and long time user of Harder & Steenbeck brushes, had my Evolution for around 15 year nows. One nice thing is that the needle and nozzle is the same in all the models from the cheapest Ultra to the most expensive Infinity. So you can get the same results with all of them and if you after a few years want to upgrade or get a second brush you can share spare parts or different size needles between them. Here are some reviews of a couple of Iwata and H&S brushes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KpZ8mPEwrI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoDfDRdURt8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqiQ10mtF64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-02sp3yRKPA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcrG0mHIp2g

[daniel]

http://www.rexart.com/product251.html

I'm using this one for many years. Nozzles are 0.2-0.3-0.5 I use the 0.5 99,9%.
The brush is very easy to clean and tough. I use it for all scales 1/43-1/12 and so far I'm very happy.
If you do armour modeling and want to spray comas this is not the right tool but for car modeling it's perfect.
I use it mainly for plain colours and simple shadings.


I spray indoors all the time with a shabby spraybooth that doesn't work to well BUT I use a mask like this one here http://www.hygi.de/image,65836.html

Do you guys have a booth that really suck in all the spraydust, especially in 1/12 there is so much overspray I really love to know of a solution to handle this !?!

I work with opened windows and don't stay in the room after spraying...too stinky

[saleem]

Iwata neo, easily disassembled and easy to clean.it dosnt have a seperate nossle so the little nossle bit on the end can be unscrewed to clean.the last cheapo ebay jobbie I bought let paint into the rear porton of the brush and it was pretty much runied from the off.

you need a brush that is gravity feed, easily disassembled/assembled and easy to clean.

[alexpayne]

The thing that's really important is the compressor not the airbrush. A good quality brush will last longer and if used correctly give a better more consistent finish. However it's the flow and control of air that shouldn't be overlooked.
A £30 brush with a £100 compressor is a better buy than a £100 brush with a £30 compressor.
Atb,AlexP.