Dear Abby, I dropped my harder and Steinbeck! And, my wife hates my compressor!

[davral64]

Here's a cautionary tale for all of us.  I was painting along Wednesday night and dropped my good airbrush.  My habit is to leave the tail off exposing most of the needle out the back and I never use the nozzle suppressor thingies either.  Dangerous? My middle name is danger, but is hyphenated to read danger-dumbutt.  Being configured this way the cg was way past the aft limit and it went in tail first.  The AIB determined the this class a mishap was undeniably aircrew error only partially mitigated by interference from gravity, which sucks. 

 

What to do?  Oh what to do?  I cried.  I hit Model Paint Solutions for replacements of the needle and knozzle and what-not and the total $ amount flummoxed my extraordinarily cheap ass.  As I pondered and pondered I thought popped into my defective little brain.  What about this newer generation of little fish tank compressors?  I'm easily distracted you see.  I got all googled up on reviews and that Gaahleri serene air kept coming up.  It was on sale and included an airbrush that I presumed would be fine for spraying styreneze and tile grout.  Plus the whole deal was the same price as the H&S replacement parts.  I ordered it on the basis that it came with another airbrush that I didn't need and that it probably wouldn't work worth a darn. And, that there was no way in the world that the compressor could do anything at all. (These considerations maintain top priority in all of my purchasing and problem solving matrices.)  

The thing showed up. 

I put it together and fired it up.  Wow!  I exclaimed.  This ain't too bad!

 

Here's what I've discovered about this goofy setup- it's pretty darn good all things considered.  What are the considerations you ask? 

The compressor is a demand type obviously so it runs when you command air.  [I had to look that up on wiki.]  The implication here is that using it to hose down your 32nd C-5 will melt it into slag if you do it in one go.  Even a lot of goes, probably.

It's somewhat quieter than my generic 1/5 horse with the 1 litre tank no name, but what isn't?  I can't distinguish between a decibel and a dinner bell so I'm no help in that dept.  My wife says it's not too bad, but she married me so take her comment as you will.

The airbrush that came with it illuminates the full operational truth of the compressor.  I tried my normal back up ab and it sprayed well but the air pressure output was a touch low.  I could work with it by changing thinning, working in closer and the other natural stuff you do.  Once I was calibrated to the setup I thought it all worked well.  I tried another ab I have which is one of those that are swappable between .0002 and 50000.00 do everything poorly ones.  That struggled with its biggest .05.  The total volume of air that the airbrush is built to handle showed.  It was perfectly workable by adjusting thinning and stuff.  I  finally slapped the included ab on it.  Night and day difference in air flow on all output settings.  In fact, almost too much even at the lowest pressure.  Again by self adjusting to it, it works great.

Conclusions-  not a bad little backup.  Too loud to use at 2am when everyone is asleep but otherwise fine.  If you are new to blah blah it's a good intro kit.  As to the old, "can you get it to spray that luftwaffle squiggly mottled camo pattern?"  No, you have to make that happen.  The good news is that if you can, it will.

Still haven't bought the H&S replacement parts....

 

 

 

[MikeC]

Instructive,  and entertaining prose style.

 

Flying with the c/g outside limits is never a good idea.  Good luck exploring your new kit.

[mozart]

I use a Gaalheri airbrush following similar “accidental” circumstances, my error was not having the needle protector in place when I dropped my H&S Infinity. Yep, the price of replacements was ridiculous. Reviews of the Gaalheri were very good and I have not been disappointed with it. Still exploring its settings and capabilities but all encouraging to date. 

[MikeC]

I'll stick to my pair of Iwatas, and keep the back end firmly in place, as I always do. Don't understand why one would leave it off, it affects the whole balance of the brush in the hand. 

[quang]

On my last five builds, I used exclusively my Selenair compressor and the Gaahleri giveaway airbrush. Iwata owners laughed at me but I let them. 

[csavaglio]

My first H&S was a used ebay nickel infinity. It must've been dropped in the same way and otherwise abused. It need a lot... Rebuild kit, updated packing seal, maybe some other seals, nozzle, both needles (bent at the chuck nut and tip, and possibly a few other bits I'm forgetting along with H&S packing seal tool. The way it was described, I thought it'd need a few seals (only used a few times and put away, he said) but in the end, I was pretty well on my way to a new brush.  Oh well, I actually really like the warmer look of the nickel over the chrome.

 

I have accumulated a good handful of iwata HP-CSs over the years and they're my work horses. The last one I got (hp-bs on sale) had noticeably worse quality, tho, especially in how crusty the threads feel. I can see why folks are moving towards the gaahleri and other cheaper ones. The difference in quality isn't as apparent as it once was so why spend a ton more money. I can also see why an older, now gone modeler friend insisted on using his ancient paasche forever. It's more about what you're used to and comfortable with.

 

 

[DrewH]

I had an issue with my 30+ year old badger - wear and tear came to where I needed a new tip assembly and I couldn't limp the air valve along any longer. pure workhorse for me for everything but can no longer get parts readily or at a reasonable price if I do find them. Found the Gaahleri sale and since the cost of the airbrush was less than the parts I needed - I went for it. still getting used to it but parts are readily available and cheap ($6 for a replacement tip). I like it, takes some getting used to the feel but can perform with all the others no issue. I'll admit, I found the parts of lesser quality materials than Badger or Iwata (brass instead of nickel-silver tips, aluminum needle etc) but has good seals with no rubber gaskets (needed for lacquers). Break down is different but no little hidden items and if you work it right, the self centring tip beats most threaded in models. 

 

Still have 2 other Badgers for very fine work (Velocity & Solar) but as a general workhorse - Gaahleri will be my new go to. 

[csavaglio]

Which gaahleri brush did you get?  The Aventus sits somewhere in between the H&S Ulta and Evolution price-wise, but the Mobius is way cheaper, like $70us.  

 

I'm curious how the Aventus compares to the Ultra. I couldn't care less about being able to choose the body anodizing color but I do care about a quality feel, especially with something that you handle a lot. I've also heard stories of mixed quality control, like a lot of stuff nowadays.

[DrewH]

I got the GHAD-39. shares most of the same components with rest of the advanced series. was only $45. 

[davral64]

During the intervening time I've goofed around with the airbrush and compressor more and have come to really like it.  Spraying Vallejo model air, tamiya, and AK have worked out well.  I paint small and with low pressure and fairly thinned down paint and this is where the compressor airbrush combo require conscious care, as the combo is better suited to 'medium' painting.  The big plus I've found is that the setup and use is instant making it great for hitting some thing quickly.  You know the type of thing, one drop of paint, quick squirt, blast of clearer and move on.  I'm in the middle of a Trumpeter B model Huey and have used it exclusively to pretty good effect.  

Here's another way of analogy, if you use a lot of 'beauty products', washes, pastels, whatever, this deal is probably all you'll ever need.  Just put down your color and go nuts from there. 

Oh yeah, it's small and light weight too.  Like super small so you can put it anywhere.  

In summary, new to the hobby?  Buy this rig for under $100.00 USD and you're in the high cotton.  if you are already happy with your stuff there's no point except convenience.

Your pal bravo November 5/23

[Out2gtcha]

I do like my H&S airbrush, but they are by far THE most delicate airbrushes Ive ever encountered.

Pretty much anything csn send them out of whack.....

And G forbid you drop the H&S needle!

The tips crumple like seemingly tinfoil.

 

I have a Grexx and 2 Iwatas.....I pretty much use my higher end Iwata for everything. They are not quite as good at motteling as the H&S, but overall can take drops fumbles and needle drops without bending the tip.

Very durable and reliable brushes.

Anyone who says they aren't worth the little but extra in price has never used one long term.

[MikeC]

6 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Anyone who says they aren't worth the little but extra in price has never used one long term.

My HP-CS had its 20th anniversary (of purchase) this year. It has had a few needle/tip changes, but it is still going strong and sprays as well as the day I bought it.