Airbrush recommendations

[npb748r]

Hi all, I have only used Sparmax airbrushes since I've been airbrushing and have just broken/worn out my current one.  Rather than jumping into exactly the same I thought it worthwhile checking peoples views on an alternative brand. I have a limited budget of no more than £120/£130. I don't find the sparmax easy to clean and that's one of the things I would like to improve. I do like the gravity fed cup and trigger type brush but I guess that because that's all I've used. Any recommendations on my next airbrush would be extremely helpful. 

 

thanks

neil

[CShanne]

I will give you my two cents, although I admit that it does not meet all your requirements.  I use the iwata eclipse hp-cs. It is gravity fed, but it does not have the trigger you are used too. I find that is has reasonable control and is of high quality.  I find it mostly easy to clean, although the area around the base of the cup can be a pain at times. I also paint 80mm figures with the airbrush, so it is good for detail work (.3 mm diameter nozzle).  As far as price, I have seen a site advertise it for £121 in the UK. Also, I do not consider myself and expert, but it consistently produces good results. 

[thierry laurent]

Best ones with a good customer and spare parts services are probably Iwata and Harder & steenbeck ones. There are various companies in UK  specialized in airbrushes, the 'airbrush company' being one well-known example.

[npb748r]

thanks both, funny enough I was looking at the iwata eclipse hp-cs after I found some good reviews online. Think that's where I will end up.

 

thanks

neil

[Woody V]

I earned my living as an illustrator and over 40 years ago I bought my first airbrush, an Iwata HB-SB which I used up until a couple years ago when I started using lacquer paints and switched to an Iwata HB-SB Plus because of it's upgraded seal. I like the side cup because it can be rotated and switched from side to side. It's also easy to clean. Personally I prefer the .2mm tip over the .3 in my Iwata HB-C Plus and I also find the -C difficult to clean.

I also owned two H&S airbrushes which I found problematic so I sold them.
The Iwatas are workhorses, precision workhorses.

Unfortunately, it's a bit out of your quoted price range. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Archer Fine Transfers

[npb748r]

thanks, I'll have a look at that as well - I have a limited budget of around £100 a month which I've stuck to this year. Given the state of the screwed up economy and the impact of the past few weeks in the UK I'm at the "oh blow it, just spend whilst you can" stage of home budgeting so might speed a bit more than planned and just not bother with heating this winter !    

[quang]

Here are the 4 airbrushes I currently own:

 

A: MENG Yung-Mo delivered with 0,2mm and 0,3mm nozzles. Price: 110 euros

B: FENGDA FE-183K delivered with .2 .3 and .5mm nozzles. Price: 32 euros 

C: NO NAME  delivered with .2 .3 and .5mm nozzles. Price: 30 euros

D: H&S Evolution Two in One 0.2 0.4 nozzles. Price: 160 euros

 

A and B are my go-to brushes. A for general use (0.3) and detail work (0.2) and B for applying primer and basecoat (0.5).

I use C as a back-up (rarely). Although complete with bells and whistles, it’s less responsive than the other two.
D -the most expensive of the lot- was the first airbrush I bought years ago when I came back to modelling and is gathering dust.

 

I mostly use lacquer paints and primer diluted with hardware store cellulose thinner.
Keep in mind that airbrushes are tools and as such they need to be tweaked to adapt to each handler’s personal use (just like guitars and other music instruments).
My own tweak is to get rid of the rubber joints and replace them with bee wax. That would prevent me replacing the joints especially when I use aggressive solvants.

Of course your mileage may vary.

HTH

Cheers,

Quang

[John Stambaugh]

Like you I was looking for a great airbrush for a modest price when I purchased the Mr Hobby Creos 

PS-289. Got mine from Spraygunner.

 It is extremely well made and finely responsive. Has .3 nozzle MAC valve and external flow control. 

I now own their .2 PS270 and .5 PS290 trigger. These sell for $120 and less. I don't think you can get a more quality airbrush without laying out serious big bucks. 

[tucohoward]

I have a bunch of high end airbrushes, Iwata, H&S, Sotar, etc. but always come back to my Tamiya HG Superfine 74514. It's a .2 and does everything really well. From mottling to priming it does it all. I think the MSRP is fairly high but you can get them on ebay from Japan for $86. Just ordered another one to have a spare.

 

Jay

[Neo]

I have multiple Badger airbrush their are really good and reasonably priced. A good combi is a patriot 105 for primer and clear and sotar 2020 for detail work. Although you could also get a sotar v for the large cup and only use that

[TankBuster]

I used to use an Aztec then upgraded to an Iwata, I now own 4 Iwata's. Best airbrushes you can buy. Cheers.

[Alex]

I bought one of these and fairly quickly stopped using both of my Iwatas.  I use it for almost everything.  Kept the 0.5 mm Iwata for spraying acrylic clear coats.

 

[MikeC]

On 10/19/2022 at 1:00 AM, CShanne said:

I will give you my two cents, although I admit that it does not meet all your requirements.  I use the iwata eclipse hp-cs. It is gravity fed, but it does not have the trigger you are used too. I find that is has reasonable control and is of high quality.  I find it mostly easy to clean, although the area around the base of the cup can be a pain at times. I also paint 80mm figures with the airbrush, so it is good for detail work (.3 mm diameter nozzle).  As far as price, I have seen a site advertise it for £121 in the UK. Also, I do not consider myself and expert, but it consistently produces good results. 

Second that: I've tried Badgers and an Aztek (useless!), but am still using my 16-year-old HP-CS, with only the occasional change of needle and tip. It does everything I want it to, and cleans up easily.

[mozart]

Each to their own, but I also use a Sparmax (GP35), much prefer the single trigger action pistol grip to the “pen style” H&S that I used previously. 

[jeroen_R90S]

A bit late to the party, I have an H&S Infinity. I got it from an airbrush shop that carries multiple brands and have some examples ready for testing so you can actually try one before you buy.

I've found apparently I have long fingers and the H&S offers an extension making my hands much more comfortably airbrushing. I'd kind of given up on airbrushing as after a short while my hand would feel totally cramped and my Badger was really hard to really clean well.

Another advantage over the Badger I previously had is that the H&S is really easy to clean, everything is made so that standard q-tips, those tiny toothbrushes, etc will easilty clean up everything. The 0,15mm needle is very, very fragile, though...

 

Of course you'd need to be lucky enough to live somewhat close by such a shop.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by jeroen_R90S