Which airbrush do you use?

Which Airbrush Do You Use?


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i just got badger renegade Velocity. can samone cheer experience about this? thanx :)
 
I have 4.
An old Badger 150. It's art least 25 years old

A Paashe VL

A Paashe talon

And my newest addition an Iwata Kustom CM which has all but retired all of my other brushes...
I'm sure I'll get back to using the others but the iwata Is so much better I can't bring myself to put it down.
 
I mostly use a HP_CS Iwata, but I also own an SCA Airbrush [probably chinese!] that works fine for larger areas [has a 10mm spray line] and a Veda 180 mac valve, .3 mm set-up that I got off Amazon for about $30.
Not bad, but the air control is way finnicky to adjust.
 
Well after being away for a while from Ab , i found i was having problems using my currant brushes . Rather than buying a knock off i purchased a thayer and chandler ( badger ) matrix t-70 at a great price . Very well finished and easy to clean and i can pull pencil lines easily . I have used various automotive water based paints and also trident AB paint with no real issues . The trigger operation is very smooth and adjustable . I can also use if needed my paint regulator handle . I have just got to find a top to fit the small gravity cup to stop me spilling paint lol . Oh if you are a beginner it has a needle protector which you will find very handy . Twice the price of the veda 180 and 2/3 of the price of a badger 360 . IMHO well worth a look .
 
Harder & Steenbeck Two in One. Well, I don't have it yet, but it's mine already (got it from ebay yesterday)

And a < 20 $ Single-Action. It's a .5mm, but it was good enough to paint a Ford Mustang scale model two years ago. Now I'm trying to actually get into airbrushing (as much as my time allows, which isn't that much actually with a little kid at home and a barbell that wants to be lifted every once in a while) so I got this H&S because of its .2mm and .4mm needles.
 
I have around 10 Iwatas (Microns, eclipses, spray gun, etc...I know I really like Iwatas), 5 Badgers and a Grex XGi. On the whole, Iwatas have the best built and feel. You can tell they are superiorly built, as say compared to even the top of the line Badger (Krome and Sotar are solid guns, still). Iwatas also look really elegant: hardly any plastic parts, tightly fit components, beautifully engineered. Badgers are decent guns, and I use them often but they are not quite of Iwata caliber. I recently purchased a Grex Genesis XGi, and I have to say it is actually a nice gun: it feels nice, looks nice and is really easy to take apart or swap needles for. IMHO.
 
Must say that I've started to feel a decreased quality in Iwatas airbrushes during the last 10 years. They are still good, but not as nice as they used to be.
 
Must say that I've started to feel a decreased quality in Iwatas airbrushes during the last 10 years. They are still good, but not as nice as they used to be.

Then they must have been beyond awesome because they are amazing as they are.
 
Five of the last six Iwatas that I've bought, including a couple of Microns, have all been sold on. They just didn't live up to the standards I have. Might be that I'm extremly picky, but they just aren't as good as they used to be. Things like the soldering joints, especially on the inside of the cup, the polishing and chrome, and the smoothness of the moveable parts. They just aren't as good as they used to be, and I'm a bit sad about it.:(
 
Hi There,

1) H&S Infinity 2 in 1 0.15 - 0.4 mm
2) AB130 - 0.2 - 0.3mm

I am looking to get another 0.15mm shooter, but think I will stay with H&s, maybe the Evolution AL plus.

almost All parts in H&S the infinity,evolution is interchangeable so why change if you already have the best and only need to keep half the spares.

Also looking at getting a Colani 0.8mm for bigger areas.

I love my H&S!!!!!!!
Hey Scratch,

You should check equipment for sale. I have a GRAFO and Colani I have no further use for. The Colani comes with ALL the needle and nozzle sizes right up to 1.2mm.
 
I have to try only 3 airbrushes. First was russan one-way-action Novopolazck USSR, it still function, two other I have order by post from China siphon and gravity feeded... They are easier to work with... IWATA, and other Guru....the better brush can do more in better hands... We will see
 
My first airbrush was a Paasche VL. It's... OK, I guess. Capable, but fussy to clean, and lacks precision in the construction IMO. At the time I got it (back in the mid-ninties) Paasche was making their needles out of super-delicate metal that would bend if you so much as breathed on it wrong, and that made using and cleaning it kind of a nervous exercise. I also discovered that I prefer painting at lower pressures, which the VL, being siphon feed, can't really do. I always found using it a bit of a PITA, and so kinda avoided it more and more over time.

My second brush was a Paasche H. I got it basically to have something simple for priming and base colors so I wouldn't have to faff with the VL. It's a pretty solid brush. Lacks the flexibility of a double-action, and, like the VL, can't do low pressure, but it's a good K.I.S.S. draft horse for big or simple tasks.

Recently I finally decided it was time to quit making do and get something I'd actually feel comfortable using. Looked at a lot of different brushes. Tried to buy a Paasche Talon, but after having to return them twice due to multiple glaring manufacturing defects in each brush, I decided I was flat out done with Paasche. I'd refurbished my VL earlier that year, and although the current needles seem to be made of better metals than they use to be, there was a lot of other iffyness with part coatings and machining quality that made me think their QC department is floundering. The Talon misadventure just confirmed it rather solidly.

Got an Iwata HP-CS a month ago. It's miles apart from the VL, which has made me feel like a "born again" airbrush user. I can already tell stuff I'd have to drag myself to do with the VL will be easy and even enjoyable withe the CS. Been practicing with watercolors, and I can easily get a wide range from pencil thin to broad coverage with it, though I need a lot more practice to do so reliably from muscle memory. Build quality is MUCH better than the Paasches, with a good combo of precision, simplicity, and tankiness. Easy to use, easy to clean, and doesn't make me feel like walking on eggshells like the VL did.

I've got a .5 needle/nozzle in it right now. It comes with a .35, but I got the .5 setup a la carte because I sometimes use thicker primers and metallics. Surprisingly, I can get the same fine detail with the .5 as with the .35, but I think the .35 has better atomization, and the .5 seems to have a much higher pressure cutoff even with the super-thin watercolors I'm practicing with.

I'd like to keep the .5 in it though, and get a second brush for dedicated fine detail work, even though the CS seems capable of that. I just don't like swapping between needle/nozzle sizes for some reason, and would rather have two dedicated guns for different needs. I'm crossing my fingers Amazon will do another Badger Sotar deep discount promotion this year. From what I've read, the Krome seems more adaptable (seems tied with the HP-CS as the best recommended all-'rounder and beginners brush), but the pen-like ergonomics of the Sotar give it the edge for me, particularly as a dedicated detail brush (as far as such can be said for brushes I've not held myself yet).
 
I upgraded from the Iwata cm sb to the Iwata cm sb 2 , this new version has a better airflowbut more important for me a taller and wider trigger that gives me the control back I used to have . the trigger is only about 2 mm higher but that is all I need to compensate for the loss of the fine movement in my trigger finger
 
I own four airbrushes, one chinese knock off and three Iwatas.
The chinese knock off is just crap, completely useless. It's one of those 20 dollar airbrushes that can be bought at the car sparepart store. I got it in a deal when I bought some stuff for my compressor.

The Iwatas are:

Eclipse HP-CS 0,35mm. My first airbrush and the one I'm using for spraying large areas like backgrounds and such. I also use it for painting my model RC helicopter parts. This is also the gun which took me through the first steps into the world of airbrush. Only thing I don't like about it is that the color doesn't come emediately when the trigger is pulled backwards.

Custom Micron CM-C+ V2 0,23mm. This is my work horse, I love this gun. It performs so incredibly nice, fantastic atomization and it is able to do really fine detail. It also open up for color without delay. Pull the trigger just a fraction of a millimeter and paint start to flow, I like that. The big cup is also good when bigger areas are painted with the same color. This one can handle colors with a little bit bigger grains than the CM-SB. The MAC valve located just behind the head is easily accessable for fine tuning the air pressure when I am painting very small details. My CM-C+ is tuned with a soft Zsolt trigger spring for a better feel and some relief for the index finger. It also has an open custom built crown cap.

Custom Micron CM-SB V2 0,18. My jewel in the crown.. I can't imagine what could possibly be better than this. Once you've learnt how to thin your colors correctly, this one is just performing. Atomization is absolutely stunning. Paint start to flow the same second you pull the trigger, just like I want it to. It can spray detail the size of a human hair, with no effort. Together with E'Tac FX line you can paint for a whole day with no tip dry, and I really mean NO tip dry. This airbrush is also tuned with a soft Zsolt trigger spring, an open custom built crown cap and a TiN plated Zsolt Golden Cup.
 
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