Pistol grip airbrush anyone?

Laurence

Double Actioner
I have a seriously difficult time holding my airbrush, I have large paws, arthritis and what have you to the extent that sometimes I'm trying to control the thing with my thumb!

I've been looking at these pistol grip jobs, I know Iwata do one but that's too many pennies, the Sparmax one though is appealing.

From my understanding you regulate the amount of paint with the rear screw adjuster and the air will be at maximum once the trigger has travelled far enough to deliver paint.

I will only be doing small jobs, mainly full coats and stencilling but I'd welcome anyone's views on these machines.

Thanks.
 
There are other options for a pistol grip airbrush as well (Grex is one of them that immediately pops into my head). There are pros and cons if your plan is to only use a pistol grip style airbrush due to the issues you mentioned. One of the benefits is you get a conical tip and a fan tip with those brushes. So, you can cover larger areas with speed and the fan tip allows more control when it comes to even coverage which is important when spraying metallic, pearl and candy. The biggest downside in my eyes is you lose the ease of control when it comes to fine detail and lines. I don't know what you consider small jobs, but that's especially true on smaller pieces.
 
I have several pistol grip brushes. Among the smaller nozzled ones, like a .2 or .3, I have always been pleasantly surprised at the kind of detail they will allow. In my bunch, these include an Olympos, and an Iwata Neo, as well as an couple of Holbein brushes. If I was doing mural work, or something perhaps a little larger scale than the normal 11x14, or 16x20 work I generally do, I could see using one of these a great deal. For smaller works, or pieces confined to my drawing table, I still find a "normal" airbrush easier to use... If I put the time in to acclimate a bit more withe trigger brushes, I could probably adapt easily enough.

Then there are some different animals, altogether - the larger nozzled brushes like the Iwata TH, and Creos PS290. These being .5 or larger, will lay down some paint. Perfect for base coats, even on some larger surfaces - before stepping up to a mini gun, or full sized spray gun. If I was doing a full sized mural, I would thin about using one for some sort of detail work.

I don't have one in my collection, but perhaps one of the more interesting ones is the Grex. They make a conversion kit for a fan cap in several different sizes, which makes for a very versatile piece.

That being said, I am fairly certain the Sparmax is very similar to the Neo build. I have been happy with my Neo KTRN. For what you want to do, I would think any of them may be worth a try.

iwata ktrn-1.jpg
 
I'm aiming to paint fishing lures from 2 inch to 5 inches long. Lines will be done with a stencil, no freehand stuff!
My grip is so compromised I sometimes have to control the trigger with my thumb!
 
I'm aiming to paint fishing lures from 2 inch to 5 inches long. Lines will be done with a stencil, no freehand stuff!
My grip is so compromised I sometimes have to control the trigger with my thumb!

add a handle - you should have no trouble. I think with practice, you will be surprised what the brush may be able to do for you.

Oh, the knob at the back - that is a needle stop, and while they can be used to limit needle travel, they don't really control paint flow. Your air pressure, reduction, etc. will have as much to do with flow. I almost never use the needle stop...

ps290 w grip1.jpg
 
I have a Grex and a master pistol grip. I use them for base, intercoats, and bleed check....They have a dual action trigger, pull the first little bit for the air, then back farther for paint...the farther you pull back, the more paint you get. As Dave stated, the device at the back is a needle stop.
 
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