Are cheap airbrush kits really that bad?

Nodiggidy123

Nodiggidy123

Nodiggidy123

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Hi all,

I'm fed up of basecoating by brush as its so time consuming.

I was looking at a cheap airbrush kit that I had been recommended months ago and before I take the plunge I just want to make sure I'm making a sound decision.

On a fb group im being told I should spend around 250 ish for a good set up but as a novice I'm not sure I should be spending this amount of money.

One I was looking at is this one. as my skill improves i would probably slowly upgrade but would this be OK to get me started?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120846549635?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
 
I tried a cheap Chinese airbrush once and found it very frustrating. It simply wouldn't spray most of the time.

However, other people I know have said that they've used cheap Chinese airbrushes without any issues.

Perhaps there's some good tutorials on YouTube to get the best out of these airbrushes?
 
From what I understand some cheap airbursh kits are ok, but some aren't and it's hard to tell what is what (QC can vary a lot even if the kits have the same brush names*).

You can pick up a cheap starter brush from a known quality brand from about £45-50 now (Harder & Steenbeck and Iwata both do basic entry level brushes now).
I've got a pair of H&S good brushes (very versatile), a H&S Ultra (starter) and an Iwata and the Ultra is a nice easy to use basic brush, whilst the others have their own uses (for example the better H&S brushes can be given bigger/smaller paint cups which is handing if you're going from men to vehicles).

However a lot of problems can simply be down to how you're thinning the paint and cleaning/using the brush, and can apply regardless of the brush type.

Personally I wouldn't get the kit in your link simply because the compressor doesn't have a tank, so you're going to have the compressor running all the time when in use, and possibly have issues with the pressure not remaining constant (one of the things a tank does is smooth out the pressure and air flow).

You could possibly go for a version of that kit with a tanked compressor, then move on to a better brush at a later stage, but to me an untanked compressor is a waste of money (IMO).



*Consider that in some of the kits you're getting two brushes for £65 with a compressor, whilst similar brushes from big names can cost £100+ each - airbrushes are very much precision instruments so something has to give if you're getting 2+ compressor for less than one on it's own by another brand (I suspect a lot of the cheap kits are very old designs, or not done to as tight a specification).
 
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You could do, but you're using acrylics (presumably) with the brushes when modelling, and turps etc are fairly harsh on the seals.
IIRC most cheap brushes only use rubber seals which can absorb various thinners/cleaners and expand causing sticking and additional wear*.

You're better off using a proper acrylic airbrush cleaner and reserving the harsher stuff for if you get a really bad block, or if the paint you're using requires it (use the correct cleaner, and thinners for the paint type).
I use Vallejo airbrush cleaner (it's about £5 for a 200ml bottle that lasts ages as you only use a few drops a time), and if it's really bad a spray of "liquid reamer".

Also remember you're using the airbrush at probably much closer range than an industrial or house paint sprayer, so you probably want want to avoid anything too harsh as you'll be breathing it in/having it hang around in the air for a while (one of the reasons we ended up with both half masks and an extractor for our airbrush was the health concerns).

*The likes of H&S and Iwata do teflon seals for some parts of the brush either as standard or as an optional upgrade to cope better with certain paint types depending on the brush/when you bought it.
 
No knowledge of airbrush kits and very little painting skill (trying some today!) but what are you looking to basecoat?

I used some colour primer from 'The Army Painter' range to basecoat my Zombicide S1 minis and it looks good so far! Worth a thought perhaps?

I just stuck all the minis to bit of cardboard with blu tack and did a couple of passes as per the instructions - dead easy and saved tons of time!
 
Sprays can be good, especially for one off batches and "simple" models (tanks, boats etc), but imo they rapidly work out more expensive and are nowhere near as versatile or as easy to get good all over coverage on more complicated models.

We still use halfords black primer for undercoating certain stuff (mainly scenery and resin/metal), but once you've got the brushes it's much cheaper to use an airbrush paint to do the colours.
I think I used about 1 bottle of thinned GW normal paint to do the base colour on something like 80-100 Tyranids (I mentioned it in one of the threads here).
 
Count_Zero99uk said:
This is the kit that i got to begin airbrushing and its been fantastic.

https://www.everythingairbrush.com/...rbrushing-kit-with-ultra-2-in-1-airbrush.html
Click to expand...

That looks like a pretty good combination, a good starter brush (the Ultra) with a reasonable compressor :)

I've got the base Ultra and it's a nice brush, not quite as nice to use or as versatile as it's bigger brothers (the Evolution series), but easy to use, easy to clean and good quality.
Oh, and you can get the spares easily, as it shares a bunch of parts with the rest of the H&S range (I think the seals, needles and possibly nozzle are shared).
 
Probably cleaning brushes (H&S do a good one that's about £2), cotton buds, kitchen roll, a new mortgage when you get into it, some sort of shallow pot to soak the nozzle and head in from time to time, small pots or dropper bottles (vallejo style) to decant paints into for easy use with the brush, a small funnel (hip flask funnels work well) and possibly some stainless steel ball bearings (about 2-3mm) to drop into paint pots to help mix the paint,

I use some stiff foam (I think it was used as packing for a toaster or something) with a V notch along it's length to sit the needle in when I'm cleaning the brush and it's dismantled, as it holds the needle in a very obvious place and stops it rolling around on the desk.
 
The cheap kit you listed is mince

you need to get one with a Tank- listen to the guys who recommend you get a good Airbrush instead of the Chinese rubbish

it will be well worth it
 
This thread has just come in very useful for a Christmas pressie for the missus so she can get all the CMON stuff done.
Anyone fancy condensing the lot into a starter set up for .... £200?
 
Hi, I use an airbrush and I bought myself a Cheap Ebay kit about a year ago, I don't paint all the time but I have had zero issues with it. The only thing I would definately recommend is make sure you get one with a Tank rather than just a compressor. Without a tank the Compressor will run constantly and risk burning out (again depending how much you are going to use it)

The Cheap Airbursh I got with mine has served me well, the only thing I have to complain about is they do have some rough edges to the parts that are cast, which can cause them to be a bit hard work to clean out, I got round this by using Car paint thinners to clean the brush out once I had finished with it.

The kit I bought can be found at the link below;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airbrush-Kit-Set-Compressor-Tank-Air-Brushes-Hose-Nail-Art-Tattoo-Paint-Stencil-/121119576120?var=&hash=item1c334a1038:m:m42fM-ePMOIy4r0ddyG6C6Q
 
Bicepo said:
Hi, I use an airbrush and I bought myself a Cheap Ebay kit about a year ago, I don't paint all the time but I have had zero issues with it. The only thing I would definately recommend is make sure you get one with a Tank rather than just a compressor. Without a tank the Compressor will run constantly and risk burning out (again depending how much you are going to use it)

The Cheap Airbursh I got with mine has served me well, the only thing I have to complain about is they do have some rough edges to the parts that are cast, which can cause them to be a bit hard work to clean out, I got round this by using Car paint thinners to clean the brush out once I had finished with it.

The kit I bought can be found at the link below;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airbrush-Kit-Set-Compressor-Tank-Air-Brushes-Hose-Nail-Art-Tattoo-Paint-Stencil-/121119576120?var=&hash=item1c334a1038:m:m42fM-ePMOIy4r0ddyG6C6Q
Click to expand...

That's the exact one i went for. I've used it a couple of times now. For basecoating its does me fine although I am looking to get a gravity fed airbrush now.
 
Kiyoshi said:
I'd really recommend this for a first timer setup: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FoxHunter...ressor-With-Tank-Nail-Tatoo-Art-/200600974912

It's a low initial investment and will give you a good feel on using an air brush and compressor. They're not amazing brushes and if you get on with it you'll probably want a better replacement, but I still use the compressor to this day and think it's excellent value for money.
Click to expand...

looking at this myself, tempting as I love painting but its not my number 1 hobby so it seems like a big outlay.
 
Larger needles give you thincker paint lines / area, smaller are for fine detail, i have an ultra, its very nice to use and have never needed to use a larger needle.

As for nozzles, larger needles need larger nozzles but you can also get custom nozzles that give you custom effects such as splatter.
 
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