I am looking for some advice on various things about them.
Thanks
Its a vast topic with a lot of answers I'm afraid, the short answers are below, but if you want a lot more info and prices please feel free to give us a ring as we supply half a dozen brands of airbrush and i use them pretty much daily in my work. Its a lot eaiser to talk about airbrushes in person than it is to write it all down!
Which one is the best? - iwata
What kind to buy? I see there are different type gravity feed etc. - Depends on what you want to do with it (honestly this makes a huge difference)
Which one has the best value for money? -Depends on what you want to do with it (honestly this makes a huge difference)
Which one is best for a novice? - Depends on what you want to do with it (honestly this makes a huge difference)
How much do they cost? - From £15.00 - £1500.00p
Where to buy in the UK? - Us!
What bits and pieces do you need? Pipes, cleaning stuff etc - Brush, hose, compressor
I am thinking about a compressor instead of the awkward cans which always run out just as you need them. - compressor is MUCH better, but not essential.
So the same questions apply to the compressor. - as above.
I am also after advice about how to use them. Any hints or tips for the novice. - see below
What paints work best? vallejo model air, tamiya, Life COlour
Do you need ventilation? I do most of my work in a draughty garage. - not required, but prefered.
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Its very hard to answer general questions as what you want to do with it vastly alters the advice given and recommended airbrush, and that changes the advice on using it!
The starting point is how fine detail do you want to get down to? The finer the detail the finer, and more expensive, the airbrush you will want.
The very finest airbrushes & tips are then not great for large-area coverage...so you might end up looking at 2 different ones (i have 3!)
Once you know what you want to do with them i.e. <=2mm lines + a bit of scenery work, then folks can start recommending a brush that fulfills that range of work.
In general though it is worth bearing in mind that the finer the airbrush the more difficult it is to master - and airbrushes come with an extreme learning curve that results in ~ 80-90% of them never being used after the first month use.
Cheap knock-off airbrushes are, generally, worthless. The more expensive airbrushes you are paying for the quality of machining - which means that once they are stripped for cleaning, and reassembled, they fit back together very well and carry on working well. Cheap, low-quality machined airbrushes just dont fit back together very well and the result is both poor quality airbrushing AND, perhaps more importantly, an even steeper learning curve due to things going wrong even when you are doing them right.
This doesnt mean you need an expensive airbrush though, just a reputable one from the legitimate manufacturer.
The compressor makes the job of learning airbrushing a lot easier - this is simply down to removing the problems of changing air-flow and air-pressure, that create a lot of problems for the learner.
The most important thing to learn, and sometimes the hardest, is how to properly clean your airbrush. You will come to learn that cleaning it is THE most important job as a massive amount ofproblems stem from inadequate cleaning. SO you will need good cleaning solutions but these are not expensive, you will find yourself cleangin, cleaning,cleaning though.
Dont view an airbrush as a time-saver: by the time you have setup, cleaned, brushed, cleaned and put away you could ahve done it cheaper and quicker by hand - but what you couldn't have done is get the same quality and type of finish. It's not until you master an airbrush that it becomes a time saver and even then it wont save "that much" time.
and it goes on and on...
TBHBH i end up advising around 50% of people who phone up wanting an airbrush NOT to get one: it just wouldnt save them any time, it will cost them a lot of money and it probably sint what they need for the jobs they want to give it anyway.
If you are going to spend 150-200 on a starter aribrush and compressor (which is about right) you really want to be sure its going to give you what you want and that you have the time and patience to learn how to use them efficiently: once mastered they are brilliant, but that process of mastering them involves a huge and steep initial learning curve, a lot of time and frustration and a wad of cash.
Are you absolutely SURE you want to do that?
If so, then I'll happily sell you one
and please give me a ring, but i do suggest to anybody thinking about airbrushing that if they can find a local class where they can ahve a couple of hours of practice and lessons, then it will be the best couple of hours they will ever spend on airbrushing: it will show you how easy (or not) they are to use, will chop out a few dozens of hours of wasted time trying to learn how to spot faults on your own, and you will learn how to strip and clean an airbrush ALL of which pay off in the long term.
So if there's a course near you, saya round £40-£50 for ahlf a day or so, then I strongly recommend going to that before even thinking about buying your own airbrush: that 80-90% of people who never use their airbrush after the first month is a reasonable guesstimation of the dropout rate...so spending £50 to avoid wasting £200+ is a good investment.
PLUS - (and this is very handy/useful sometimes) a lot of airbrushing courses nowadays revolve around learning how to aribrush nails - so you can even take the girlriend along and show her all the fantastic nail-art stencils there are that she could be wearing herself if you get a good airbrush! ..or temporary body tatoos, or spray-tanning....
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April 29, 2024, 11:19:48 AM
December 13, 2012, 07:49:42 PM