Beginners airbrush.

[Junkie]

If you live in a humid area get a moisture trap. It goes between the compressor and your brush and traps moister in the line.

I have a contractors compressor (home/garage grade) and it works fantastic. It's loud, but I have it in the garage and a 50" line that runs upstairs. I keep the compresor at 100psi. Upstairs it runs into a moisture trap and then a regulator where I drop the pressure down for airbrushing. Works great.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

If you do get one with a tank on it, make sure it has a relief valve on the tank itself.

Relief valve is for the same reason as the moisture trap, compressed air will liquefy the water in the air, and it will either come out in the airline, or collect in the tank and rust out the tank. If you loosen the relief valve after every use, any water can drain out and/or evaporate, and the tank will last forever.

 

[DreamKnight]

Hadn't looked to hard at compressors yet.. But from what I have read, In theory any will work but the tank type are better correct? Sorry Airbrush noob here. As you don't get as much splattering. There going to be my birthday present. So I cant spend a complete fortune hers is two days after mine. lol...

A tank is nice because it give you a consistent flow without sputtering. Most medium to hig grade compressor still has a little sputter to them sometimes depending on the make and model. So having a tank really helps. It also help expand your compressor's life time as well since you don't always have to have it on. You can turn it on when you need to fill up your tank (or it'll auto turn on if you get something that does that) and of course less noise. Only noisy when you have to refill the tank.

Chung

 

[Dano1945]

For a starter set this is the deal.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-5-hp-58-psi-compressor-and-airbrush-kit-95630.html

 

[sunsanvil]

I find it easier with going with a gravity brush than a bottom feed.

Emphatically second that. When I switched from siphon to gravity it was like a completely different discipline. As you say siphon is nice for t-shirt artists who have multiple colors on the go at once, but for scale modeling I think gravity is IT.

 

[frugm]

Thanks for all the input guys I really appreciate it. Some awsome ideas and view. Cant wait to get started on my first airbrush project, Soon as I can make my mind up..Arrgg

 

[Jdog71]

I'm a newb. I just picked up a pancake compressor and an Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS brush after doing a little research. I'll post my findings here after a session or two. Anyone have any thoughts/experience with the Iwata Eclipse? Also, should I attach the brush hose to the curled hose that came with my compressor, or is a direct connect more beneficial for some reason?

 

[DreamKnight]

I'm a newb. I just picked up a pancake compressor and an Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS brush after doing a little research. I'll post my findings here after a session or two. Anyone have any thoughts/experience with the Iwata Eclipse? Also, should I attach the brush hose to the curled hose that came with my compressor, or is a direct connect more beneficial for some reason?

The curled hose is suppose to help trap moisture. They are like 1 inch (a little bigger) curls right? Mine goes from the compressor to the moister trap then a straight 10' hose to the moisture trap to the brush. The curled hose should go from the air source to a trap then to the brush.

 

[Jdog71]

I'm a newb. I just picked up a pancake compressor and an Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS brush after doing a little research. I'll post my findings here after a session or two. Anyone have any thoughts/experience with the Iwata Eclipse? Also, should I attach the brush hose to the curled hose that came with my compressor, or is a direct connect more beneficial for some reason?

The curled hose is suppose to help trap moisture. They are like 1 inch (a little bigger) curls right? Mine goes from the compressor to the moister trap then a straight 10' hose to the moisture trap to the brush. The curled hose should go from the air source to a trap then to the brush.

Ok...good, I'm not doing it wrong then! I have one moisture trap and it seems to be working at the moment. I may add one later if some water makes it through.

Now to my findings:
I love this thing...wow. It lays down a broad band of paint very evenly. It took me a while to get my air pressure adjusted correctly for my current project, but other than that I've had zero problems. It could be a bit more precise, but I realize that I need a smaller needle... .5 is too big for painting details. Also, the compressor scares the heck out of my dog and my wife, so I'll probably look for a quieter alternative. Right now I'm spraying smaller parts in my basement with several fans blowing out the windows. Large parts are sprayed in my garage with the door open and fans. Once I get a booth built, I'll be good to go. That'll be a good project for the fall. One other thing: when masking for an airbrush, make sure your tape is pressed down tightly. My first masking attempt was ugly to say the least :

Overall, I don't know how I made it without an airbrush...it should cut my total painting time by about 75% on most models. Total expense for me was in the neighborhood of $175....$100 for the brush, 75 or so for the compressor. I can myself picking up a gravity fed brush after reading some of the comments here, and another brush for different gauge needles.