Hello

I have never airbrushed but brush painting has its limits for me so I am going to start. My question is if those kits you can buy that run off of little canisters of air are good for beginners. I debated buying one the other day but thought I would ask some people with experience first.



Let me know how they are. Thank you!

I'll focus on a couple of things you pointed out in your post.

"Little cans" - which they are, and if you are just beginning I won't say don't do it, but would caution against it. It's kind of like the difference between buying a pint of milk at the grocery store or a whole gallon. You'll probably use the whole gallon, but maybe can't afford it. OK, that was kind of dumb on my part. If you can't afford a compressor, but want to try airbrushing, then I would say give it a shot, but you are still wasting money on the cans.

You can't refill them, they have no way to regulate pressure and as you use them, they condense and start to get cold. You can place the compressed air can in a bowl of warm water to combat the condensation which will help some.

I'm assuming you're looking at the kits that come with a simple suction feed (big jar on the bottom) single action airbrush. Those actually use a lot more air, since the air not only moves the paint through the brush (and nozzle) but also has to create the suction to bring the paint up from the jar, through the straw and through the brush.

If you are just beginning, I wouldn't say absolutely no, but you want to take a look at big picture stuff. Airbrushing isn't just pouring paint into a jar, hooking up some air and *poof* you have a flawless job on that kit. It takes some practice and some patience, and a LOT of trial and error. I think the trial and error part is where those little cans become VERY expensive, as you'll go through them quickly just learning how to use the airbrush.

Anyways, just my thoughts on the matter. And yes, many years ago, I did just that. Bought an Aztec airbrush and spent a fortune on those little compressed air cans. Found out that my airbrushing wasn't bad, but the more you use the cans, the lower the pressure gets, which means your paint needs to be thinner, etc. It's a vicious cycle man!

Those cans will certainly teach you a lot about physics! As you spray, it lowers the pressure, causing the can to get cold. This in turn radically drops the pressure of the gas coming out the airbrush. When I used them I sat the can in a pot of warm water to counteract the effect and prolong the spraying, but if you do enough painting you'll want to get a compressor.

As for the airbrush, it depends what comes in the kit. A single-action external mix brush is good for basic coating, like you'd get from a spray can, but won't do fine detail work. For that you need a double-action AB where the trigger presses down to get the air flowing, and pulls back to release paint. Since both are gradual actions, you get a lot of variation and can feather the paint or lay it on thick as needed.

My old Badger 350 with canned gas did well enough on train stuff (mostly solid colours, no fiddly camoflage!) for nearly three decades before it packed up due to a failed trigger valve. I added a compressor a decade ago because the cans are expensive and a hassle to use if you do a lot of spraying. I only moved up to a "full time" double-action brush in recent years when cammoflaging tanks became a regular activity...

Tom

I had that in mind but needed some extra insight to make up my mind. Definitely will not enjoy buying can after can or running out mid painting frenzy. I used to play tournament paint ball and before switching to compressed air, I know all about how hard co2 is on parts and how it gets cold. Time to do some searching on the interwebs.

Just going to look at some economy priced kits and find a pancake compressor.

Really appreciate how everyone on this forum is quick with responses and how much help is included.

Chris

If you're looking for a cheaper compressor, look to see if you have a Harbor Freight around. The compressor type also depends on where you're doing your painting. Most of the cheaper compressors are going to be loud. Might want to look at one with a 1 or 2 gallon tank. Also look at Campbell Hausfield (CH) at a Wal Mart if there's one close by you. They're the big blue compressors and are under $100 for a 2 gallon compressor, and about $65 or so for the 1 gallon version.

For a starter airbrush I suggest you look at the Iwata Neo which should meet your needs as a starter. For a compressor buy the best you can afford and ask here before parting with your cash. When looking at a compressor consider noise as well everything else.

After I fried my compressor I found a tankless one for sale on Ebay. I understand any hesitancy to buy equipment from there, but mine was exactly the condition it said it was in and has been faithfully running for a year now.

Hi

For a starter airbrush, depending on your financial status I can highly recomend either on of the low cost Chinese made double action gravity feed airbrushes that sell on eBay for under £$20 or if you have a bit more to spend either the Iwata Revolution CR or BR, With the Iwata Neo gravity feed brush somewhere in the middle of those two.

Also if you can as been said before you will be better off getting one of the small piston compressors that are also sold on eBay, as the cost of air cans will soon mount up and pass the cost of a small compressor withing a couple of months.

Paul

As another alternative, if you still have the CO2 tank(s) from your paintball guns, you should be able to get a regulator that will drop the pressure to the range that you'd be shooting through an airbrush, and a 20-ounce CO2 tank will cost a lot less for refills than buying propellant cans.

Plus CO2 is a LOT quieter as well...good call.