I am eagerly awaitng my new aztek 4709 airbrush set.I bought it on ebay few days ago....I'm so excited...anybody else have one of these brushes?

Sean

I do, and think it's great. I have really enjoyed using it.

I've been using one for a couple years now. Love it. It's so easy to use with a very small learning curve.
Enjoy.

I have one and Im giving it to my nephew so he can learn how to paint and enjoy this great hobby.Only con about it is the nozzels.

I had one and I loved it.

But for Christmas, my wife, God bless her (sniff sniff ), she bought me 4 badger airbrushes. A 155 Anthem, (2) 175 Cresendos and a 200 GXF (for fine detailing). I was astonished. I am still trying to figure out her ulterior motive.

I really like the Aztek, but I LOVE my Badgers. I even received all the accessories and needles, tips, head assemblies from her father for Christmas.

I have an Aztec A 430 and a badger..The Badger is awesome but it requires more care than the aztec
Fine Scale Modeller has a great article on how to use them, check it out!

What a coincidence! Any day now...

P.S. I ordered mine from Restorer Supplies

Cool, I just got my new airbrush in the mail today...quick shippinh, got it exactly one week after I bought it....i'm dying to use it now!!!!

Sean

Hurrah! My Aztek arrived this week. I took some photos for those who are still a bit unclear what kind of a package it is. Haven't watched the instructional video yet. I don't even own a VCR anymore in this DVD age so I'll have to find a friend whose system supports NTSC too.

Btw if anyone could tell me what the black rubber part in Picture 4 is that would be greatly appreciated. It's a small O-ring thing, thicker than actual O-rings and about 1 cm in diameter. The manual didn't mention it. I can get a close up of it if needed. I hope it hasn't dropped out of somewhere...

After using my Badger 200 syphon feed single action for over 20 years I really wanted to up grade to a gravity fed double action. I had stuck with a single action because I really couldn't see any benefits. A local art supply shop started stocking a new range of airbrushes, Simair, similar in design to the badger. After getting a good close up look and feel and doing some research I bought their Evolution. This airbrush is amazing, it is very well designed and put together superbly well. Unlike my badger, there is no need for a spanner and cleaning is simplcity itself. There is even a little rubber cap which is used to blow back for cleaning. Above all, it sprays wonderfully, I'm a very happy teddybear :-)
Mal

Well I used a Badger 350 for years and I still use it for general work, about a year ago I bought a Badger 200 single action and I love it....so much better than the 350....however yesturday I won a slightly used Aztek 4709 in the wooden case off of Ebay for a paltry $52US. So I guess I will have my choice as to what I will use from now on....the Badger 200 or the Aztek....have heard alot about the Aztek...and have always been a Badger fan. The only bad thing I have heard about the Aztek, is that it won't spray acrylics in a very tight pattern as compared to spraying enamels because of the tips that come with the Aztek....I could be wrong on this....just what I have heard.

They actually have two nozzles dedicated to acrylics. You can see them in this picture. The black nozzle is a general purpose acrylic nozzle and the white one is a high flow acrylic nozzle. I did some preshading work yesterday and managed to get some pretty fine lines with the black one, say around 2 mm. Except when I yanked the trigger or pushed too hard/close; I'm still learning . The roller in the back gives a nice amount of control so you should be able to set the flow just the way you like. Considering that it was my first time using the brush I'm very satisfied. And the cleaning was so effortless I still can't believe it. Cleaning the color cup required more effort than flushing the brush and nozzle.

I use the Aztek 430 which is similar to the 470 and I love it. It is my first AB so I am no expert but for any AB noobs, I would highly recomend it.

HastyP

:-) One of the biggest problems with acrylics is, when sprayed they dry very quickly on the tip of the airbrush, glogging it. Part of the answer to this problem is to make the acrylic paint longer drying. I thin acrylics with windscreen washer fluid and acrylic retarder. If the bottle says thin with water I use a little water as well. Paints such as Tamiya acrylics, which are thinned with Isopropynol only need the acrylic retarder, but do experiment before trying this. The acrylic paint will still dry on the tip but you will be able to spray for minutes rather than seconds. I have succeeded in completing a spray session without the paint drying. If the paint does dry, it has to be removed. A cotton bud works well, but you, usually, have to move the needle in and out aswell. This is a pain with a single action airbrush, especially if you spent any time getting the set up right. With a double action you can move the needle via the trigger, so it's a lot better to use. I much prefer, when spraying tight and close in, to use enamel paint. The thinner used makes the paint take longer to dry therefor it doesn't glogg the brush.
I havent used an Aztek, but have handle one a couple of times and although there are plenty of satisfied users out there (probably armour modellers, cos I'm convinced the Aztek was designed for the dark side of modelling) it just doesn't have the "feel" of a brush like the Simair........................in my opinion.
Mal

2mm isn't bad....thats about what I can do with the Badger 200, but its only single action....I am sure with more practise with a dbl action Aztek that it could even get finer....I have never used a dbl action brush, so there will definatly be a fair learning curve from the single action ones.