I need help! I am going to attempt to buy a decent air brush this week and I'd like to know the general consensus on which is the preferred method, gravity feed or the other (I'm not sure of the proper term....).

I'd greatly appreciate your help, please weigh in on this one!

Thanks.

What do you need the airbrush for? Is it your first one, or is this another one for fine detail work?

Gravity-feed airbrushes work better for fine-detail work - you don't need as much pressure, and thus you have more control. Fine-line airbrushes like the Sotar 20/20 and most Iwatas are gravity-feed - but these are more expensive...

On the other hand, I'd think siphon-feed (which uses suction to draw paint up from a jar) would be more practical for general use (spraying on basecoats, etc) - it's easier to change colors (just shoot some thinner through and change the jars), and the spray line is wider for better coverage. These aren't as precise as the gravity-feed models though...

Hi SFC_StJohn
I myself own a Tamiya HG/SF Gravity feed. And like Lt. Blank said very good for fine lines, and details. But trying to paint an entire model with it though would be quite time consuming because of the thin lines. Gravity feeds are great second brushes. I would recommend a nice Badger 150 double action. You can get it with three different sized nozzles and needles making it very versatile. What ever you pick.
Happy modeling!

Hi,
I own a Badger 100 XL gravity feed brush with a 12cc mounted cup. I use a fine tip, with this tip I can spray from a pencil line to about 1 inch in width and have no problems painting 1/35
scale armour. With the 100 XL the spay width is controlled with the trigger button with a back
and forth motion that can be set with a screw. I have tried many different siphon feed guns but none could match the 100 for ease of cleaning and quality of the paint job.

Hi JBM welcome to Armorama
I must agree with JBM, I bought a gravity feed brush, a Simair, 2 weeks ago, for fine detail work and it's excellant. I will also use it for everything else, apart from spraying future and varnish. With the 0.2mm needle and head I can spray from a pencil line to about 25mm, which is all I need for my 1/48 aircraft. I also have a 0.4mm head and needle, with a bigger cup, so if I do need bigger, no problem. My other airbrush is a Badger 200 single action syphon feed, which I've been using for over 20 years, and I've achieved superb results. However my Simair is in a different class and is a far better brush. It is more expensive though.
Mal

Badger has a very nice AB that offers both gravity and syphon feed. It's the 360 Universal.

I could be totally wrong but it seems to me my Aztec has both, gravity feed and siphon. It came with jars that have tubes in them leading to the lid, I think those are the siphon ones. It also came with a little cup with the tube in the bottom that I would say is gravity fed. I prefer the gravity fed only because it seems to work with all paints and preasures a bit better. The siphon has to be just right in both in order to spray.

Aztecs airbrush is a side feed which is really a syphon feed. No gravity.

The thing that is holding me back is that I don't have a very good budget to work with, I need to stay around $75.00 or less if I can. I know that this is severly limiting me but this is what my wife has dictated (I dare not cross her path, she feeds me....).

Any suggestions for this dollar amount? I was looking at the Testors airbrush at the local meijer store. It is $50.00 and looks like it would do the job. I need something for painting armor (fine lines, camo patterns & large areas).

Thanks again for the help, you guys are the best!

I have to agree with purpose driven function. The gravity feed is GREAT for detail.
I do 1/35 scale work on mine and would opt for gravity over syphon any day.

Well, if you don't mind ordering online, Dixieart.com and BearAir.com offer great prices - while the prices are comparable, Dixieart has free shipping on most orders, but Bearair has a much better return policy and lots of specials...

Dixieart has the Iwata Revolution series and the Badger 155 - all good airbrushes - selling at just under your $75 budget....

I was at a hobby shop in Indianapolis today looking at a Testors brand siphon feed. I asked the salesman about the variations in spray and while we were talking he told me that all Aztec screw on tips would work on this Testors model airbrush... The salesman didn't impress me as far as knowing his stuff so does this all sound right??

Get a gravity feed. You will be happy!

Steve

SFC:

According to the video that comes with the Aztec A470 the screw in tips are universal and fit all Aztec brushes that have screw on tips.

Ken Halfyank is correct. the Aztec 470 at least is both gravity and siphon fed. Although it is a side feed. There are paint cups the just hold the paint and lets it run down to the brush, but the set also has the bottles with the siphon tubes with a ball attachment that plugs into the side holes as well.

Paul

Found a sale at www.rexart.com
Iwata revolution price down from $99 to &59.

Anyone dealt with Rex Art before?
Cheers
Peter
:-)

The Badger 150 wooden set with all tips and bottles and stuff at 79$ at dixies must be a good bargain

i got a no name airbrush that seems to do the job off ebay new for 15 dollars. its a syphon model. and im sure its a copy of something good. it comes from somewhere in asia. it runs off canned air tho. but im sure you could use it on a compressor if you had a braided hose. it works for both detail work (i guess). the pressure has to by high but the spray can be as small as 5-10mm. or less than a quarter inch. the only thing is it wont spray for long until i have to let the can warm up. i guess it just gets too cold and i lose airpressure. i need a compressor. haha. im looking at getting a gravity feed tho. im looking at that one the other gentleman said was on sale for 59$ and im thinking of buying it.

Thedude,

Stand your air can in a bowl of water, room temperature or slightly warmer. That'll Stop the propellant cooling down too much and losing pressure