I am fairly new to scale modeling and am looking to buy an airbrush. The only problem is that I dont know if i should get a bottom feed brush or gravity feed. if anyone could help me id really appreciate it!

... still trying to find a good airbrush article...

I have many different airbrushes, both top, and bottom feed. My personal preference are Bager and Iwata brushes, simply because they are what I learned on, and any other brands I try, I just can't seem to get the feel for.
Bottom feed are nice for large projects, since you can simply slap on a bottle or a large cup and spray away, top feeds are nice for finer details, and using less paint, and are much easier clean up.
Just remember that no matter what brush you buy and use, it's 90 percent practice, practice, practice, and 10 % not expecting an airbrush to do something it wasn't designed to do.

Hi Kent

I think the theory is that gravity-feed airbrushes allow you to spray at lower air pressures and so achieve finer detail.

I now use an Iwata Eclipse HP-BS gravity-feed and it is superb. Having said that, my trusty airbrush for years was a Badger Crescendo 175... bottom-feed, but for fine work I just removed the paint cup and used the airbrush upside down, controlling the airflow with my thumb... instant gravity-feed!

All the best

Rowan

I use a Badger 150, it's bottom feed... I like it because feels right when holding it. It's bottom feed, I usually use the little paint cup because the big jar is to heavy and tends to be in the way.

I personally don't have a gravity feed airbrush, but some in the hobby club have one, they usually use them to spray details because then they can use less paint....

I don't think it's a pressure thing, as I'm ably to spray between 700 and 900 grams (sorry, don't know how it measures up agains psi) without any problems....

For fine detail work...... Gravity.....
For general work.........Bottom feed....

I have a Iwata HP-C
Paasche VL & H

I strongly prefer gravity feed. Mainly because they are easier to clean. But, they are also more versatile. I have an eclipse CS and because it is so efficient, I don't need much paint even for an entire basecoating session. Needless to say it also has the advantage of better detail capability, so if you have to choose just one brush, I recommend a gravity feed.

I have 2 brushes .. my old badger copy ... a bottom feed served me well for a few years. Then I bougt a Harder and Stenbeck gravity feed "evolution" airbrush. Much better brush for detail and fine spraying, and can access tricky areas easier as there is no bottom cup getting in the way. It comes with 2 needles and 2 cup sizes so larger areas and paint quantities could be sprayed.
I still use the badger copy for large areas and priming but its actually getting less and less as I prefer the evolution brush. You can also buy a 0.2mm needle extra, which is something I might be looking into shortly.
I would also recommend buying a gravity feed as a more useful all-round brush.

Why settle for one or the other.. I still use my trusty badger 175 Cresendo as its a great all around airbrush. just not the best for fine detail work.. I later got a Badger Universeral 360 on which the paint cup can rotate around the airbrush making it either a gravity feed (which i use when i want to just touch up or do something small that doesn't require a lot of paint. And when i want to spray an entire model or large area i just turn the paint cup under and slap on a bottle of paint.. (thinned of course).. i use model master paints so i converted one of the lids for my 360 to fit them.. :>

best places to get a 360 is at michales craft store or A.C. Moore check out your local papers for the 40%-50% off coupons on any item in the stores.. for the best bargin..

Also Hobbytown U.S.A. carries a badger 360 with thir name and logo on it and is generally slightly cheaper than the Badger version in most stores.. even though both airbrushs are exactly alike and made by Badger..

good luck...

Hi there Blackflag.

1stly, welcome to the big A

2ndly, I think there are many factors to consider when purchasing an airbrush (just to confuse you further )than gravity or bottom feed. E.g. internal mix vs external mix, single action vs dual/double action, side cup feed, what type of paint is being used, size of needle, etc, etc, etc... All very confusing, I know.

I use a Badger knockoff/look-alike spraygun for the large surface area stuff, and have a fancier Badger airbrush for the fine work (sorry, can't remember the model number).

The badger website
http://www.badger-airbrush.com/
has quite a nice chart which may help you select the model best suited to your needs.