I was thinking about purchasing an airbrush and I was wondering what is a good one to buy that is reasonably priced (preferably between $100-$200) and works well. What type of airbrushes do you guys use?

Hi i use a Badger 200 just the basic model but it works fine for me. If this is your first air brush I would stay away from the expensive ones till you are happy with your technique, most frightening thing in the world is a clean model and an airbrush full of paint :-)

I use a German Harder & Steenbeck Evolution. It costs around 200$, and works very nice. The Airbrush is probably much better than my skills. It is very easy to clean and I have never experienced any problems with clogging. It is very easy to use as well. I made three lines and painted a small area on a piece of scrap plastic before I started on a kit.

Here is a link to the company
Harder and Steenbeck



Cheers
Erik

Have to agree with Erik. The evolution is excellent and also a dream to clean. I started out with a cheap badger copy and it was useful, but nothing compared to the evolution. The basic set comes with a 0.2mm and 0.4mm fittings, although I never use the later. I also bought a "quick-fix" fitting for the end which control the paint feed. It would be my recommendation also. Seems to be more common with european modellers though! Don´t know about its availability in the states. They now have a 1.5mm needle/nozzle set, which I`ll probably get some day!

Those Harder & Steenbeck's are reputed to be great airbrushes (never used one, but heard nothing but great things), but as Frank said, they may be hard to get here in the States. If you are willing to cross into the ~$150 price range I would suggest that you look into Iwata airbrushes. $150 will get you an Eclipse (I own and recommend the CS; I also own an HP-B but prefer the Eclipse because it is more versatile), a pre-set handle (a MUST for detail work, let's you limit the maximum paint flow), and a detail crown. The Eclipse CS has a .35mm needle/nozzle which is a good compromise between larger general coverage combinations and smaller detail brushes. I recommend gravity feed brushes because they are easier to clean and they allow greater flexibility in air pressure settings.
John's advice about getting and learning with a starter airbrush is sound, but I have to admit I didn't really start to enjoy airbrushing until I bought my Iwatas. They are SO much easier to keep clean than any brush I've used (a really old Badger, a Paasche VSR90+, and a venerable old Testors/Aztek) and they spray much more consistently. As long as you take care with the needle/nozzle combination (they are a bit pricey to replace) I can't see why an Iwata wouldn't be a great airbrush to grow-up with, and into.
Here's a site with good information/prices/service (no connection with this vendor, just a happy customer):
http://www.dixieart.com/

Just for the record: I also use a compressor from Harder and Steenbeck, The Euro Tec 20 A, and it is just amazing. The very first time I turned it on I thought it was broken because it made no sound! It costs about 300 $ wich is not bad in Norway (Pint of Beer costs about 9 $ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Come to Denmark,my friend, I will by you a beer

I'm using a Badger 100LG and I'm very happy with it. Very easy to get used with it and once you can handle it you can obtain very nice results. It is very easy to clean too. The cleaning procedure is very important to me and this airbrush did satisfy my expectations.
I bought it from official distributor of Badger, from Turkey. I purchased also the fine head set of it and all of the bussines costs about 160$. It is very easy to find also Badger pieces and accesories in all over the world with accesible prices. If you think to have a nice piece I strongly reccomend a Badger 100LG or 100 G..

I use the Tamiya HG superfine Airbrush

Basicly a copy of the H&D evolution, I didn't notice much difference between in both deisgn and quality/results. The Tamiya was a bit cheaper so I bought that one :-)

Check my gallery for the things I have achieved with it so far.....

Martin

anyone tried the badger 100, is it a good beginners set?

If I was to recommend an airbrush.. and I've only actually used aztek's and badgers, well I couldn't recomend the Badger 155 double action siphon feed enough.. and if you want to have a gravity feed option then go with the Badger 360.. which is the same as the 155 with a color cup that swivels to gravity feed. they are super easy to clean. and fairly easy to find in the states and parts are fairly easy to get. and If you live near a Michales craft store or a A.C. Moore.. keep an eye out in your local paper for their flyers as both stores put 40% off coupons in their flyers.. and around this time of year they put in some 50% off ones now and then.. and then you can save some of that cash for a compressor.. :>

Nate,

I just got a Badger 350 kit w/ all the extra tips, jars and hose at A.C. Moore w/ 40% coupon is was under $50 total.
With a Walmart compressor (semi-loud) at $80 I was airbrushing for about $130 US.
More money to buy models. LOL


It's OK, I'm sure there is better but it's not bad to learn on.
I find getting the right thinning of the paint and air pressure to be really key to good work.
Don't know if that is so critical w/ more expensive brushes or not (I would think so).


Good Luck
N E O

Here's one you can try that will not cost you much: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=1500 I picked this one up as my first AB earlier this year and have played around with it on a couple of models and it works very well. I'm no AB expert at all but for a starter AB and a backup, I can't find anything wrong with it especially since it was only $20. It's not a cheapie plastic testors beginner type of AB either which is nice, only drawback is it's syphon feed so it's not as easy to clean as a gravity feed.

I also snagged a new one (don't tell the wife though lol) at the last Hobby Lobby 40% coupon, picked up the Iwata Revolution CR for like $60. I know HL is overpriced compared to the online sites but I didn't have to pay shipping, so it still came out cheaper. Just need the hose and I'll be set to start playing with that one.