Hello everybody!

Just got an airbrush as a present, a Proxxon with mini compressor mk20 and an airbrush ab100. (never heard of them before...)

I couldn't resist having a play around of course, and the results were OK, but not crazy.
Then I realized that the pressure could not be adjusted.
And mostly, that it can only be used with acrylic paints!

I heard it is better to paint with acrylics, so that's kind of fine. But I only have enamel paints so far!

Do you think I should rush to the shop before it shuts and upgrade to an adjustable pressure, and more versatile airbrush?
Or should I just rush to the shop and replace my paint stocks by acrylics?
Will this airbrush be good enough?

Hi Ropi, I haven't heard of Proxxon before. But I believe be it acrylic or enamel paints, as long as the paints are thinned well enough (kind of like milky consistency) with the right kind of thinner, it'll be fine for spraying. Even though the pressure cannot be adjusted, play around with the consistency of the paint. Don't rush to change your paints to acrylics... try feeding the airbrush with thinned enamel paint and test spray.. play around. Have fun... and happy holidays.

Hey Umustbe,
Are you also saying that it does not matter if I can't adjust the compressor flow?
I'm asking because I could upgrade the whole thing.
I'm tring to decide if it is worth it or not...

Ropi:
I have heard of the company before, but not the Airbrush and compresor you speak of. Their other stuff seems to be quite nice and have heard good things about them. Here is the link that I have of the online store that carries their stuff.

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/cgi-bin/sgsh0101.exe?SKW=TWMF@&FNM=00&UID=!+USID!

As for your Airbrush question. JM is right it should spray the enamels fine as long as they are thinned enough.

The only reason I can think of that the brush would say for Acrylics only is. The internal parts of the brush may not be able to hold up to the thinner used to thin the enamels or the enamel cleaner used to clean the brush. I.E the internal washers and such that may be inside the brush. Over time the thinner and cleaner may eat the seals away. Thus rendering the brush useless until the are replaced.

As for what you should do. It depends on if you want to change out all your paints or as you said upgrade. If it was me. I would try to figure out which one was the cheapest.

HTH

Paul

As far as regulating pressure, I assume you mean air pressure. This is mostly a function of the compressor (some air brushes allow you to adjust air flow, but it isn't really necessary). You may want to see if a regulator is available at the shop. If so, you can add that and you'll be able to adjust pressure at will.
Now, as to your airbrush. I agree with Paul that the seals inside the brush are probably not solvent-resistant, hence the acrylic requirement. The bigger problem will probably be that most likely what you have is a single action airbrush, which means you cannot manually adjust the paint flow by trigger action (usually by pulling back on the trigger). Now, I shouldn't say this is really a problem because such a brush is fine for general coverage. However, you will find it very difficult to paint fine lines or small camouflage patterns freehand.
Best of luck!

Hi Ropi, I missed out on the "only can be used with acrylic paints" part. If that is what is stated, then like what Paul and Steve said, the kind of thinner used to thin enamels might corrode the interior tubings of the airbrush. (Acrylics can be thinned with water).

As for your decision to upgrade the whole thing and whether it's worth it or not. It really depends on the budget you have for upgrading and if you think it's the right time to do so. It's your call my friend.