Ola everyone

Well I've been toying with the idea to buy an airbrush for some time now, and because I'll be doing some work for the next 3 weeks I will be able to finally buy one. It's going to be my first airbrush ever and I'm wondering what to buy. I have two choices:

1. buy a cheap airbrush with a compressor for around 100euros. The airbush is a copy of the famous Iwata, but it has one flaw, it's quite easy to damage the small nozzle (the metal it's made of is too soft and you can easily twist it) and it's quite hard to get a spare one. Here's the photo of the airbrush:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/dsc2/img.jpg

It has a 0,2mm nozzle, gravity feed.

and the compressor:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/dsc2/07-08-2005_13_00_58-24_MA-1001.jpg

It gives 2 bars of pressure and has a piston pump, it's also quite small

The airbrush costs 25 euros and the compressor costs 75euros.

2. buy an original Iwata, one of those seen here:

http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZopheliaQ5fshop

and the same compressor as above or make one on my own (but I'd rather have something smaller than a fridge compressor).

So what makes more sense, considering that it's going to be my first airbrush ever? I heard that Iwata's are great, but they are quite expensive, so maybe I should buy a cheaper airbrush first and practise with it before buying something better?
If you think that I should buy the original Iwata, what model do you think I should get? I will use the airbrush to paint terrain (maybe models in the future), so I don't think it has to be super accurate or anything like that.

Thanks a lot for any help in this subject:)

Cheers,
dsc.

Tom:

I have bought 2 cheap airbrushes by testors in the past 2 years. The first was a $25 CDN cheapo that connected to a propellant can. The second one was a Testors Mighty Mini. The mighty mini was decent for the price ($70 CDN) but it broke easily upon an incident with my dog and the floor.
When researching a new airbrush, I stumbled upon Iwata a few times especially the Iwata Revolution CR.

You may want to look into getting a compressor at your local hardware store and then just buying a regulator and water trap. That way you can use air tools with it also as well as painting.

HTH

Tom,

If you decide to go the Iwata route, the seller that you have linked to on Ebay supplied mine and some other members on the site.
I will offer the highest recommendation of the service that Ophelia offers, price, communications and speed of service are of the highest quality.

I bought the HP-CH and received it after a little over 5 days in the UK, which is fabulous service.

Just my thoughts that I hope might help you.

Regards,

John

Ola guys

Brian: I've decided to go with the original Iwata, cause I'd rather buy smth good and pay some more than buy several cheap "breaks in 3 months" airbrushes:)
And it's a good idea to buy a compressor which is for overall usage than only modeling oriented. I have something like this on my mind:



It's certainly not small:) but it's not huge either and it gives some serious pressure. Plus I can paint my car or my house or anything else:)

As you said I will need to buy a water trap and a regulator, cause the pressure is too huge to plug it directly into an airbrush.

John: How's the Iwata working for you mate?? Is it a dream come true or not so much??
I was going through all the different models that Ophelia has to offer and I narrowed it to two versions HP-C and HP-CH. Both of them have a 0,3mm nozzle and both have a larger paint cup and the biggest difference is the supa-dupa hi-line Micro Air Control Valve Technology that the HP-CH has. Is it really needed? On the other hand there's only an 11 pound difference between the two so I might just buy the better one:)


Maaaan I can't wait till I order it and it arrives:) Should be fun:) Too bad I won't be able to use it for a whole month (working in the UK and living in Poland:|).

Cheers,
dsc.

If your thinking you'll be aribrushing more often, I would go and get a good one, not a cheap one. Because after you start using it and get good results, your gonna wish you had a better one.

Dont by a airbrush specific compressor, get one at a hardware store, you will save money.

If you buy cheap you know that its going to leave you hanging when it fails. I have an Iwata Revolution and an Iwata HP-C. I recommend you get something in the middle such as an Iwata Ecylipse. It has a .35mm nozzle and will do fine line work, yet it will also do wide areas. Check out Dixie Art before you buy. They have good prices.
Greg. Cheers,

Ola guys

Well after a lot of research and thinking I decided to buy the Iwata HP-CP airbrush. I bought it on ebay, from Ophelia (ophelia_shop) and I can really recomend her to anyone who wants to buy a good airbrush without spending a huge ammount of money. The airbrush looks and feels great but I'm unable to actually try it out as I'm on vacation and don't have an air compressor anywhere nearby.

Now I all have to do is buy me an air compressor when I come back home, add some paint and start using it:)

Cheers everyone,
dsc.

I'm glad you went with the real deal and not a copy. You'll always get a lot of use out of a good quality airbrush from any of the major brands, it was worth the extra bucks For some reason we tend to think cheap with equipment, glues that are allowed to get old, or sanding sticks that get dull. The difference in price in a good and bad airbrush is usually less then one(inexpensive) kit for something that can paint thousands of them.