hi i was looking for a new airbrush to paint camo and i saw the 'sparmax' air brush are these any good?

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=SPA%20DH2

I don't use an open gravity feed cup, its too easy to spill paint on something as 3 dementional as a model. I will use the side cup for small touch ups and whatnot. I would get something more universal like the Badger 155 anthem do-it-all. If you go to dixieart.com, the prices are insanely cheap and the service is phenominal. Already at half retail, and any order over $45 has no shipping charge.

If you must have a grav feed for superdetail work and already have siphon feed DA airbrush, a Badger 100LG medium can be had from them for only a few dollars more then a sparmax and parts are easilly available. They tend to be more for super low pressure illustration painting though the LG has a larger cup and is very reasonably priced.

http://www.dixieart.com/Badger100.html

And Iwata grav feed revolution CR can also be had from them for under $65.

thanks i will check it out

For under 20 bucks more you can have a Badger or Iwata

and what would be a good compresser?

the badger 100 can paint thins enuf line to freehand camo right?

if so i cam goin to order it

pretty much any decent double action airbrush can paint camo. Of course there are some better tips on $350 pens, but the general products from the 'big names' are good enough to get good results. The most expensive pens typically are made for ultra low viscocity inks for lines a small as 1/64", but model paint viscocities have its limitations.

For most work, the most important things are a decent quality pen; a good, regulated and dry air source(even double actions you control the paint, but the air pressure is from the compressor), obviously the technique itself, and mixing the paint properly. When you have a decent pen at least you can single out errors, and with a good compressor added in the mix you can further remove vairables so you can practice the skill part of it. If you have bad tools, you don't know what is causing problems.

Pretty much any badger or Iwata is a safe bet for quality. A closed jar siphon feed requires more air pressure to draw a given viscocity paint then a gravity feed cup, so at the limits, the grav feed cup will be able to do the finest work. You just have logistical issues with a grav cup being open and obviously smaller then a bottle under the airbrush. It also can be a little tough dealing with this as a first DA airbrush as it can be hard to mind not only the trigger, but how you orient the actual pen to keep it from spilling. You have a larger safety margin with a bottle/siphon feed. BUT, to compensate, most siphon feeds do come with a color cup that mimics gravity feeds rather then a big tube in a bottle, so it helps for detail work a bit.

As long as the air is 'good' the 100 or Iwata CR will do great work. I would probably stay witth medium tips/needles for model paints though. If you haven't done any work with any DA airbrushes then maybe a syphon feed may be the way to go though the CR does have a lid.


As for air compressors, the biggest factors are: how much room do you want to take up, how quiet does it need to be, and how much do you have to spend . They all end up supplying air through the same pressure regulator/moisture trap(if you have it which it should).

You should research all these items very carefully before buying anything, both compressor and airbrush.

Have you had any airbrush experience before?

i have a very basic bagder air brush single action

o if thats IS the case with compressers then i gues any would be fine then

To start off most compressors will do as long as you have a regulator with a moisture trap or else you have no control of your air. There are a ton of threads about them here you can search through for ideas. Personally I prefer piston to diaphram versions as diaphram compressors pulsate a bit, and a tank makes for the most stable air supply. A good inexpensive compressor is the one from harborfreight WITH the regulator(not the cheapest one with the gauge) that's about $80. Most the inexpensive hobby compressors are diaphram, and have no regulator. Its basically a cheaper version of of the type sold by Iwata as the Smartjet. I am assuming the budget from the original airbrush choice.

For pens, I would say on a budget the Badger anthem 155 does just about everything for the money, and even the set with hose, adapters, color cup, and jars is pretty inexpensive. The Iwata revolution CR is also a great gravity airbrush for superdetailing, but you will need the hose too. The 155 will get about 90 percent as fine a line as a CR, but is much better for large color coats, multiple viscocity paints, and shooting things like Future straight from the bottle with ease. Unless your mottling a 1/72 BF109, it will do just about any camo job. But check on the compressor threads, as there is just too much to type about them.

i saw the harbor frieght one that will do?

I looked at a bunch in that style and noticed that they all look practically the same. The main thing is the regulator that truly makes you able to lay some paint properly. If you pull up the Iwata sprintjet and compare them they look identical, and a lot of the online shops that sell generic compressors all sell a variation of it. Harborfreight is a big company and warranties its tools. I have a simillar version of that exact type of compressor only with a small tank, but I would bet the same company makes all of those type of compressors. Even with my little tank it runs constantly anyway and is not that loud at all. I really don't see why it wouldn't work just fine. For the money, the design is much better then the basic badger or testors diaphram type unregulated ones that people have been using for years. The sprintjet works the exact same way and gets rave reviews at over double the price.

Again, if its regulated dry air, it will do just fine. You can get a brand name pen, compressor, and some hoses(dump the plastic coiled one) and accessories for $150 total. You can hit home depot for any small pipe adapters if you need them.

If you get better and stay with it you can always max out the credit card later. The Iwata CR is a very popular airbrush with modelers and you wont run into any problems that you might with a $39 sparmax. Get a 10' hose when you order it and your set

Again, just make sure its the $79 compressor and not the $39 one, the cheaper one has no way to control air pressure, which is essential to getting any decent effects out of an airbrush.

right got it thanks for the info will go to harborfreight in fremont this sunday

i can only recomend sparmax. i was sceptical to buying from them but now i swear by this airbrush. I use the Dh-2 and get clean cut camo paterns by free hand using acrylics(tamiya) and get no cloggings.

You do need to get their braided hose but its a great addition anyway.

Im also looking forward to purchasing a dh-3 in order to have the bigger paint cup and do basecoats more easily. althought the dh2 is good enought for that.

heres an expamle of what i did with it for my first use. Both basecoat and camo were done with the DH-2 by sparmax






here, on the wepse, the camo was done with my sparmax. please note these are WIP and need a lsot more work.


sorry if their not the best pics....

and heres the model i have:


Frank

nice models i really have to decide over a badger or a sparmax

were do i find this?