Best airbrush for less than £20 (re-named)

[Gapow]

Hi everyone, I\'m thinking about buying an airbrush and was wondering if there is much difference in quality/ease of use between the humbrol and gamesworkshop one.

I\'ve been to hobby craft and they have a few ranging between £6-£18 which is my price raneg unfortunately. most of the cheaper ones are pen shaped, but the gw is shaped like a hand flamer with a trigger. Are the pen ones easier to use? Is the GW just a gimmick or are they nice to use?

Thanks

 

[sg2009]

let me put you straight on one thing the gw one isn\'t an airbrush. It is a spray gun used mainly for basecoating etc Airbrushes are usually shaped like pens. Airbrushes are used for a range of things from basecoating to tiny detail work, so a question which will help you what are you going to use it for ???

 

[Gapow]

It\'s mainly going to be used for under coating things like tanks and possibly for doing my terrain boards, or is it a better idea to paint the boards?

Think the spray gun would be best suited for the boards, but the airbrush sounds more versatile. Would the air brush do the boards ok?

 

[sg2009]

id say the gw spray gun for stuff like that but i think airbrushes come in handy anyway

 

[Gapow]

Thanks, think I\'ll get the GW one for now, as it will suit my purpose better, but will probably purchase a proper air brush later

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Gapow
I\'ve been to hobby craft and they have a few ranging between £6-£18 which is my price raneg unfortunately.

I think you might want to rename the thread then - best AB for less than £20!

It\'s not one of the ones you asked about but at these kinds of prices the best you\'re going to get is the Aztek single-action brush. This uses the same nozzles as the high-end ones so the spray quality is pretty much the same, you just don\'t have the control that a double-action AB gives.

In case you don\'t know, the major cost on an ongoing basis is going to be air - if you\'re using canned air it gets expensive, and fast. Compressors aren\'t cheap usually (and you tend to get what you pay for) but they more than pay for themselves in a short while.

Do a quick search, you\'ll come across at least three older threads from the past year or so with more info on compressors v. other air sources and other useful info.

Einion

 

[Ritual]

For the money you\'d planned on spending, there\'s no way you\'d get a decent airbrush anyway.

 

[airhead]

we have a deep discount tool company here in the U.S. (Harbor Freight)

Get a cheap spray gun for $15.

This will base coat tanks and spray terrain.

It is not an airbrush. I\'ve painted boats with it.

for a little finer (not much) spray, this will do what you are asking for around $20.

About half of what GW wants for its magic wand....

If you want to do something more than fog paint, post a new thread.

What is the best airbrush? Depends on what you are using it for... I wouldn\'t want to paint the side of a building with a CM, nor would I paint a helmate with a housepainters airless.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Ritual
For the money you\'d planned on spending, there\'s no way you\'d get a decent airbrush anyway.

The Aztek I mentioned is \'decent\' - true airbrush (not spraygun) with internal mixing, not bottom-fed, high-end nozzles.

Edit: posted this before but worth repeating...

Good enough, no?

Einion

 

[Ritual]

Well... would he get it for £18? Here in Sweden it would cost a lot more, though still less than a double-action one. And, I also took air supply into the account, as just a gun wouldn\'t do you any good.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Ritual
Well... would he get it for £18?

I don\'t know, until Gapow goes and looks

Last time I checked for a thread on CMON it was still available from some online suppliers, UK and US. It\'s no longer made, I suspect because it took too much from their higher-end sales.

Price in the US was roughly the equivalent of a tenner, before shipping.

Einion

 

[Ritual]

I did a quick search on Aztek brushes in Sweden, and came up with single-action ones in the vicinity of £50.

EDIT: And, I\'m not questioning the \"decency\" of it. Just being able to get it that cheap...

EDIT 2: Found a simpler one for about £25-30. Still above £18 and with no air supply. :]

 

[Gapow]

The badger airbrush is one that they have in hobby craft, think it was £12 and it was one I was considering over the GW one. The humbrol one is pretty much the same as this, with a slight variation in price.

I just wanted this for a smooth base coat over large flat areas and something to do my terrain with, other than spray paint. (maybe i should stick to that?)

I\'m aware to get a decent one for painting with I\'d have to pay more moeny, unfortuantely thats the same with everything

 

[airhead]

for coverage of large areas of terrain, I\'d go with the spraygun. If you are talking about doing smaller areas, I hit ebay up for an aztec.

Bang for the buck, the black single/double action gun it tough to beat. Various tips allow several options. Cleaning is probably easier than most (but I took the tips apart to clean them...)

Great detail gun? no.
Great production gun? no.
Better than the zero action badger/GW guns by a long shot and for not much more money.
Kinda the jack of all trades/master of none.

****

air supply.

using canned air gets expensive in a hurry.
You are either going to want to invest in a compressor or make a deal with the local industrial gas supplier. The compressor is best in the long run.
1/8 HP +/- diaphragm pump will run that no problem.

be sure to spring for the regulator and moisture trap - they are combined on the example photo.

 

[nick232]

this place is good:

http://www.airbrush-pro.co.uk/index.html?target=dept_118.html&lang=en-gb

 

[NGArtStudios]

I would suggest getting anything but the GW one. From my experience and what I have heard from others, the GW one is a piece of over priced crap. I haven\'t used it but having used other GW hobby products and knowing people who have used it, the quality is aweful for quite a hefty price tag.

I own the second one that Airhead posted there and it works great for base coating minis, and as he stated, it\'s half the price of the GW one.