Airbrush
 

Hi all - Looking for an airbrush that is reasonable and wont cost me too much.

Ive been recommended the Iwata Neo, but at £60 its a little too steep for the few shells i paint in the year.

Are there any options below this tier?

Do Not buy the Neo - it's absolute rubbish IMO.

Buy a £10/ £15 0.3mm one on eBay (usually listed as Nail art etc) - it won't last too long unless you look after it nicely and keep anything solvent based away from it. Easily as good as the Neo.

I bought the Custom CS and it's fantastic - but I would not buy the Neo again - ended up binning it.

I too started with the Iwata Neo and after a month painting with it, i ended up buying an Iwata Kustom CS, and two years into painting, my Neo is in the bin, Unfortunately for quality and reliability you are gonna be paying for it.

If your going to use in a few time a years for a number of years, best just to look for a decent second hand brush.

I was hoping you would reply Andy - I've seen your thread :)!

Will any of them do, or do you use a specific seller?

I've had a cheap one that came with my compressor. Its done 3 shells great, then been stored for 6 months. I came to use it last night ( stored cleaned ) and the consistency is all over the place. no 'feel' to it any more, so i can only assume its goosed!

Also - thanks for the feedback on the Neo,, i was close to buying one! Glad i asked here first.

I have 2 brushes I mainly use - an Iwata Eclipse and a BD181 (I think).
The Iwata was >£100 while the BD was <£30. If I could only keep one, it would probably be the BD.
Got it from here: -
http://www.airbrush-pro.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d27.html

Also, lots of good tips on this page

Do you chaps just use gravity feed air brushes?

yes.

And don't forget to thin the paint.:)

Cheers Chris, can you tell me, when you take the needle out of the BD airbrush, does the lever etc fall to pieces? I have a cheapo one that came with my airbrush and it really winds me up having to put all the bits back together!

they usually do. Just checked my Iwata to confirm and it also comes out when you strip it

just as an additional thing - the Iwata will allow the lever to come out, but it doesn't fall out and the pivot guide thing is attached to the needle guide / lock so it is much easier to put back together

finally, also noticed my Iwata is an eclipse rather than a custom

I recently bought an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS and its a wonderfully engineered tool.
I've not used an cheaper ones, and have no experience to give, but have spoke to AndyS and Chris and heeded the advise they gave me.

I got mine here:
http://www.graphicair.co.uk/products...-Airbrush.html
and would recommend.

Price seems to have gone up more than £25 now though, and I only bought mine Aug 1st.

I'm no expert on why some airbrushes are so expensive and others can be had for a little over £10 - but I do believe the seals are fundamentally different - and when they fail - the whole thing just stops working.

I've tried various cheap ones from various eBay sellers and still use them - just to have one filled with white or black for backing etc.

But - I've had various problems with them from no paint spraying at all - to some crazy back pressure - where air blows back up through the paint - to just quickly degrading performance.

One died within a few days - it was £20 so I returned it and had it exchanged - only for that one to die too!!!

It's a gamble with the cheap stuff.

What I found with the expensive Iwata - was the consistency is just great - and it works beautifully with very low pressure - whereas the cheap stuff needs more air to move the paint.

The Neo needed my compressor cranked right up just to spray - even then hardly any pressure came from the air airbrush - it was like there was something fundamentally wrong with it - just hopeless!!

I now use the Iwata and I still have a brush that John Miller used to sell for around £100- that too has proved totally faultless.

I've read you can thin the paint with warm water, is that correct.

Cheers
Ross

I'll have to buck the trend on the Iwata Neo's lads - I'm using the gravity fed one alongside my Kustoms and it works just fine! Although it has a .5 needle and nozzle I don't find fades an issue

Paul - One thing to consider there are cheaper brushes out there but there would be a good chance you might have to buy twice

I must admit I sometimes use createx auto air reducer and sometimes use warm water. I can't really tell the difference. I suspect the experts can 😀

Cool, thanks.:D

How do the createx paints compare to the Faskolor? How much do you water it down??

I use both,and they seem pretty similar. I don't tend to use thinners unless you want to do a fade. It's just a matter of getting a feel for the paint. There are no hard and fast rules ! Just have fun😀

Likewise, I use both and couldn't really tell difference. I think the biggest difference is between flat colours, fluorescents, Metallics, opaque etc

Aim for consistency of milk, wherever you start

started with veda 180 good to start with but ended up buying iwata kustom cs throw anything at it and it'll work but always aim for 'milky consistency' to be honest.

use most of the paints mentioned above but working away from faskolour.

RCS liquid mask best by far, used bitty but once lifted it wont go back.