Wow Elliot,
or "countach" as the Italians say (that's where Lambourghini got the name from), you have certainly tried and tested many options out there.
My experience is definitely more limited. I currently use a Revell Gamma compressor for air which I have had no problem with so far. I absolutely agree with you regarding the aerosols, it took me just two tins to make my mind up and since then I have used goodness knows how many aerosols equivalent from the compressor. Well worth the expense and to be honest they can be picked up pretty cheaply nowadays. With regards airbrushes I started off with a Revell Standard class but pretty quickly made up my mind to snaffle a double action Professional from the stock room and boy what a difference it made. One of the things that put me off making the switch was a load of warnings on discussion forums and other webs sites about how difficult they were to use - absolute rubbish. No doubt with a lifetime of practice the end result is going to be a lot better, but even for a beginner there should be no barrier to getting a lot out of it compared to a single action brush.
It is interesting you mention the point about Badger airbrush spares. I recently had a customer who bought a dodgy second hand Badger 200 series on ebay: the air inlet valve was faulty or clogged apparantly and a source of spares was desperately needed. As you know I don't stock them at the moment but I know a site that does: www.shesto.co.uk. The irony is that Revell airbrushes are made by Badger and apparantly the spares are interchangeable with the Badger airbrushes.
Having said that there always going to be that element of doubt so I can understand why people aren't quite prepared to take a risk with something that looks like it might be right.
Revell's range is quite simple. The single action brushes are the Beginner which is really for coating whole models with one colour through to the standard class, which gives a little more flexibility but only when different needles etc are fitted. The double action brushes start with the bottom feed Vario through the top feeding Professional and the dual purpose flexible (giving both options).
I think the secret with airbrushing is don't be afraid to have a go - you'll surprise yourself.
Tom.
-----Original Message-----Hi Brian, welcome to the group. I feel I've been a bit tardy with my
From: themodelcatalogue@... [mailto:themodelcatalogue@...]On Behalf Of Elliott
Sent: 20 June 2006 12:33
To: themodelcatalogue@...
Subject: [themodelcatalogue] Re: Welcome...
reply, but although I'm signed up for emails, I never received this one
for some reason, so I'll blame the computer and write something now :)
I have honestly never tried that many airbrushes outside the Badger
range, of which I have about 10 (1 x 2020, 1x 155, 1x360, 1x175, 2x350,
2x200-3, 2x250) and a couple of others, noteably an Aztek A4709, a
Passche mini spray gun, a larger spray gun (HVLP) from unknown manf.
and a couple of testors 350 variants which made me buy the Badger
version.
If there is something in particular you're looking for, please drop a
message in the group, I'm sure we can point you to somewhere or answer
it ourselves. I like a couple of the airbrushing guide books (I have a
little library of miniature painting books that I use, which include
some airbrush ones too) probably the best of which are (these are for
UK Amazon because that's where I live and ordered from, but search for
the # or name in any other Amazon and it'll come up usually anyway, in
fact, many older books that you can't get in other countries are still
available in the US for some reason [some Verlinden stuff for example]:
Airbrush: The Complete Studio Handbook: Bk. 1 -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823001695/qid=1150802121/sr=8-
2/ref=pd_ka_2/202-9243420-4083853
(easiest to read and follow) Air Brush Painting Techniques (Compendium
Modelling Manuals) -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1902579224/qid=1150802121/sr=8-
5/ref=pd_ka_5/202-9243420-4083853
The Big Book of Airbrush: Basic Techniques and Materials -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823001644/qid=1150802121/sr=8-
3/ref=pd_ka_3/202-9243420-4083853
Most of them aren't strictly for models, but there are some good ones
for models out there if you can get hold of them, I'll see if I can
round some up. Also consider checking those sites that deal with
vinyl, resin and in particular Gundam models; these people usually
always paint with an airbrush (I like Codys Coop and Heavy Armour
Studio's tutorials for showing friends who have never used an airbrush).
The best advice I can probably give you is if you haven't, buy a
compressor; these are the key to the whole thing. The air cans only
last so long before they start to really suck with their flow (pressure
drops off dramatically near the end of the can), or try something like
a diving bottle and a big compressor (which you can also use for the
house but they are waaay to noisy to use in a hobby room). I have a
few myself (back when I had no idea what I was doing and so ordered the
cheapest, then tried a dear one with HUGE tank, then a tankless, then
eventually, actually decided to read some of the stuff on the 'net and
buy a good one) but I only use a CP400 Silent Compressor now (because
it can take two brushes easily) which is sort of like the Badger
Million-Air 480-1 in appearance.
Then, if you aren't really going to use if for anything terribly
intricate or say only for undercoating (to save money on spraycans) I'd
get an external mix brush, like the 350 because they are easier to
clean and sometimes the 250 (all Brushes are 'Badger' if I drop names
because thats where my experience lies; I'm sure Tom can recommend a
Revell that is of similar or better quality) clogs up easily or doesn't
spray well with thicker liquids (I undercoat in Daler Rowney System3,
one of THE thickest acrylics ever known to man). The 350 sprays
without problem, as does the Passche mini gun (I bought off Ebay
because no one seemed to sell mini spray guns and I wanted a wider
spray for coating resin and vinyl 1:6 models).
On a sidenote - I'll tell you one thing Tom, if you started stocking
attachments for Badger brushes, I bet people would be very glad. I can
only ever find Passche (I had to mix and match in the end to get a dual
brush setup going)
I hope that ramble is of some use; but as I say, if you have any
specific questions, please let us know on the group and I'm sure we can
find something or direct you to a book or website or even recreate it
with an airbrush and video camera and upload it somewhere.
Kindest regards
Elliott
--- In themodelcatalogue@..., "Tom Jolly"
<tom.jolly@t...> wrote:
>
> We have a new member! A hearty welcome to 'brian6190', a modeller who
> is particularly interested in learning more about airbrushing. Can
> anyone provide some good web sites or books where good techniques can
> be learnt?
> Tom.
>
Offline 
Send Email