Brush or Airbrush ?

[Gern]

buy decent quality ones......cheap ones will just leave you frustrated with poor finish

You talkin' hairy sticks or airbrushes here Paul?


If you fancy having a play around with an airbrush, there are kits available for reasonable prices. Try one (keep the packaging!) and see if you like it - I did! If you're not happy, put the stuff back in the boxes and sell it on ebay - you'll get half your money back. If you do like it, you'll be spoilt for choice!

 

[BarryW]

Zak - there are some highly skilled hairy stick painters out there who get superb results but I would say that it is easier to get such superb results with an airbrush even for a medioicre airbrusher like me. There are lots of helpful videos on-line but I found the tutorial on the Flory Models site to be the biggest help. There is a subscription of £3/month for the site with no tie-ins.


Airbrushing does take a lot of practise and patience to learn but the job is made easier by getting the 'kit' that makes the job easier. Some tips:


1/ Get a cheap compressor to start with. It is nevertheless a significant outlay but well worth it and long term will work out lots cheaper than buying a lot of the pressurised cans. A decent low cost compressor such as the AS186 can be obtained for around £80.


2/ Get an airbrush that is double action and gravity not syphon fed. A gravity feed is much more practical for modelling as I found having made the mistake of buying a syphon feed initially.


3/ It is worth getting a good airbrush. The cheap Chinese ones can work well but you will not regret spending more on quality kit. I use a Harder & Steenbeck Evolution personally. H&S airbrushes are the easiest to strip and clean with interchangable parts making them very practical. Lots of spares available. I use a 0.4 needle most of the time but also use a 0.2 for some work - with the H&S you can get both size needle sets so you do not need two brushes.


4/ Paints - you will see a lot about mixing and getting the consistency of milk. I find all of that a bit hit and miss and a bit of a pain. Consequently I get paint that is made to be sprayed right out of the bottle unthinned. Vallejo Model Air is superb (when you do need to thin get their own thinner) I also use the AK Interactive acrylics too as I find they spray even better than Vallejo. You can use the Vallejo thinner with the AKI acrylics by the way so no need for both. I should also mention that both vallejo and AK paints come in eyedropper bottles that make dispensing paint very easy and clean.


As Steve said you will still need to use hairy sticks for detail and for some weathering effects but you will not regret getting an airbrush.

 

[Dave1973]

Thankfully, this has turned into a genuine and polite discussion. Lol!


Zak, as someone who used to paint soley by brush, im sure you have a lot more experience than i do, as im relatively new to modelling. The only painting ive ever done previously was painting the grass green at Browning Barracks for the Queen to visit (dont ask, long story!)


I however use an airbrush, and its probably easier for someone to begin with one if they dont have the methods ingrained for brush painting, so easier to adapt. However, airbrushing is really easy, when it comes to scale modelling at the beginning, as its way different to the artists that use them to create murials on cars and motorcyles. I find it nicer as you get a really nice even coat, very thin so you dont loose detail. Its also easier to modulate paint colour, by applying lighter shades in areas, which needs a very high skillset to do with brushes,.


But dont discount brushes, as they play a very important role formthe airbrush user, as you need them to do detailing, small work etc.


My opinion is if you are brush painting alone, then the money spent on decent brushes is vital. I tried using some cheap brushes with Tamiya acrylics but it was so hard even thinning them to get a good coverage without brush marks. Ive got some lovely acrylic specific brushes which were about £7 each that made a world of difference.


IF you do decide to try airbrushing, then regardless of what reviews chinese airbrushes get, id advise trying one of the cheaper airbrushes. Ive still got two and they work fine, although i upgraded for the main paintwork and detail. But one of those, for about £10 is fine to start. As for compressor, you can either try canned air, but id advise not, as others have said as its expensive and doesnt last five minutes! Get yourself a decent PISTON compressor, ideally with a receiver tank. These work way better, and if you hate airbrushing, you can always use if for other things or sell it easily enough. As said above, £80 can get you a kit with airbrush and decent compressor.


Then, if you get along with airbrushing, a decent airbrush as an upgrade is good practice, and the chinese one you can releate to primer/varnish as i do.

 

[stona]

Well put Dave!


Cheers


Steve

 

[zak illingworth]

Cheers Guys, loads of food for thought here. Every days a school day so they say. Once again thank you for sharing your knowledge its much appreciated.


Zak

 

[PaulTRose]

You talkin' hairy sticks or airbrushes here Paul?

to be honest.....both! :P


but i did mean hairy sticks

 

[demon]

Just my opinion I personally couldn't build what I build without an airbrush to the standard I build I use an iwata studio series compressor and a badger renegade never had any issues at all I found it very easy to learn the basics and turn out a reasonable model just my opinion but I think if you get fairly good gear it will serve you well and the learning curve will be a lot easier I still use brushes for fine detail work but that's all just my thoughts but enamels are probably easier to brush paint on large areas so as I'm acrylic 99% of the time this was my choice of direction and no regrets as yet


Roger

 

[takeslousyphotos]

I brush exclusively.......... Mostly with Napalm !!! ......... I find it clogs up an airbrush terribly.

 

[Ian M]

Just to say I'm impressed with the humor and control in this thread.


To paint well with an airbrush takes a bit of practice so does a hairy stick.


There are things you can do with the one which you can't with the other.


Or rather do well I should add.

 

[Deleted member 4203]

The age-old question: Airbrush or brush? Or 'Airbrush and Hairy Stick' :D


A subject that sometimes gets...


...a bit hairy :D :p


Personally I'd say brush, but i've never used an airbrush so I don't know what it is like, but I'd imagine an airbrush allows the modeller to get things painted more quickly than by hand


Blair