Brush vs airbrush?

[Airborne01]

I'm in your camp here Richard
In fact I don't actually enjoy usually an airbrush and only do so if totally necessary,(all the faffing about with the thing does my head in!!).
I prefer to use rattle cans on most areas,and hand painting where I can get away with it.... there, I've said it..
....... Let the abuse commence!

I'm with you on this!
Steve

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I'm with you on this!
Steve

We'll sit on the naughty step together then mate!

 

[Tim Marlow]

We'll sit on the naughty step together then mate!

Nothing naughty about it….do what works for you.

I struggled with the airbrush for years, but two things were the key for me. First was getting a decent air supply that could keep up with my airbrush. I had an early AS 186 with no regulator that pulsed like mad from about 8 psi to 35 psi and an Aztec airbrush that was incredibly air hungry. Try getting consistency out of that . I thought it was me…….
Second was switching to Tamiya/Mr colour thinned with Mr levelling thinner. I find them very forgiving regarding thinning and they spray with virtually no tip drying. Before that I used enamels, which were incredible finicky to get the mix right, and acrylics, which tip dry like mad.

Brush painting is the absolute opposite…..just remember all paint needs proper dilution to perform properly.
Enamels are the best for large areas, as they go on smooth without brush marks, but the downside is the drying time between coats. They need at least overnight, if not longer, or the next coat will reactivate the previous layer.
Acrylics are great as well. Dilute them properly and the go on nice and smooth as long as you don’t overwork an area. They skin over quickly and you can drag up the under layer if you do. They dry quickly (unlike enamels) so you can get several layers on in short order to get good coverage. Detail work using acrylics like Vallejo need a wet pallett to get the best out of them.
Tamiya/Mr colour are awful to brush paint! it can be done, but why torture yourself

 

[KarlW]

It seems that most people are put off by the "constant cleaning" of airbrushing, but it's not that much in reality. Blowing through thinners between colours usually suffices with a deeper clean after a few sessions.
I do find enamels and lacquers nicer to spray than acrylics and easier to clean up with less frequent deep cleans.
Thinning also gets people, the "semi-skimmed milk" consistency works pretty well as a rule of thumb, and it quickly becomes second nature.
It's a tool and like all tools need a bit of practice to get the best out of it, though not everyone can get on with them, I can't wallpaper, but apparantly it's easy.

 

[Tim Marlow]

It seems that most people are put off by the "constant cleaning" of airbrushing, but it's not that much in reality. Blowing through thinners between colours usually suffices with a deeper clean after a few sessions.
I do find enamels and lacquers nicer to spray than acrylics and easier to clean up with less frequent deep cleans.
Thinning also gets people, the "semi-skimmed milk" consistency works pretty well as a rule of thumb, and it quickly becomes second nature.
It's a tool and like all tools need a bit of practice to get the best out of it, though not everyone can get on with them, I can't wallpaper, but apparantly it's easy.

I find it doesn’t take much longer to deep clean my airbrush than it does to properly clean a hairy brush…….but then my Iwatta side feed comes apart in seconds, and the paint path is fully accessible.