Air Brushes

[Steve Dwyer]

Looking for recommendations on buying an air brush for canopies and detail. I don't want to spend a ton of money; I'd prefer to stay under a hundred. I had a $30 three tip size Master gravity feed that worked so, so. It may have been compressor related; I have since installed a water/desiccant filter. I seem to have misplaced the airbrush anyway, I think someone borrowed it.  I only need the gun and hose; I'm considering siphon feed instead of gravity?? I'm open for suggestions looking at Paasche, Avanti Iwata and Master. Can't find much here only using different paints with airbrushes.

Steve

[Dave_Trible]

I am using an Iwata I got at Hobby Lobby.  I think it was a bit more than $100 but it serves me well.

Dave

[Dennis Nunes]

Hi Steve,

I recently purchased a “Paasche VL-3AS” airbrush set that comes with .55,.75, and 1.05 mm spray heads from Amazon for $80. It is excellent!


Dennis

[Paul Wescott]

I’m not comfortable saying “this is the one YOU need” because everyone is different.  Different dexterity, different media / paints / inks (you can even put Klass Kote through one but talk to Mr. Klass Kote first), also different climate.

So as a past airbrush user here are some random thoughts.

Paasche is an excellent brand.  Their $20 “EZ” external mix model may do some of what you want.  I would be more likely to buy a HF cheapie with more features.

The Paasche VL (suggested above) is an awesome unit.  There is one “pre-owned” on fee-bay right now for $35, it looks like the same kit for $80 elsewhere.

The thing about the VL is it’s a dual-action airbrush.  You push down on the button (trigger) for air, and the farther you push it the more airflow you get, and you pull it back to pull the needle out of the spray orifice, pulling back a little barely opens the orifice and the further you pull back the bigger the orifice gets.  So controlling the VL is 2-dimensional and you either have to have or develop a talented finger.  The VL is great for t-shirts and fine arts but maybe overkill for canopies etc. And then as if that wasn’t enough, you can swap out the three sizes of tips & needles to give you three different orifice sizes.  The needles also have an adjustment.  For each combo (Sm/Med/Lg) the needle will close off the orifice at the front end of the travel, and open it fully at the back end of the travel.  Lots of people install the needle so it blocks the orifice at the front position, which allows ZERO media through if the air is blowing.  Some folks pull the needle back a bit then lock the adjustment, so there is always room for the media to flow.  Many pros or production users go one further, they use the small needle with the medium tip, and the medium needle with the large tip, so that they can’t really fully block the orifice.  Double-action plus tip/needle selection AND adjustment turns the process into a 3-dimensional juggling act.  I’ve seen intelligent people struggle with it, and I’ve seen half-wits find it effortless.  Go figure.

A single action airbrush only blows air when you press the trigger.  Everything else gets pre-adjusted.  This might be the best solution here.

But the only way to know is to try.

Use a good regulator.  The air compressor should have a tank or you’ll see the paint pulsing out of the brush.

This reply was generated by ChatGPT JUST KIDDING! JUST KIDDING LOL!  Or am I…

Have fun.

[Doug Moisuk]

Do you need the most expensive ones? Are you using it every day?
I bought the best one from here and I’m happy with it. Capable of more than my skills.

https://chuckbauman.com/airbrushes-free-airbrush-reviews.htm

[Steve Dwyer]

Hi Steve,

I recently purchased a “Paasche VL-3AS” airbrush set that comes with .55,.75, and 1.05 mm spray heads from Amazon for $80. It is excellent!


Dennis

All good responses here, thank you.

Dennis, can you tell me what the difference is between the VL-3AS double Action brush you bought and the VL-3MH Double Action brush is?  I see that the VL-3MH replaces the VLS-202S while the VL-3AS replaces the VLS-Set. Literature is confusing and difficult to follow.

Steve

[Dennis Toth]

Steve,
Are you using it to do shading or weathering or just clear coat? If doing shading/weathering the double action airbrush may be worth the $. However, for just spraying color/clear coat the Preval System disposable units from Home Depot (https://www.homedepot.com/b/Paint-Paint-Supplies-Paint-Applicators-Paint-Sprayers/Preval/N-5yc1vZarv5Z7vb at all the big chains and Amazon too) are just fine. Keep the head capped after each coat and it will spray out with no issues, one big tip is to strain the paint as you add it to the spray jar and keep the end screen on the pickup tube.

Best,    DennisT

[Paul Wescott]

All good responses here, thank you.

Dennis, can you tell me what the difference is between the VL-3AS double Action brush you bought and the VL-3MH Double Action brush is?  I see that the VL-3MH replaces the VLS-202S while the VL-3AS replaces the VLS-Set. Literature is confusing and difficult to follow.

Steve

Once again the marketing folks in their never ending quest to sell MORE STUFF have muddied the waters.

The VL model has been around for a long time (decades) with no real changes.  Here are the two (2) I was able to identify:

VL-SET - Plastic handle (always) which must be removed to pre-adjust the needle, and the spigot on the bottom for mounting the cup or bottle is a plug-in friction fit.

VLS-SET - Exactly the same as VL-SET except the spigot on the bottom where the cup or bottle plugs in includes a nut to tighten the grip.  Necessary?  I’ve never needed one.

VL-202S - Exactly the same as VL-SET except the plastic handle has been replaced with a “ported” aluminum handle.  The ports allow access to the needle adjuster nut for pre-adjusting and also for pulling the needle back during use.  Some users like to clear the orifice area during use by blowing full air and flicking the needle back and forth.  It’s hard to do with only the trigger.  So they hold the trigger button down and forward (full air but needle is forward, then they grab the needle nut through the ports in the handle and they run it back and forth quickly a few times.  My description may not make much sense until you need to do it, or you see someone do it (YouTube is your friend here).

VLS-202S - Exactly the same as VL-202S except the spigot on the bottom where the cup or bottle plugs in includes a nut to tighten the grip.

Newer model numbers:

VL-3AS - Model number change only.  Exactly the same as the VL-SET.

VLS-3MH - Model number change only.  Exactly the same as the VLS-202S.  I’m pretty sure “MH” stands for Metal Handle.


I hope that helps a bit.

[Dennis Saydak]

I have an Iwata BCS available with a bunch of cups for it, but no hose. $90.00 + $12.00 for postage.

[Dennis Nunes]

Dennis, can you tell me what the difference is between the VL-3AS double Action brush you bought and the VL-3MH Double Action brush is?  I see that the VL-3MH replaces the VLS-202S while the VL-3AS replaces the VLS-Set. Literature is confusing and difficult to follow.

Hi Steve,
I'm not sure what the difference is between the VL-3AS and the VL-3MH, other than the LV-3MH has a metal handle and the VL-3AS has a plastic handle. The LV-3MH is just a little more expensive. I guess because of the metal handle? Who knows...   

Dennis

[Steve Dwyer]

All now makes sense, thanks guys. Now to rob the piggy bank.

Steve

[Rusty]

Hi Steve,

I recently purchased a “Paasche VL-3AS” airbrush set that comes with .55,.75, and 1.05 mm spray heads from Amazon for $80. It is excellent!


Dennis

Amen to that.  I have 2 of these.  One is set up for fine spray pattern and the other wide.   I used mine yesterday to spray exhaust residue on the P51. 

[Steve Dwyer]

I'm now the proud owner of a VL-3MH air brush. Think I'll give it a try this weekend, results to follow.

Steve

[Gary Dowler]

Hi Steve,

I recently purchased a “Paasche VL-3AS” airbrush set that comes with .55,.75, and 1.05 mm spray heads from Amazon for $80. It is excellent!


Dennis

How is it for larger areas?  Do you run it on a typical airbrush air supply?

[Dennis Nunes]

How is it for larger areas?  Do you run it on a typical airbrush air supply?

Hi Gary,
You need to be a little more specific on "larger areas". If you are trying to spray a 680 sq. in. stunt ship, it can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it. However, if you're talking about a 1/2a size plane, no problem. I use mine for trim colors on large stunt ships and small touch-up work.

For the air supply, you want to have air that is dry and consistent. I tried one of those small air brush compressors many hears ago, but it didn't work very well. I ended up purchasing a Harbor Freight portable 10 gal. oil lubricated air compressor about 8 or 9 years ago. I also made an air manifold that has a filter, air cleaner/dryer, regulator, with ball valves and quick disconnects. All the valves, dryer and regulator came from Harbor Freight and the copper piping and brass fittings from Home Depot. For more information on this see the following post:

https://stunthanger.com/smf/open-forum/airbrush-and-detail-guns/msg574418/#msg574418

Hope this helps.

Dennis

[Steve Dwyer]

Dennis,

My boys bought me several years back a vertical 30 gal tank oil compressor to replace my old Craftsman 30 gal horizontal oilless air compressor. The Craftsman literally rotted out from internal rust. Air compressors accumulate a lot of water and should be drained after each use. I installed a quick turn petcock to make draining easier. As you did, I installed a good grade combination filter/desiccant style final filter at the compressor. I haven't used it yet. I was having issues with my spray gun last year the I suspect was moisture related.  BTY I can no paint without going deaf.

Steve