Airbrush and Detail Guns

[Mike Griffin]

I am going to throw myself to the mercy of the court on this one as I know absolutely nothing about Airbrush or Detail gun systems.  I would like to buy a decent gun and compressor and/or a decent airbrush system.  I have zero experience with these systems and living on a fixed income, I do not have the money to spend on a top of the line Sata or Iwata gun/airbrush.  What is some thing that would be middle of the road and affordable.  I am not interested in the kind of finishes to be in the front row of the nats.  I just want something that will work well and affordable.  Is it feasible to paint the entire model with an airbrush or do you need the detail gun to paint the whole model and an airbrush to just do the trim colors?

I know that I will get a variety of answers and that is OK, any information that you can give me is more than I have right now.

Thank you for your

Help.

Mike

[George Truett]

Sharpe Finex is a good detail gun for about a third of the cost of a Sata.  Painting a stunt sized plane with an airbrush is not what I would consider reasonable.  I use my airbrush for stripes and numbers/letters.

[frank williams]

Harbour Freight

[Avaiojet]

Mike,

The Paasche Model VL Double Action is all you'll ever need.

I would first shop on Craig's List.

The jam gun from Harbor Freight but don't buy a HVLP.

Compressor? The bigger the better. 

In all honesty you really don't need any of that stuff to produce a great finish on your models.

All I use is aerosol cans. I've put up enough photos so you must know of the quality in results I get.

I suggest you first try a good aerosol can finish before you invest in spray equipment.

Keep in mind, I have a life long relationship with professional spray equipment including the airbrush, yet I elect to use aerosol cans. And I still have equipment.

Nothing to open and mix and no cleaning. Definitely a money saver., a big money saver! Save a bunch of time also.

I have info on Krylon brand over at CFC Graphics vendor's corner with photos.

CB

[John Leidle]

  $14.00 touch up guns at Harbor Freight work fine  & if you dont clean  it or otherwise screw it up you can toss it . I have one for clear , metalics ,blues, greens , reds oranges  and one for white 5 total . 

[Mike Griffin]

Harbour Freight

Frank, what do you recommend to buy from Harbor Freight?
  I know nothing about these systems.

Mike

[Mike Griffin]

Mike,

The Paasche Model VL Double Action is all you'll ever need.

I would first shop on Craig's List.

The jam gun from Harbor Freight but don't buy a HVLP.

Compressor? The bigger the better. 

In all honesty you really don't need any of that stuff to produce a great finish on your models.

All I use is aerosol cans. I've put up enough photos so you must know of the quality in results I get.

I suggest you first try a good aerosol can finish before you invest in spray equipment.

Keep in mind, I have a life long relationship with professional spray equipment including the airbrush, yet I elect to use aerosol cans. And I still have equipment.

Nothing to open and mix and no cleaning. Definitely a money saver., a big money saver! Save a bunch of time also.

I have info on Krylon brand over at CFC Graphics vendor's corner with photos.

CB

Charles I am trying to get away from spray cans.  That is what I have used for years.  Thank you for the input.

Mike

[Mike Griffin]

Sharpe Finex is a good detail gun for about a third of the cost of a Sata.  Painting a stunt sized plane with an airbrush is not what I would consider reasonable.  I use my airbrush for stripes and numbers/letters.

Thank you George.

Mike

[Dan McEntee]

   Sometimes, it's not the tool you use, but the nut on the handle makes all the difference. If you are ever in St.Charles, MO stop into Mark Twain Hobby and check out the models hanging from the ceiling. There is a Dave Platt Focke-Wulf 190 D-9 that has an outstanding paint job on it, and it was painted with a 5 dollar Badger single action external mix  airbrush. There are also plastic models hanging from the ceiling that you would swear were air brushed but were in fact brush painted.  It's all in the technique and lots of practice helps a lot. You are a smart man and know how much you can spend, so just get the best that you can and start mixing and test spraying paint. When you choose your compressor, leave a little extra room in the budget for moisture traps. Down your way with the weather you get, you will need them. Once you plan things out a bit and prepare your work area, it's not all that much trouble, especially for the types of results you are looking for. It's great to have all that control over what you are doing.
  Good luck and have fun,
  Dan McEntee

[Mike Griffin]

Thank you Dan and that makes a lot of sense.   I appreciate the help.

Mike

[Olli-Matti]

I would also recommend a hvlp detail spray gun. Those are available at cheap prices as explained already on the previous posts.

I used to paint with an airbrush only but for instance a big CL model is a pain to cover with an airbrush. Car spray guns in detail size are affordable and do the job just fine. Atleast until you get the hang of it, then it might pay off to get a more expensive one. For a compressor a ’normal’ compressor for nail guns and air tools will work just fine. Just set it to a mighty low pressure of around 2.0 bar and you are good to go.

[Perry Rose]

https://stunthanger.com/smf/paint-and-finishing/good-spray-gun-paint-video/

[Gary Dowler]

  $14.00 touch up guns at Harbor Freight work fine  & if you dont clean  it or otherwise screw it up you can toss it . I have one for clear , metalics ,blues, greens , reds oranges  and one for white 5 total .

I have one of these, and they work splendidly. Mine is the 4oz touch up gravity feed gun.

Gary

[Gary Dowler]

Frank, what do you recommend to buy from Harbor Freight?
  I know nothing about these systems.

Mike

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-oz-hvlp-touch-up-air-spray-gun-61473.html
I have this.  Works great!

Gary

[John Lindberg]

I have found this one works very well with a Home Depot pancake compressor (6 gallon), about $100.00:  https://www.harborfreight.com/adjustable-detail-spray-gun-92126.html, I have a Paasche H model airbrush, it is appx. 40 years old, still works! 

[Joe Ed Pederson]

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-oz-hvlp-touch-up-air-spray-gun-61473.html
I have this.  Works great!

Gary

I bought one of these because Sparky recommended it in one of his painting videos.  The one Sparky bought worked well and Gary says his works great.  Mine is a piece of junk, it sputters even if you put water in the paint cup, and does a miserable job that always produces bad "orange peel" no matter how much I thin the dope or what air pressure I use.   The inside looks like it was machined (?) by a monkey who had had 20 cups of coffee.  So, as others say in youtube videos, Harbor Freight cheap spray guns (they have expensive spray guns) are a crap shoot.  You might get one that works fine and you might get a piece of junk.

I have three of the purple $15.00 Harbor Freight spray guns that were bought on separate occasions and the quality/ability to spray well is all over the place.  My experience with cheap Harbor Freight cheap spray guns is that buying them is a crap shoot. 

I won't waste any more money on them.  It is just too aggravating.

Joe Ed Pederson
Cuba, MO

[Will Hinton]

Been using the Harbor Freight guns for 20 years plus, have only had one that was junk.  Right now I am spraying all automotive two part clear with no problems.  The key is cleaning them completely when done.

[Randy Powell]

You get what you pay for, but it is possible to get a decent gun and not break the bank. I use a Paasche VLC airbrush for detail work (about $80 at Harbor Freight), a DeVilbiss Finish Line 1.0mm detail gun for color (about $90 from DeVilbiss). Works fairly well but is sensitive to paint mix so you have to pay attention, a Sharpe Finex 1.0mm detail gun for clears (price varies wildly - I got mine from TCP Global for about $100). Easier to keep color and clear guns separate. Campbell-Hausfield upright compressor with 40gal tank (again, price varies but I got mine on one of their sales for about $180). It was a Harbor Freight unit that was on sale. Not the best setup ever, but entirely serviceable.

[Tom Vieira]

this is the compressor I bought to use with air hammers, impact drivers, cutoff wheels, etc.  All VERY air hungry tools, especially the cutoff wheel

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-KOBALT-30-Gallon-Two-Stage-Portable-Electric-Vertical-Air-Compressor/1000528965

works great with my spraygun as well.  It's also reasonably quiet!

[Mike Haverly]

OK Randy, for some us those budget busters.  I'm pretty sure this is what John was talking about.  As a matter of fact a well-known concours winning guy stopped by here one day, saw mine, of which I have three and said he found out they work pretty good too.  The really good part is that if something goes wrong you can usually get it replaced, or just chuck it since they are cheap.  I use a fifty-dollar Paasche air brush available at Hobby Lobby.  Spare parts are available there too.  Yes you get what you pay for, sometimes.  I have a $150.00 gun that you can have if you want it.

The comment about air compressors is right on.  Bigger is indeed better.  The most important part is CFM.  If you use a HVLP gun you need a fairly high CFM.  The above guns are not HVLP the are simple gravity feed.  A really important thing is to figure out how to use the paint you are applying.  I see so many times questions about how much thinner or in the case of polyurethane, reducer to use.  The answer is simply-- The right amount.  It takes practice and experimentation and yes mistakes to get it right.

I'm still trying.

Edit:  Oops!  I forgot the link and the picture.
https://www.harborfreight.com/adjustable-detail-spray-gun-92126.html

[John Leidle]

    Hey Mike,
  I have a couple the purple one you show & a few suction type. Some are crap some are ok.

[Mike Haverly]

I had one that leaked.  Took it back and exchanged it, no problem.  For the price I'm ok with it.

[Dennis Nunes]

When I started back building and flying again, I purchased a Harbor Freight 1/5 HP 58 PSI Oil-Free Airbrush Compressor Kit several years ago. This worked ok, but even with the Integral moisture trap, I was getting moisture when I sprayed dope.

I installed an additional mini Air Filter Moisture Water Trap with 1/8" fittings to the Airbrush. This took care of the moisture issue. But as my planes got larger, it wasn’t very practice to paint an entire plane with the airbrush and a 1 oz. bottle (though I did it!).

I eventually purchased a Harbor Freight 10 Gallon 2.5 HP 125 PSI Oil Lube Air Compressor. In my research, with any spray setup, you need to produce clean, dry and oil free air.
I ended up making a manifold that included Quick Couplers, Ball Valves, Air Filter, a Desiccant Dryer with Oil Removal Filter Dryer and a Regulator. All the major components were purchased at Harbor Freight. The various adaptors and nipples were purchased from Home Depot.

I still use the airbrush from the compressor kit. I have two Harbor Freight 4 oz. Detail Guns. One for clear and the other for color that have worked fine. On all my spray guns I’ve added an air regulator with a gauge that allow me to control the air pressure at the spray gun.

Attached is a PDF file of the manifold setup I built. This entire setup has served by well for the last 5 years.

Dennis