Airbrushes
Iwata airbrushes from top to bottom: Custom Micron B, HP-C Hi-Line, HP-A Hi-Line, Eclipse HP-CS
I *love* airbrushes. More specifically, I love Iwata airbrushes. Of the ten airbrushes I own, eight are Iwatas. Of the two non-Iwatas, one is a Thayer-Chandler Omni 5000 and I use it for basecoating since it handles heavy paint very well. The other non-Iwata is a Master airbrush that came with a set (airbrush/compressor). That one is set-up with the large needle/nozzle combination to handle very heavy paint, including gesso and Bullseye primer.
When I wrote an article about airbrushing many moons ago, I purchased and tried out several different brands of airbrushes for the article and found I actually liked the Thayer-Chandler Omni. All the other brands that I tried I eventually sold (including an Aztek, a Badger 150, a Paasche AB Turbine and another Paasche I can't recall the model of, and a Thayer-Chandler Vega Nailaire), but I kept the T-C Omni to apply basecoats and gesso. It is well worth it's <$100 price tag as it is quite the sturdy workhorse.
OK, so you don't really need a huge collection of airbrushes to paint model horses (no, really, you don't! - I should take my own advice, eh?). What you do need is a double-action airbrush like the ones above.
I am not going to go into detail as to what a double-action airbrush is versus a single-action airbrush. That kind of basic information can be found elsewhere online, in books, or here: BEGINNING AIRBRUSH TIPS - VOLUME I "GETTING STARTED". All I will say is, save yourself a lot of grief and buy a double-action airbrush. My very first airbrush was a single-action. I took it back to the store the very same day. Ick!
If at all possible, BUY AN IWATA AIRBRUSH. Yes, I am a bit biased towards the Iwata, but that is because I have tried MANY different brands of airbrushes (Badger, Paasche, Aztek/Model Master/Testors, Thayer-Chandler, Master and some generic airbrushes). There is a reason why I own so many Iwatas. For years, I used a Badger 150 and it served its purpose. I was under the impression that an airbrush was an airbrush was an airbrush. But, upon reading various articles years ago in an airbrush magazine, it seemed all the professionals were using a brand called Iwata. I was curious, so I bought one (Iwata HP-C). Oh my goodness, what a difference! It was worth every penny. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to airbrushes.
All of my airbrushes are gravity fed, meaning the paint cup or reservoir is on top (or side) of the airbrush, as opposed to siphon-fed, where paint is sucked up from a jar attached at the bottom. Some people prefer the siphon-feed models as they feel they are too clutzy to handle a gravity fed model. I have tried both and prefer the gravity-fed models because I find I have fewer clogging problems with them and they are more appropriate for the small amounts of paint I use. I also like to be able to mix up the paint every so often as I am painting and the gravity-fed models make it very easy for me to do so.
If you can afford it, an excellent first airbrush would be the Iwata HP-C (Plus or Hi-Line). It can easily airbrush anything from Traditionals down to Stablemate sized models. And, you could probably even paint Micro Minis with it; you just wouldn't be able to do decent Micro Mini dappling with it (I use an Iwata HP-A or HP-B to do that - they have a smaller needle/nozzle than the HP-C).
If that line is too pricey, you will still find good quality in the Eclipse line. I bought one of my Eclipse CS airbrushes second-hand and even though the needle has seen better days, it still gives a decent performance. It can't do as fine of detail as the regular HP-C Plus, but the paint atomization is still very good.
I don't recommend going any lower in the line than the Eclipse line if you want to do any kind of precision or detail airbrushing. If all you are going to do is spray basecoats for finishing and/or detailing with other mediums such as oils and pastels, then by all means save a bunch of money and buy an inexpensive airbrush such as my Thayer-Chandler Omni.
There are many good places to buy an airbrush. I prefer to buy mine online since I have found the best prices there. Some good vendors are:
BearAir
Coast Airbrush
Dick Blick
Dixie Art & Airbrush
I do not recommend buying a used airbrush for your first airbrush. Every single used airbrush I have ever bought needed to be broken down and cleaned thoroughly and put back together again. They often needed a part or two replaced before working properly. But if you are confident you have the patience and skills to break down, clean and reassemble an airbrush with its tiny parts, then go for it! You will eventually have to learn to break down your airbrush for a proper cleaning anyway.
(If you enjoyed the information on the Golden site about beginning airbrushing tips, there is a second page called BEGINNING AIRBRUSHING TIPS - VOLUME II "SPRAYING, DRYING & MASKING".)
When I wrote an article about airbrushing many moons ago, I purchased and tried out several different brands of airbrushes for the article and found I actually liked the Thayer-Chandler Omni. All the other brands that I tried I eventually sold (including an Aztek, a Badger 150, a Paasche AB Turbine and another Paasche I can't recall the model of, and a Thayer-Chandler Vega Nailaire), but I kept the T-C Omni to apply basecoats and gesso. It is well worth it's <$100 price tag as it is quite the sturdy workhorse.
OK, so you don't really need a huge collection of airbrushes to paint model horses (no, really, you don't! - I should take my own advice, eh?). What you do need is a double-action airbrush like the ones above.
I am not going to go into detail as to what a double-action airbrush is versus a single-action airbrush. That kind of basic information can be found elsewhere online, in books, or here: BEGINNING AIRBRUSH TIPS - VOLUME I "GETTING STARTED". All I will say is, save yourself a lot of grief and buy a double-action airbrush. My very first airbrush was a single-action. I took it back to the store the very same day. Ick!
If at all possible, BUY AN IWATA AIRBRUSH. Yes, I am a bit biased towards the Iwata, but that is because I have tried MANY different brands of airbrushes (Badger, Paasche, Aztek/Model Master/Testors, Thayer-Chandler, Master and some generic airbrushes). There is a reason why I own so many Iwatas. For years, I used a Badger 150 and it served its purpose. I was under the impression that an airbrush was an airbrush was an airbrush. But, upon reading various articles years ago in an airbrush magazine, it seemed all the professionals were using a brand called Iwata. I was curious, so I bought one (Iwata HP-C). Oh my goodness, what a difference! It was worth every penny. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to airbrushes.
All of my airbrushes are gravity fed, meaning the paint cup or reservoir is on top (or side) of the airbrush, as opposed to siphon-fed, where paint is sucked up from a jar attached at the bottom. Some people prefer the siphon-feed models as they feel they are too clutzy to handle a gravity fed model. I have tried both and prefer the gravity-fed models because I find I have fewer clogging problems with them and they are more appropriate for the small amounts of paint I use. I also like to be able to mix up the paint every so often as I am painting and the gravity-fed models make it very easy for me to do so.
If you can afford it, an excellent first airbrush would be the Iwata HP-C (Plus or Hi-Line). It can easily airbrush anything from Traditionals down to Stablemate sized models. And, you could probably even paint Micro Minis with it; you just wouldn't be able to do decent Micro Mini dappling with it (I use an Iwata HP-A or HP-B to do that - they have a smaller needle/nozzle than the HP-C).
If that line is too pricey, you will still find good quality in the Eclipse line. I bought one of my Eclipse CS airbrushes second-hand and even though the needle has seen better days, it still gives a decent performance. It can't do as fine of detail as the regular HP-C Plus, but the paint atomization is still very good.
I don't recommend going any lower in the line than the Eclipse line if you want to do any kind of precision or detail airbrushing. If all you are going to do is spray basecoats for finishing and/or detailing with other mediums such as oils and pastels, then by all means save a bunch of money and buy an inexpensive airbrush such as my Thayer-Chandler Omni.
There are many good places to buy an airbrush. I prefer to buy mine online since I have found the best prices there. Some good vendors are:
BearAir
Coast Airbrush
Dick Blick
Dixie Art & Airbrush
I do not recommend buying a used airbrush for your first airbrush. Every single used airbrush I have ever bought needed to be broken down and cleaned thoroughly and put back together again. They often needed a part or two replaced before working properly. But if you are confident you have the patience and skills to break down, clean and reassemble an airbrush with its tiny parts, then go for it! You will eventually have to learn to break down your airbrush for a proper cleaning anyway.
(If you enjoyed the information on the Golden site about beginning airbrushing tips, there is a second page called BEGINNING AIRBRUSHING TIPS - VOLUME II "SPRAYING, DRYING & MASKING".)