Airbrush Recommendations

[Bomber_County]

Hope some can advise on this subject. Around 2 years ago I bought the ubiquitous compressor and airbrush combination. The compressor is great the brush is rubbish (or I am) anyway been looking at the Harder & Steenbeck Ultra 2 in 1 Airbrush [V2.0]. Being on a budget due potential redundancy this to me looks decent brush. Also now having more time I am using an airbrush more and more. Hope someone can shed some light or suggest alternatives...........

[GusMac]

Hi Phil

The Harder and Steenbeck Evolution 2 in 1 is also a good buy but I'm not sure how it compares price wise with the Ultra. You do occasionally see good deals on them on eBay - I got mine from a shop specialising in nail products!

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Gus, I’ll have a look around....

[DocRob]

Generally I like the engineering of the H&S airbrushes (I have an Ultra and an Infinity with differently sized nozzles) The metal surfaces are very fine and easy to clean.
What I don't like about is the tendency to clog very fast with pigmented Colours like acrylics. The tip of the needle is long and there is lots of space to clog for the pigments into the air stream. Other airbrushes are better here, like my old Rotrings which have other faults.
Diluting the Colours to a perfect consistence and adjusting the perfect air pressure is very important with H&S, specially with Colours which don't mix well with flow enhancers. 

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Rob, I watched FloryModels review on the Ultra and he liked it. My cheap Chinese brush has the same problems as you described with acrylics, so not sure now if the Ultra is the right one now? Does the Infinity do the same. I only use acrylics now. FloryModels suggested a pinch tip so you can clear the needle easily, wonder if this all related. Thanks again Rob....

 

[GusMac]

Hi Phil, I've used Ammo acrylics for my last few builds and I can't say I've had any problems with clogging with the Evolution. I do tend to use them pretty thin as I've used black-basing with all of them. Only full strip down I've had to do was after trying to airbrush Tamiya titanium gold which I found thins like crap and left all the pigment in the bottom!

[CrankyCrafstman]

Hey Phil

 I recently purchased a H&S infinity plus with the .2 and .4 needles. I most say that it is absolutely amazing at doing fine lines. I only use Vallejo acrylic paint, due to health issues and it is the only one that I can get consistent lines from my old Paasches wont even come close. I recommend going with the Infinity.

Ron G 

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Ron, good to hear that Vallejo will work with the H&S. I’d love the Infinity but cannot stretch to spending around £220 ($290 approx). The Ultra comes as 0.2 & 0.4 as set for around £90 ($117) may consider that instead but price is creeping up.........

[smitty44]

Before switching so MRP, I was an all acrylic guy. While I use an Iwata Eclipse, clogging was a huge problem. Especially with 100 degree plus summers. I began using a drying retardant which helped.

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Smitty, did consider the Iwata range as well but cost prohibitive. I think it’s the nature of the beast using acrylics......what’s the “smell” factor like on MRP, it’s a lacquer acrylic isn’t?

[smitty44]

1 minute ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Smitty, did consider the Iwata range as well but cost prohibitive. I think it’s the nature of the beast using acrylics......what’s the “smell” factor like on MRP, it’s a lacquer acrylic isn’t?

 It is...…..Oh it stinks alright, but it is an absolute dream to shoot. My paint room is in the garage thankfully.

[Bomber_County]

It’s to cold in garage, also wife is asthmatic. So pure acrylics are perfect.........thanks

 

[smitty44]

To each their own. I just meant to bring up the use of a retardant mostly.

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Smitty, I’d read about but never used it, I think Vallejo do their own which hopefully be compatible.....

[Guest DannyVM]

For some time now, i totally rely on my H&S Evolution silverline 2 in 1. This toy gives me a lot's of joy and it never let me down. Just beware, i use the MRP paints and the AK real colors paints which are solvent based and works perfect with the 0.15 m/m nozzle and needle. When i shoot metalizers true the airbrush, which are mostly the Alclad II metalizers i prefer the 0.3 m/m nozzle and needle. The metal particles in the paint tend to clog into the 0.15 m/m nozzle so i changed to the 0.3 m/m nozzle which works perfect.

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Danny all useful information.. The Silverline again is more than my budget at present but a contender.......

 

[Guest DannyVM]

On 12/29/2019 at 9:19 PM, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Danny all useful information.. The Silverline again is more than my budget at present but a contender.......

I bought myself the Silverline, but to be honest Phil, the standard Evolution is simply the same of quality, so why spend the extra cash for it. The Silverline has the equal internal part's like the standard Evolution, it's just the external appearance that is different.

[Bomber_County]

17 minutes ago, DannyVM said:

I bought myself the Silverline, but to be honest Phil, the standard

Thanks Danny, I’ll have another look.....

[DocRob]

Hi Phil, today I took a closer look at my airbrushes for a short comparison. There are lots of differences between the H&S Infinity and Ultra, but nozzles and needles seem to be the same.
The main differences are the screw in color reservoir (Infinity) vs. stick in (Ultra), where I prefer the Infinity, because it's easier to clean because of the larger diameter and it's easier to exchange. With the Infinity you get the possibility to adjust the amount of Colour supplied with the brass part on the end and the knob on it makes it possible to do a blow out into a tissue for getting rid of blocked airways in the airbrush, which to me both are very important an often used mechanisms.
The Infinity's trigger works smoother, while I don't like booth too much, because I tend to cramp easy with both of them.
The needles of both are very easy to bend while cleaning and you have to be careful while screwing on the front cap. Even the slightest disorientation on the needles tip leads to terrible spray result. I once bent a needle tip slightly and bend it back carefully (only fractions of a millimeter) and honed the needle tip with a Japanese grinding stone for knives (6000 grit).

This picture shows a comparison between a H&S needle above and a Rotring needle below, both of them being 0,2 mm needles.
You can see clearly (well more or less, blurry pic) that the H&S needle extends the nozzle a lot more than the Rotring one. That is one of the main reasons, why clogging is such a big issue on the H&S (and I guess many others). The Rotring does only extent a fraction of a millimeter and has a rounded tip, which you can clean with your fingertip while spraying.

That said, there are other disadvantages to the Rotring's. First of all they are long out of production and you don't get spare parts anymore. They have a lot of seals which tend to leak, when they are not very well maintained.

I hope that helps a little

Happy new year to everyone.

Cheers Rob

 

 

[Bomber_County]

Rob, your a star very much appreciated you went to the trouble of doing a comparison.........it’s food for thought.........when I get to the office, I have work through to 1st week of March. I’ll then know if the grim reaper will be dispatched.......thanks again for the comparison.........happy new year.....

[DocRob]

God luck with the reaper, hopefully everything will be all right for you. 
Airbrush wise it's hard to me to recommend one, I see them more as tools and all have their pros and cons. Personally as an ex engineer I prefer a very refined, well designed and easy to maintained heavy metal one. Overall the Infinity is that for me, but not without objections.
More important than the airbrush is the way to learn to handle it. Choosing the right Colours, thinners, air pressure thinning grade and maintenance / cleaning are the adjusting levers and it's still a hit and miss with me, even with the Infinity.

Cheers Rob 

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Rob, the trouble if the reaper does come to visit is that I turn 60 this year, add Brexit on top and downturn in my sector of architecture and we may have the perfect storm.......one never knows..........

 

[Sir Desmond Glazebrook]

Here are my airbrushes.

I no longer own the Sparmax.

As you can see I have a few very good airbrushes. I lean toward H&S, but love my Iwatas as well. However if I had a strict budget, I would get the Badger Sotar. My reason is easy use, ability to spray very thin lines as well as large. It holds up nicely to the Iwatas H&S at a fraction of the price.

 

[CrankyCrafstman]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:23 AM, DocRob said:

Hi Phil, today I took a closer look at my airbrushes for a short comparison. There are lots of differences between the H&S Infinity and Ultra, but nozzles and needles seem to be the same.
The main differences are the screw in color reservoir (Infinity) vs. stick in (Ultra), where I prefer the Infinity, because it's easier to clean because of the larger diameter and it's easier to exchange. With the Infinity you get the possibility to adjust the amount of Colour supplied with the brass part on the end and the knob on it makes it possible to do a blow out into a tissue for getting rid of blocked airways in the airbrush, which to me both are very important an often used mechanisms.
The Infinity's trigger works smoother, while I don't like booth too much, because I tend to cramp easy with both of them.
The needles of both are very easy to bend while cleaning and you have to be careful while screwing on the front cap. Even the slightest disorientation on the needles tip leads to terrible spray result. I once bent a needle tip slightly and bend it back carefully (only fractions of a millimeter) and honed the needle tip with a Japanese grinding stone for knives (6000 grit).

This picture shows a comparison between a H&S needle above and a Rotring needle below, both of them being 0,2 mm needles.
You can see clearly (well more or less, blurry pic) that the H&S needle extends the nozzle a lot more than the Rotring one. That is one of the main reasons, why clogging is such a big issue on the H&S (and I guess many others). The Rotring does only extent a fraction of a millimeter and has a rounded tip, which you can clean with your fingertip while spraying.

That said, there are other disadvantages to the Rotring's. First of all they are long out of production and you don't get spare parts anymore. They have a lot of seals which tend to leak, when they are not very well maintained.

I hope that helps a little

Happy new year to everyone.

Cheers Rob

 

 

Hey Doc

  In that picture of the Infinity needle and nozzle the nozzle is clearly split. That should be replaced, other wise you will get a very bad spray pattern.

Ron G 

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, CrankyCrafstman said:

 

  In that picture of the Infinity needle and nozzle the nozzle is clearly split. That should be replaced, other wise you will get a very bad spray pattern.

Thank you Sherlock   you are absolutely right, I haven't noticed, because it's my spare nozzle and I just took it out for the pic. I definitely have to get another spare.

Cheers Rob