[snooterfish]

summer fishing is winding down and i am going to buy a new Airbrush .............. theres several brand's but i would like to know which you guys prerfer. price,,,,,, no more that $250.00. i spray lots of Pearls and fine line's.

[b75nweav]

I got mine from airbrushcity. It's a 2006 gravity fed. I love it, especially for the price. They also sell on ebay and I think I got mine for about 64$. Its also has the air regulator built in which I dont think I could live without after having one. Parts for it are pretty cheap also. I think its like 18$ for a overhaul kit, all needle sizes.

[snooterfish]

thats what i have now and its a good brush but i have trouble with fine lines. do you have any trouble shooting fine lines like gill's...............maybe i need to learn how to use the air regulator but i am using a diaphragm air compressor. i am also going to up grade my compressor to one with a tank.

[b75nweav]

Transparents no problems, But opaques will really give you a headache trying to get a fine line. I usually thin them a little in the cup. I have the .03mm needle and tip. What size are you using.

[BobP]

Personally, I like the uniform quality of Iwata brushes: a Revolution B with .3mm tip for pearls and color basecoating, and a HP-B with .2mm tip for fine shading and lines. Both of these "B" models have 1/16 oz gravity feed cups and together cost less than $250. The airbrushes B75nweav recommends sound very similar, but of chinese vs japanese manufacture. The main determinant of pattern width and level of paint atomization is the tip size, so I want to know that before selecting a brush.

[mark poulson]

I think BobP has hit the nail on the head.
Sounds to me you need a brush with a finer (.2 or .25) tip, and a MAC valve, so you can adjust it and spray fine lines.
I don't think you'll be able to spray pearls with that brush unless you thin the heck out them first, and that kind of defeats the beauty of pearls.
Why not have a .3 tip brush for spraying pearls and heavy opaques, which are generally not fine line paints (at least for me), and a finer tip brush for detail work? I do that, and it works for me.
If you can afford it, Iwata is, hands down, the best in air brushes. If not, Master, and some of the other Chinese Iwata knockoffs, work pretty well.

[snooterfish]

Originally Posted by mark poulson

I think BobP has hit the nail on the head.
Sounds to me you need a brush with a finer (.2 or .25) tip, and a MAC valve, so you can adjust it and spray fine lines.
I don't think you'll be able to spray pearls with that brush unless you thin the heck out them first, and that kind of defeats the beauty of pearls.
Why not have a .3 tip brush for spraying pearls and heavy opaques, which are generally not fine line paints (at least for me), and a finer tip brush for detail work? I do that, and it works for me.
If you can afford it, Iwata is, hands down, the best in air brushes. If not, Master, and some of the other Chinese Iwata knockoffs, work pretty well.

mark
what model Iwata would you recomend?

[mark poulson]

I'd go with Bob's recommendation, to stay in your budget.

[snooterfish]

Originally Posted by b75nweav

Transparents no problems, But opaques will really give you a headache trying to get a fine line. I usually thin them a little in the cup. I have the .03mm needle and tip. What size are you using.

i use a .03 . do you think I should thin it and try a .02?

[BobP]

About half the unthinned pearls I try shoot thru a .2mm brush are fine, half clog after a few seconds. I use a .3mm tip brush to color basecoat, which is when I use pearls most often. No problems then. I'm glad to have a .2mm tip brush for fine shading but seldom use it for fine line work because I like to use templates for that. They are the only way I can get the same design on both sides of the bait, which I personally can't do freehand. To me, the .3mm is a good intermediate size that comes close to "doing it all". But it depends on how much freehand line detail and fine shading you want to accomplish, plus your airbrush skills.