Thread: Airbrush recommendations?

I have a really crappy single action suction fed airbrush that I've used with my big, noisy pancake compressor -- I probably had the pressure up too high when I did it as well. I had thought that all airbrushes were like that and only suited for doing base coating for vehicles and minis. (I did some Grey Knights that I thought turned out well in a grey mixed with Pearl Coat, but could only do base coating.)

After seeing some of the painting videos from places like TPC and APJ -- and getting scoffed at by Mathieu Fontaine -- I realized how wrong I was. I'd like to try some of the techniques for doing airbrushing of models, but I need better equipment. So, does anyone have any recommendations on airbrushes and/or hobby compressors? My understanding is that dual action is pretty much a must to get beyond base coating, and something that could go very narrow to broad would be good. Also, I think I read somewhere that gravity fed was better than suction fed, but can't find it again.

Thanks for the info and any help you can provide!

Mine is double action, gravity-fed. I love it. You should go with that setup. Mine's an Iwata Custom Micron, so you'll probably want to go with something a bit cheaper, though.

Thanks.

So, it sounded like gravity fed was the way to go, but when I was reading your article, it basically said they're both cool for various reasons. What makes the siphon fed easier to switch paints? I'd have thought without having the "straw" it would be easier...

How is this impacted for those siphon brushes that have the metal cup hanging off the side? Do those also come with multiple cups, or is that kind of a grey area?

I am in one of those positions where I actually have some cash to spend that has to be spent on fun stuff, and I am really leaning towards spending some of it on an airbrush. I want to make sure that I get something that will be useful for me for a while so I don't "waste" my money. So I really appreciate the help with all these questions!