Sprayguns

[floyd pinkerton]

Only posting this as the links in the sticky up top are more aimed at proper airbrushes rather than sprayguns.

I'm looking for suggestions, buying one just to get around 2,000 points of Tau basecoated sharpish. Don't want to spend a massive amount either really, seen some "intro" sets with Sprayguns marketed as Airbrushes for like £30 so I wondered if something like that would do.

[Sean_OBrien]

Largely an issue of somatics for what you are talking about.

When I talk spray guns - I am thinking of painting a car or a house...you don't want that. What you are probably after is a cheap, single action airbrush. For that task, I have been using a Badger 350 for decades (think mine will be turning 24 or 25 this August). It is a simple brush which you should be able to pick up for cheap (I have seen them for less than $30 in the US - with knock offs going for less than $20). You can spray pretty much anything through it from inks to house paint. Cleaning takes about half a minute. Head over to the Badger site and then compare what you are looking at to one of those. Several of the knock offs are as good as the Badger, but do end up costing less. Some of them though use cheap plastic nozzles which end up clogging or having manufacturing issues that interfere with the paint/air flow.

The issue you will likely run into though is that probably as important as the brush is the compressor. Canned air isn't a very good option. You can use larger storage tanks if you like though, the regulators add to the cost benefit (they end up being nice since they are quiet though). If you get a cheap compressor that pulses - your paint will pulse too...and that is a bad thing. Spend a bit on a good compressor or a pressure tank and regulator setup (you can fill the tanks at your local gas/service station or head over to a specialist who can fill it with nitrogen...which is nice since it will be oil and water free).

[floyd pinkerton]

Aye, I imagine it is semantics but "looking for a bad airbrush" didn't sound like a good title

Had a look at the Badger you mentioned. It seems pretty versatile but has a minimum spray of 19mm from what I can see, and I was thinking maybe half of that since I'd be using it to slap a layer of my own mix of grey on some troops. Or would that be pushing into "proper detailed airbrush" territory?

[DarkLordBelial]

You don't say what your upper budget is.

If you can stretch to about 70 quid then this will be perfect for you:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Airbr...#ht_810wt_1163

It may sound a bit steeper than the 30 quid you mentioned for the intro set, but the advantage is you get a proper compressor and don't have to purchase replacement air. I wouldn't suggest using this for any fine detail work, but I bought a similar set for exactly the same situation you are describing and it has been a god send.

Beware though - you'll get the bug and probably end up doing what I did and loving the method so much you end up splashing the cash on a superior air bursh and compressor at some point in the future!

Good luck!

Edited to add:
While many guides will advise you that you can use your regular paints thinned I personally found this to be troublesome. not only was it difficult to get the right consistency to flow correctly, it was also a pain ensuring the thinning down didn't change the tone across a large project. I would advise using a specific air brush paint that can be used directly from the bottle - the Vallejo model air range is what I use and it has increased my productivity even further. You don't have to buy oodles or a massive set, so just find a colour that matches your required base coat and purchase a couple of bottles. There is quite an extensive range so you should be able to find something that suits.

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/pdf_...C071_rev07.pdf

[daa6]

Serg, if you dont mind, what was it you up-graded to?

As I am looking for one to do both base caot and more detailed work... "was it easy to use / get the hang of?"

Thanks

"hope u dont mind the questions floyd"

[DarkLordBelial]

Serg, if you dont mind, what was it you up-graded to?

As I am looking for one to do both base caot and more detailed work... "was it easy to use / get the hang of?"

Thanks

"hope u dont mind the questions floyd"

My second brush (technically my third as the first lot came with 2 brushes) was the Harder & Steenbeck Ultra. lovely piece of equipment and gives far finer control than the entry level ones I started with.

http://www.germanairbrush.com/ultra.html

Shop around, prices vary, but I think I paid about £55 for it. It's not top end but a decent brush to go for when looking to upgrade to the next level.

[Iron Puritan]

Something else to consider is that a basic airbrush made by a reputable company will last a very long time if properly maintained. If you are on a budget, consider something like the Neo for Iwata CN (Taiwanese versus the regular Japanese Iwata line... here is a review: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?...=6779&syn=6807) that retails for around 50.00 GBP online and has a 5 year warranty against faulty parts and workmanship.

I'll second the recommendation to avoid canned propellants if you are able to.

[Iron Puritan]

Oh, and if you look up airbrushing techniques, there are a number of things you can do with an airbrush like colour modulation that would work very well on Tau models.

[Bartali]

Unless you're going to buy a compressor, I wouldn't bother with a spray gun. Cans loose pressure far too quickly when cold or at half volume

Just buy cans of primer instead for basecoating - Halfords Grey Primer or Army Painter sprays

[snake-eyez]

Not sure if you got anything since the OP was 2 weeks ago, but I bought one of these a few weeks ago and it works perfectly;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Air-Br...item231cb50ceb

I run it off a proper large aircompressor between 40 and 30 psi, and it basecoated my Tau vehicles with a very smoothe coat of paint (standard tau colour). A lot of people may say 'avoid the cheap spray guns', but if all you want to do is a basecoat, this will do it fine. The design also seems to look a lot like the GW one, and like the GW one, this can run off cans of compressed air if you wanted it to.