I've been looking for an airbrush also.

Just checked out VenusArt and Nanyang a few weeks ago. Actually had decided on buying from VenusArt, but after I withdraw money, the shop was already closed...

Maybe a good thing... save me from impulse buy

At the same time, I also heard that there's a big Arts supplies store called ArtsFriends at UE3. Heard from friends who buy pottery clay and paints from there. Supposedly much cheaper stuff than elsewhere. This is a chain from S'pore, where they've got 2 stores at BrasBasah and Takashimaya... So, maybe they are the Carrefour of arts stuff.

Just asking if anyone knows that area, and have seen whether they've got airbrushes & compressors or not?

Eitherway, I'll probably want to check out UE3 first before going back to Venus Art again.


Nanyang has Japan made Holbien ABs only.
Their compressor is huge, rm780, no moisture trap, and boss doesn't know specs. Last unit there. So, highly uninterested.

VenusArt is better for compressors. Cheapest one I've seen so far. With moisture trap and pressure gauge etc. The boss keeps recommending the one with the air-tank.

The one with no airtank is rm4xx. But must switch off after 25-30min. Else will overheat and break. And there's no warranty.

The one with airtank is rm180 more expensive. Has auto-off. When airtank is full, it doesn't run continuously. So, can use longer. Less likely to breakdown. No need to worry that you'll forget.

But am still wondering whether can just get a small motorbike compressor and use it. Minimal investment. And later, if lose interest to do AB, can still use it to open motorcycle garage.

Just checked out ArtFriend yesterday.

Plenty of paints, inks, paper, wood, brassrods, stencils, brushes etc etc...

Also a whole range of Badger airbrushes.

All the double action Badger ABs selling for 488.

But there's a 10%discount after paying rm10 for membership.

Also Badger compressed air canisters, small rm36, large rm56.
The large one, from what a guy told me, is enough for painting 3 modelling kits.

There's also a selection of 'cheap'-er Badger single actions with plastic handles.

There are a few boxsets, small air can, plastic singleaction AB, hose, connectors, regulator etc... for 300+

But I still find these boxsets expensive. Cos in S'pore, I found a few taiwan imitations of the exact same design going for sgd58, without the small air can.

The air compressors are expensive. The ones with moisture trap etc going for 1200+.

Best option so far is still Venus Art...

Finally bought from VenusArt.

Still find their compressor with airtank, regulator, pressure gauge, (and moisture trap built inside the airtank, supposedly...) is the best value. rm680 on the sticker. Uncle let me have for 600rm.

Plus an sparmax 0.3mm dual-action AB, cheapest he has... 210rm. (sticker 238).

Comes with hose and necessary connectors. Test run there. Cash and carry. If use creditcard, he can't give much discount.

No warranty though... But the compressor looks sturdy enough.

Played around with it last night. Compressor is quite silent. And only switches on every few minutes when airtank pressure falls. Spent the night spraying newspaper with dilute ink to get the hang of AB use.


Just to check with more experienced artists here...

Are there paints that I should avoid using with AB? Like thinner based paints, or paint pigments with larger pigment particles.... or how about using with primer? Will these things spoil the brush?

Just to be safe... i'll only be using water-soluble acrylic paints with my expensive AB. Maybe one day go singapore grab a cheap AB to play play with funny paints...

There's a Taiwan-made Badger knockoff, set of plastic single action AB, siphon feed, air-can adapter/regulator, hoses.... for sgd16. But the spray is as precise as a mini spray gun.

http://www.testors.com/hobbyist_guides.asp

Very nice intro...

Feedback? on what?

I'm a n00b with airbrushing... so don't really know what's the standard to compare with.

But the rm600 compressor with airtank from VA is good enough for me. Quiet enough to use at night.

With the airtank and the auto-off... the compressor only turns on once every few minutes when you're using. It seems to handle pressure up to 60+ psi pretty well.

Don't notice any pulsing.

Other than this... I can't really give much opinion abt it. I think most of the problems I'm experiencing is cos of the paint... Not enough experience to know how to mix paint properly and know what pressure setting to use.

Still lots of trial and error.

How come the mini one spits water?

At VA, the two models of Sparmax compressors,
One with airtank, supposedly with moisture trap inside the tank, but can't see, can't prove...

The one without airtank, it comes with moisture trap. Should prevent water spitting, right?

If you've got a compressor with no watertrap... At Art Friend UE3, I saw them selling Badger spareparts. Including a moisture trap. I almost considered buying this moisture trap, then adding it to a big motorbike compressor to use....

The Big Black Thing is an airtank. This stores a bit of compressed air, so that the compressor doesn't have to on all the time. Only when the pressure in the airtank falls, then it switches on again to top up the pressure. This is good, cos it gives a smoother flow of air to the brush.

If you don't have an airtank, then you won't have autoshutdown/on. And it needs to be on all the time.

Please make sure not to on it for too long. Take a bit of rest every 25-30min to cool down the compressor. It'll let the compressor last longer.

And the brush head starts to clog often. I experience it too.

Some technique helps a bit...

If your AB is double action, always turn on the air first, turn on paint, turn off paint, turn off air.

Don't turn off the air without turning off the paint first. In fact, the air should be on all the time while you're painting, and you just turn on and off the paint where/when you need to.

But even then, the head gets clogged.
It happens when I use modelling acrylic paints. Experiment with the formulation of paints. Thin with more water or what.

It doesn't happen when I use specific made for airbrush paints like MEDEA etc.

Another way I suppose, will be to upgrade to an IWata AB. With Teflon coated needle, the head shouldn't clog as easily.

The best and cheapest advice?
Go to Nanyang Bookshop near Petaling St. They have some old stock of MEDEA paints, that they're still selling at old pre-inflation prices.

Imagine rm6 for a 1oz bottle of good airbrush paint. Used it and loved it.

Too bad the choice of colours are limited. Can't even get white and black. But there are a number of shades of red, blue, green, yellow...

The Medea paints are acrylic.
As to whether suitable for Gundam or not, that I can't say la...

But from the choices of colours available there at Nanyang at the moment, I'ld say it's *highly* unsuitable... unless you want a lime green or red Gundam.

Like I said, Nanyang doesn't have the whole range of colours. These are old stock. I've only used the red so far, and I managed to get some rather good red leather wings effect from it...

http://insanesquirrel.blogsentral.com/2006/12/20/terminus/

what I did with the Medea paint...

but the medea paint is a bit glossy. not sure if that's the effect you want from your gundam.


And I do have a lot of trouble with the AB clogging up too. If I work fast, I can get a few minutes of good spraying, before it gets clogged, and I need to clean the AB before I can continue. Or just up the PSI and force more air thru, but control suffers...

Still experimenting and trial and error. Maybe I'll try with more dilute paints, or paint in a room without fan or aircon. Cos the miniature paints that I use dry quite quickly.

Here's a map of the Petaling Street area.

Marked two locations there. These are the APPROXIMATE location of Venus Art and Nanyang.

And while you're there. Also check out the best wantan mee in KL, in the alley next to the food court.

The cheap nike shoes, is right on petaling street itself, the two roads highlighted pink.

Venus is a groundfloor store along that road. Nanyang will be 'outside' petaling street already.

The wantan mee stall has no name. It's not in the foodcourt. In the alley next to it. The last stall in the alley. The cook is an auntie.

Eat there so often, I just sit down, and the auntie knows what I want

Star LRT from the station next to the Pudu Jail.
Stop at Plaza Rakyat station.
Walk to Petaling St.

Go Venus Art for airbrush / compressor.
I got my 0.3mm double action Sparmax AB with the compressor with airtank for RM810. But heard that prices may have gone up.

The airtank is worth it. It's also like a built in watertrap, so I've not had problem with water spraying. And it gives a more consistent pressure. And the compressor switches off after every few minutes when the airtank is pressurised, then it switches on again only when the pressure drops.

The Sparmax AB is good enough for beginners I guess. But it gets clogged up easily, with the modelling acrylics that I use. Planning to experiment with using alcohol or window cleaner to dilute my paints and see how it goes.

Otherwise, Nanyang has COMART MEDEA airbrush paints, and they work beautifully. No clogging.

Or, you could always hunt around for an Iwata double action airbrush. With Teflon coated needle and nozzle, less likely to clog.

I just got the cheapest Double Action brush I got. Which was at venus, the Sparmax was rm230, discount discount i got 210. My compressor just rm600.

To do airbrushing.
Easiest just go VA and get the aircompressor and airbrush. That's the best value I managed to find in KL. Cheapest mini compressor around, and very decent entry level double action airbrush.

They package it with all the fittings, pressure regulator, moisture trap (if needed), the tubes and etc. You'll get all the hardware in one purchase, about rm800+.

If just want to play play, or u only got 1-2 projects u want to airbrush. Then can consider the Badger set, using compressed air cans. But if u want to develop skills and really explore the hobby, a compressor is needed.

The software will take more time.
Need to research on net on how to thin paints, and maintain / clean airbrush.

Some websites also teach u basic techniques etc.

Then have to experiment with paints. Getting AB paints for best result, but those are not very common in KL, and may not have the colours u want. So, play around with different paints, experiment and see what kind of result u get with different dilutions. Dilute with water? alcohol? special thinner? or window cleaner?

But the real skills, need to consult sifu who's actually good with AB. And the people I know, are somewhat stingy with sharing it. Cos most people learnt their skills the hard way via trial and error, and sometimes don't like to share info for free. Like kungfu novels. The masters don't simply simply teach their geng moves.

My cheap double action is a 0.3mm nozzle. Which I think is good enough.

It's fine enough that I can get good control.

0.2mm is finer, but I imagine that it'll be even more prone to clogging up if u don't use specialized paints, or filter your acrylics after diluting.

And the 0.2mm costs a bit more (rm20), and I didn't think I need it that fine. For miniatures, you can only use the AB for basecoating anyway. Can't paint fine details with AB no matter how fine the nozzle, so no need to go overboard. And the gravity feed cup for the 0.2mm AB is much smaller too. Frequent refilling.


Gravity feed and bottom feed each has pros and cons. Easy to imagine how if u just look at the AB.

Gravity feed, there's a metal cup at the top. Fill it with paint. Spray till finish. Refill paint.
Then when you change colour, pour the left over paint out. Wash it. Flush the nozzle. Then fill with new colour.
And when u want to paint something at a funny angle, like drawing on the ceiling.... paint will fall out of the cup and into your face. Paint won't even reach the nozzle if you paint at a funny angle.

Bottom feed. You just collect lots of bottles. Fill each bottle with the colour you want to use, properly mixed and diluted to how you like it. Screw on the bottle, and spray. Finish with that colour, unscrew, put the cap back on. And next time you want to use the same colour again, it's ready. Effortless, consistent colour results every time.

Then, you put the bottom feed straw in a small bottle of water / cleaner. Spray to flush the nozzle. And you're ready to screw on the next bottle with a new colour.

Very convenient. And can also spray on ceiling.

But need to collect more bottles, which isn't expensive. SGD$1-2 each when I saw at ArtFriend.

Or if you only want to paint ONE drop of colour somewhere... might be wasteful to use a bottle for it, and mix a larger batch of paint that you won't finish. A bit of wastage. No big deal.

Compressor need to use higher pressure to suck the paint up against gravity.

Bottom feed AB is more expensive.

I like the idea of bottom feed. But I didn't want to spend extra on the AB until I'm really serious about the hobby. The gravity will do for what I need it for at the moment.

Yea... about that...

That's why I mentioned that sifus who have learnt how to AB are protective about their skills. Last time I asked, he said that he would only share his knowledge with his PAWS team. (Painters At Wolf's Shop). With people who are helping him out at the shop to paint terrain or paint minis for commission.

He wouldn't even tell me what black he used to get his minis base-coated. Barely dragged out a few tidbits here and there, about using good thinners, and how window cleaner doesn't work for him.

If he's gonna run classes, then I'll definitely want in.

And I have done more than just base-coating with the AB.

I use it as a cheap (time-wise) way of doing highlighting on some larger minis like the Carnivean. After painting the large blocks of colours in, using a lighter colour, and spray downwards at an angle, so that certain parts will catch a light dusting of the colour, and other parts remain in the 'shadow'.

I like some of the results.

One thing the pros do, is to unscrew the metal cap in front of the airbrush. The part that's not the nozzle, but is there to protect the nozzle and needle in case the brush is dropped.

That way, you can see the nozzle very clearly and you'll know where it's pointed. And even better, you can wipe the tip every once in a while to reduce clogs.

Just be very careful not to drop the airbrush. Or you'll need a new nozzle and a new needle...

Hmm.... or maybe suspend the airbrush on a long rubber-band sling. If your hand ever slips, the rubber band will never let the airbrush hit the floor. Hmm....

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Added on April 17, 2007, 2:56 pmGosh... Cheap way to start airbrushing:

A 250rm compressor:
http://www.ebay.com.my/viItem?ItemId=230115826976

and a 129rm double action airbrush:
http://www.ebay.com.my/viItem?ItemId=230115828002

But the mini-compressor doesn't have a moisture trap nor a pressure regulator. And the double action airbrush don't know what kind of quality.

But you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

This post has been edited by Ratatosk: Apr 17 2007, 02:56 PM

You'll need at least the FilterTouch. The moisture trap will be important, unless you've got some other external moisture trap, like what I saw in another post in the garage sale.

These compressors do not have an air tank. It's recommended that you let it rest every 20-30min, and not let it overheat.