Complete Guide for Airbrushes
The market for Airbrushes is growing steadily as the art of airbrushing becomes more and more popular.
It is no wonder that especially beginners do not know what to look for when buying an airbrush.
In this article, we will give you useful tips and explain how to recognize a good airbrush gun, as well as which model is suitable for beginners.
How does an airbrush gun work?
The functioning of airbrushes makes use of the laws of fluid mechanics.
It would be beyond the scope of this article to go into the complete fluid mechanics of airbrush guns; knowledge of this is also not necessary to understand how an airbrush gun works. We accordingly try to limit ourselves to the basics.
One way of operation is when air forced through the gun sucks in the paint in the container so that it can be sprayed onto the painting surface.
Alternatively, the paint is fed into the gun by gravity.
The assumption that the paint is pressed out by the compressed air is wrong.
In principle, the air that is pressed past the nozzle carries the paint with it.
The speed at which this happens depends on the pressure on the lever on the gun – and on the pressure set on the compressor used.
Which airbrush gun do I need?
First of all, we should mention that every artist who has not already had experience with an airbrush art is a beginner.
This means that it doesn’t matter if you’re a renowned artist who uses brushes to capture gigantic works of art on canvas – if you’ve never used an airbrush before, you’ll definitely need to get used to handling one.
So, what does this mean for the gun you want to buy?
Before you buy an extremely expensive premium airbrush gun, you should first test whether you can handle an airbrush and whether you enjoy airbrushing.
Therefore, it is best to get into the medium price segment first.
The gun should be solidly manufactured and easy to use, but it does not immediately have to be the high-end product. A significant influence on the decision to buy an airbrush gun is the purpose for which it is to be used. Of course, there are also those available that are suitable for every application.
However, if you would like to practice a certain art form, you can also purchase a specifically made gun. Apart from that, the question arises as to which system you want to use for your airbrush.
In the following chapters, we offer you answers to all your questions in this regard.
Which airbrush gun systems are available?
Various cup systems
A distinction is made between flow and suction systems.
While the flow system works solely by gravity, the suction system draws in the paint through the air suction – hence the respective names.
Both variants have their advantages and disadvantages.
For example, a flow system can only pick up small amounts of paint, while the suction system is also suitable for large amounts of paint.
A good airbrush gun with a flow system takes up to 3 ml of paint.
It is therefore less suitable for spraying large works of art.
An airbrush gun with a suction system, on the other hand, can be equipped with a larger paint container and is thus able to spray large formats.
Their capacity is usually at least 100 ml.
If you work often with airbrushes and become more adept as you gain experience, you will soon want to own both systems.
This will allow you to spray larger areas, as well as small details.
Single Action
The Single Action System means nothing more than that both paint supply and airflow are controlled with a single button.
More precisely, the paint supply is preset and you simply add the airflow.
This airbrush gun system is beginner-friendly but does not work with as much precision as the Double Action gun.
It all depends on how far you want to go with your airbrush art.
If you only want to spray a work of art once in a while and you don’t need high precision, you can choose a Single Action.
However, if you want to enter into the airbrush Olympics, you should choose a double action airbrush gun from the start.
Double Action
The Double Action is characterized by different regulation of the paint supply and airflow, i.e. nothing is preset.
The gun is not only more intricate, but it also offers the user more possibilities.
Because the pressure valve and needle can be operated separately, you can work on finer details.
Of course, it takes more practice to use a Double Action gun adequately – but it’s worth the effort!
Important factors when buying airbrushes
A solid airbrush gun should have several characteristics that are important for the artist.
We have already introduced single and double action, as well as suction and flow system.
But other factors are also important, such as:
- The gun should be compatible with many nozzle sizes
- It should also be possible to spray paints from different manufacturers with the gun
- It must be made of high-quality materials that are resistant to solvents and cleaning agents
- The airbrush gun should be easy to take apart and clean
- All parts should be available separately so that you can replace them if they are damaged
- As banal as it sounds, the gun should not reflect the light too much – chrome-plated models especially can disturb the artist when bright light falls on them, so you should rather use airbrushes in subdued or matt colors
- The air connection piece should not be too long, because its weight also becomes unpleasantly noticeable after long working hours
Before you buy airbrushes, you should check it for all these characteristics.
The gun nozzles
The gun should be compatible with many nozzle sizes.
This is especially important if you are an all-round person who wants to apply yourself to different projects.
A large nozzle is more suitable for spraying large areas, while small nozzles are used for details and fine lines.
Conversely, this also means that small nozzles must be used with highly pigmented paints, as too low pigmented paints can quickly clog the nozzle.
The gun material
Most airbrushes are made of different materials.
Usually, the needles are made of stainless steel, but the gun itself of copper and various alloys.
Some are Teflon-coated and therefore particularly robust against chemical and environmental influences.
The seals of airbrushes are either made of Teflon or rubber.
Care should be taken when cleaning, as the rubber seals are not particularly robust against aggressive cleaning agents!
Weight and hose
The weight of the airbrush gun should be as low as possible so that you can work with it for a long time without showing signs of fatigue. However, the weight does not only depend on the airbrush gun itself, but also on the amount of paint used – and this in turn depends on the type of project, the size of the area to be sprayed, and thus the size and level of the paint container. Nevertheless, in case of doubt, it is better to choose airbrushes with a low weight.
The hose should be chosen long enough to be able to work comfortably even at a greater distance from the compressor. Nevertheless, it must be light, because it will also feel heavier over time.
The price
The price of airbrushes depends on many factors, such as equipment, material, and workmanship.
The price segment varies so much that we can hardly give a recommendation.
How much you want to spend on airbrushes is of course primarily up to you.
You should make this decision primarily based on your skills, but also on your ambitions.
If you would like to get a taste of the world of airbrushing, choose a gun with a lower price, but still make sure that the workmanship is solid. You might also want to try airbrushing at a friend’s home before you buy a gun or airbrush set.
We would recommend an airbrush gun in the medium price segment. Models that are too cheap may be poorly made, so they do not produce a good spray pattern. With such an airbrush you will quickly lose your enthusiasm. However, too expensive airbrushes often do not pay off for the beginner. Therefore choose a solid, medium-priced spray gun.
