Best Airbrush Duo's

R

Ramon Gibbs

Guest
First let me confess I'm not an airbrush artist.
With that said I wanted to upgrade my old airbrush arsenal so I could do reasonably fine detail and broad coverage.
And after six months of researching specs, reading blogs and reviews I think the two Duo's I ended up with serve 99% of most airbrush needs.
So here's my high end and mid range picks.
Mid range:
Paasche Vision
Paasche TS with fan cap
High end:
Iwata HP-CH
Iwata HP-TH
The Iwata TH comes with a round cap that performs very well for surprisingly fine detail where the hp-ch leaves off and offers incredible spackle effects with both the round can and fan cap simple by adjusting the front Mac valve included. Not to mention the three inch pattern that has been widely advertised.
Surprisingly Paasche's Vision and TS with fan cap offers very similar results at far less cost and far less maintenance expenses.
As I mentioned, I'm not an airbrush artist but I am a woodartist with demanding airbrushing needs.
 
Hi Ramon... interesting... umm, is this for a discussion or is it just a comment? Looks like you've been on for about 6 months, how about going along to the intro page and saying hi properly. Where are you based? What you paint, put some pictures up... Here is a link to help... http://www.airbrushforum.org/introductions/
 
Sorry I hadn't gotten back sooner. As mentioned I'm a woodartist and sometimes use an an airbrush to accentuate or top coat finished creations. The paint I use for airbrushing wood depends on other things such as the wood, some species of wood are naturally oiler. Some I have to prepare treat and others don't need oil to show grain or deepthroat patterns. So there's no single answer to which type paint I use.
However, I dabble with canvas or board from time to time and use createx illustrations as well as golden acrylic (tubes). I've found golden more practical often because it allows me to hone and sharpen my blending / mixing / thinng skills while saving a lot of money. As for my actual work, I was one of the first woodartist to contribute to the 911 Art Museum and some of my smaller creations can be viewed online by doing a simple Google search for Ramon Gibbs woodartist.
 
My perfect duo is the eclipse hp-cs a great all rounder, paired with the cm-c micron, a .23 capable of the finest detail but a bit less fussy than a .18. IMO the ideal combo.
 
Yeah I think the eclipse and micron make a great pairing. And as I mentioned before it depends on the canvas, per say. Fine detail on ten foot murals is a bit different on a ten inch board and should reflect instruments used. For personal use I've purchased the Olympos micron. 23mm and it delivers great results but it's over-kill used in woodworking. And I'm considering buying an eclipse to pair with it.
Thanks for your reply.
 
My perfect duo is a Badger Anthem LOL, unlike many other brushes it utilizes a 3 in one needle setup. Designed to go fine detail through to the broadest spray patterns of any brush out there besides those fitted with a fan spray kit so good for small clearing jobs also. Also if you want to do even finer detail with one you can purchase a fine line conversion kit for it and costs about $20..Spares are much cheaper also than some brands you mention and also has full teflon seals so can spray nearly anything ensuring no damage to the gun..Out of your list i'd personally go with anything iwata over paasche..Good luck.
 
For me, its the Iwata Eclipse HP-CH and the Micron CM-SB v2, but my real go to brush is the Eclipse. I have several of the top feed and side feed brushes and use them all. I can get some pretty fine lines from the Eclipse without having to turn to the Micron. The Micron only comes out if I have some really tiny detail that needs to be done.
 
My perfect duo is a Badger Anthem LOL, unlike many other brushes it utilizes a 3 in one needle setup. Designed to go fine detail through to the broadest spray patterns of any brush out there besides those fitted with a fan spray kit so good for small clearing jobs also. Also if you want to do even finer detail with one you can purchase a fine line conversion kit for it and costs about $20..Spares are much cheaper also than some brands you mention and also has full teflon seals so can spray nearly anything ensuring no damage to the gun..Out of your list i'd personally go with anything iwata over paasche..Good luck.
Yeah my 105 and 155 are a sweet combo too, I have relegated them to metallics and pearls. They are pretty awesome airbrushes that I think have a very unique grind on their needles that takes some getting used to. Very versatile units, they can do some nice fine stuff and also lay down some paint if you need too. Not sure if anyone else has similar grind pattern, all I have is badger. I give great credit to badger for such excellent products.
 
Yeah my 105 and 155 are a sweet combo too, I have relegated them to metallics and pearls. They are pretty awesome airbrushes that I think have a very unique grind on their needles that takes some getting used to. Very versatile units, they can do some nice fine stuff and also lay down some paint if you need too. Not sure if anyone else has similar grind pattern, all I have is badger. I give great credit to badger for such excellent products.

yer they can be a bit to tame LOL I have a patriot also and have set up that with a fine line kit permanently, tend to go from zero to hero pretty quick ;) but once tamed they are very versatile, some though don't like higher pressure spraying they like to run at..I luv it LOL. Many other brands tend to rely on needle changeout rather than having such an aggressive taper grind..thus why the fine line conversion kit is a handy have..tames it back to something more akin to other brands, but there may be other brands out there with a similar taper. Been a badger man for the last 13 odd years after a cple year run on iwata's, found my fave so stuck with it..
 
I hear the Patriot produces some pretty tight lines too. But, I had one in my hands and the quality of it just doesn't compare with the Iwatas. I also have an old Badger, not sure I think it could be a 150, I forget without looking at it. It works fine but, again the quality of the Iwata brush is better.
 
The 150 was a reasonable brush Calz, good for beginner work but I do think the quality of both is comparable, just a different learning curve for each :)..The stock patriot is just a general allrounder, with the fine line kit it becomes a different gun altogether..It really is that case of one size doesn't suit all, thus why i feel its so important people have a feel if the can on how each sits in their hand and the comfort they feel with that particular brand. For me the iwata's for some reason feel awkward but that's just maybe cause I have gone away from gravity's as even sometimes the patriot feels that way for me personally..For me the price is a lot of the issue. A spare head for most iwata's is a new gun for me LOL
 
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