Greetings....

Hi!

My name is James, I'm from England and I've just got into airbrushing.

I've been a miniature painter on and off for a few years and wanted to start airbrushing because of that. I've also started making cosplay props and I heard that airbrushing was a better option for those than using rattle cans.

I've currently using a cheap airbrush from ebay (doesn't even have a brand) and one of those compressors that are used for nail art. I think I took the "cheap" part of "buy a cheap compressor" too literally. I'm using Vallejo Game and Vallejo Air paints, too.

I've joined the forum because I'm having a real pig of a time getting the hang of the whole thing. Not sure if the problem is me, the airbrush, the compressor, the paints or just that the gods of airbrushing hate me!

I'd love to give a full description of my problems, but where to put it? Here? In a different forum?

I hope You'll be able to help me, 'cause I'm on the edge of giving up and burning my airbrush (yeah, it's metal, but I'll find a way!)

Let the healing begin!

Firstly welcome from Australia.
you can post a thread here... http://www.airbrushforum.org/beginner-airbrush-questions/ if you like, but have a read through the other threads in that section as well, you may just find answers to your questions and some you hadn't even thought of yet.
most of your problems will likely be the 'nail' compressor, it wont produce enough to atomise the paint properly. Look for a small compressor with a tank, it will give you sufficient pressure to atomise the paint properly.

There are several modellers here, so i'll leave it to them to recommend paint / reducers etc, but if you put a thread in the section above you should get the specific guidance you need to get you going.

Learning something new always has its challenges, you have just found two of the biggest challenges for most newbies.... cheap brush & Cheap compressor. If you can post links to the brush and compressor you have then we have a starting point in getting you going.

Hi James, Welcome to the forum. Cheap equipment is always the start of any problems, but if we can help we will. By the way where abouts in England are you?

Lee

Welcome from New Zealand... no, it's not you, this is a huge learning curve...

Hi and welcome from the "sunny" English south coast.

Don't give up. There's a lot to learn and cheap kit makes it even harder, if not impossible. It's frustrating as hell, but these guys will guide you through it.

Hello and welcome from Canada James

Hi James, welcome from Texas!

I've only been airbrushing since February so I know where you're coming from. I was fortunate enough to find this forum before buying my new airbrush (I started with a paasche vl). The kind folks here got me in the right direction before I had even introduced myself. I tried to go cheap on the paint (50¢ Walmart craft paint) and while I didn't have too much trouble with it, I learned that getting the right product made a world of difference in making this an enjoyable art.

I even tried making my own reducer. I don't recommend it for a beginner. As a beginner, to a beginner, I recommend following the recommended reductions and etc for the specific products. You'll save yourself a huge headache and reduce the amount of variables that are giving you problems.


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Definitely practise with whatever paint you intend using in future.

If you have been using the Vallejo Game and Vallejo Air paints on the Cosplay costumes then you would already have the recommended thinners/reducers for them. Its just a matter of correct reduction for the paint/airbrush combo that you have.
Do you know what needle size you have with the airbrush ? if not then if you can provide the link to the site you bought it from we can try and find out.

If you plan on doing artwork then buy a small bottle of Createx wicked / wicked detail and play with it, you may like it you may not, its all a personal preference.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum! I also agree- get some good paint and the proper reducers for that paint. You can easily get a decent compressor and a decent airbrush for not a whole lot of money... you'll probably be amazed at the difference!