Harbor Freight airbrush

[Billy Goat]

Just got the latest Harbor Freight sale flyer and see they have an airbrush for $15.

Considering this unit is ridiculously cheaper than any other airbrush I've seen, wondering if it would it be an ok start for an absolute neophyte like myself to give airbrushing a try? Or is it an absolute waste of money?

The only reason I'm even considering this is I know a retired body man that bought one of there larger paint guns and said it does a fairly good job.

By the way I already have the other accessories like compressor, regulator, filter, etc.
Anybody have experience with this unit? Your thoughts?

[X-Gear]

Originally Posted by Billy Goat

Just got the latest Harbor Freight sale flyer and see they have an airbrush for $15.

Considering this unit is ridiculously cheaper than any other airbrush I've seen, wondering if it would it be an ok start for an absolute neophyte like myself to give airbrushing a try? Or is it an absolute waste of money?

The only reason I'm even considering this is I know a retired body man that bought one of there larger paint guns and said it does a fairly good job.

By the way I already have the other accessories like compressor, regulator, filter, etc.
Anybody have experience with this unit? Your thoughts?

Give it a try, it will work good enough for you to practice. If you do find that you could get into it and be good at it, then do yourself a favor and pick yourself up an iwata or something of that caliber. You can find some pretty good deals on used iwata brushes on ebay and craigslist Thinking that an airbrush is an airbrush will only deny you. The difference of spray quality is day and night between the two. The iwata's do alot better job at controlling the pattern and the droplet size.

[skunkworx]

I was in a similar boat not long ago. I picked up one of the cheap, bigger guns (for doing primer & clear). I got it for $9 and it actually works very well for what it is. Maybe not as smooth as a much nicer brand, but it will get your feet wet nonetheless. I say go for it, but don't expect miracles. you get what you pay for, but that doesn't mean you can't do great things with lesser stuff. Just look at how some people can fly certain helis. They make it look easy, but for us, we couldn't get it to fly to save our lives! Similar thing with the brushes. It's all what you make of it (but quality definitely has its advantages!)

[X-Gear]

Originally Posted by skunkworx

I was in a similar boat not long ago. I picked up one of the cheap, bigger guns (for doing primer & clear). I got it for $9 and it actually works very well for what it is. Maybe not as smooth as a much nicer brand, but it will get your feet wet nonetheless. I say go for it, but don't expect miracles. you get what you pay for, but that doesn't mean you can't do great things with lesser stuff. Just look at how some people can fly certain helis. They make it look easy, but for us, we couldn't get it to fly to save our lives! Similar thing with the brushes. It's all what you make of it (but quality definitely has its advantages!)

I agree skunk, depending on how much and what you are painting, make a small investment in a good gun for clearing, keep your cheap gun for primer since primer really doesn't matter that much, your going to sand it anyway. I started out painting with an old binks gun (primer gun now), then picked up a used sata and the difference in the quality of the spray was unreal, I ended up with another sata that i got used as well for very little money. Then last fall, i used a buddies iwata gun for a clear job and was amazed yet again, I really have to watch the satas, they are more like a production gun, they flat put out the material (its a good quality spray, just alot). The iwata atomized the clear alot finer and I wound up using alot less clear to get the same end result (too bad i had to throw all the extra clear away).

Enough of my babbling, you really do get what you pay for, now i'm on the lookout to get rid of the sata's and pick up a couple of iwatas, might turn one of the sata's into a primer gun.

[Billy Goat]

Originally Posted by X-Gear

Give it a try, it will work good enough for you to practice....

Exactly the lines I was wondering. Just want to make sure it won't cause me to do this .

[skunkworx]

It'll be a fun experience no matter what. When you go from crawl, to walk, to jogging, you'll have a nice appreciation for how well a nice brush works and you'll learn to work around its limitations. It's when you start to "run" that you'll probably do this

The first few trial-and-error(s) won't be frustrating because its still new and exciting. At worst, you'll always have it around and you can fiddle with it after you get a good one, then you can see just how much of a difference there is between the two.

I got lucky and inherited a very nice brush, but I could probably do about the same stuff with the cheapie gun because my skills are't that good yet. I'm having an absolute blast with painting and think it will be a great hobby to have in addition to my helis end beyond. I'm sure you'll find yourself in the same situation soon!

[AirBoston]

The problem with cheep spray guns and airbrushes is that they won't last and most of the time you can't buy parts. They will not work as smoothly and may not atomize the paint as well creating a grainy finish. If you are looking for a 2020 paint job (twenty feet away at 20 MPH it looks good) and disposable equipment, then it will be fine. If you want a good paint job up close and something that will last a lifetime or more, them buy a name brand brush. For primer and clear, I still use rattle cans but for paint and graphics I use better equipment.

[skunkworx]

Nah, I think a lot of it goes off what you want to do with it. The clear I just did on my buddy's heli came out great. It was never going to be all that awesome because it was never meant to be. Rather, it looks pretty darn good for a homemade version. It doesn't have globs, runs, or cracks. Will it last forever? Not on your life! It's stuck to a heli dude. They all go in at some point. Not a matter of if, but when. So I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Now say I wanted to go selling my designs, then of course I'd want it to come out as perfect as possible. Hence why you spend the money on the good stuff....big problem with that is you have to have some skills to back it all up (which not everyone does!). I say give it Hell with what you got (aka-cheap stuff), get a good understanding of what you are trying to get to, and just sling ink like mad until it starts to look good (that or forget to wear your mask and it'll look good after just a few coats no matter how jacked up it is!!!) lol

All in good fun though boys. Do it however you can.