Review of Portable Airbrush

[KB02]

In my post Rechargeable Portable Airbrush, I said that I would try it out and let people know what I thought. Well, after roughly 4 hours of ownership, here it is!

This is my review of my Portable Oxygen Injector Airbrush:

I came across it online and thought it looked extremely novel. Turns out they've been on the market for a number of years. Found a bunch of reviews online. I got this one from Walmart, but Temu seems to be the hotspot for them. For less than $25, which included the shipping and Walmart's 2 year protection plan, I now own and Airbrush.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have never even held an airbrush before, let alone owned or used one, so please consider that knowledge when reading this review.

First impressions: I like it.
I set right in on playing with my new toy. I happened to have a spare canvas lying around, so I grabbed some darker paint and used most of the charge that came in the unit through the mail. Once I got a feel for it, I grabbed a cheap cattle car I had lying around and started dressing it up. From my research, this appears to be a single stage air brush; meaning the air is always flowing through the tip. The trigger controls paint flow only. I found this to be a little limiting on some of the finer points I was trying to paint; like the car's wheels. I had to paint them from a bit of a distance and at an angle. It sort of worked, but something I will definitely need more practice on.

I have been using mainly the cheap water based acrylic paints from Walmart. I found a great recipe online for a simple paint thinner: 2 parts distilled water and 1 part 70% isopropanol; this mixed 50/50 with the paint. As I happened to have both items on hand, it was perfect! One review I saw online said that they had clogging problems using water based acrylic paints with this type of gun and I did experience that myself as well. It was his recommendation to use the Tamiya alcohol based acrylics. This may be an airbrush thing in general, I don't know. I only had one clog, and it may have been a bit of paint that hadn't mixed well, too. Again, I'm on ownership hour #5, so time will tell if this continues to be a problem. There is a gaming shop on the other side of town (D&D, Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, etc.) and I'm pretty sure they have airbrushing paints on hand. They're located right next to the grocery store... I'm sure there's something in the kitchen I need...

When I was done playing, I had come up with this:

I meant to take a "Before" picture but forgot. Trust me, though, it was just as bright and plasticky as the red car sitting behind it. I know it's a pretty crappy weathering job, so if you feel the need to comment on it, just be kind. It was my first time, after all.

******************
If you happen to be Airbrush curious, but don't feel like shelling out the dough for a full on set up, but want to try one out, I would highly recommend this product. It's cheap. It's easy. It seems to work well. And I now have the capability to do things I didn't have before.

As Steelwheels said in my other thread though:

That airbrush is going to GROW on you, you seem to have the drive to go beyond a few times a year....

I've got the feeling he may have hit the nail on the head. As I grow in experience and knowledge, this may become the back-up unit if I expand get a more professional style set up. I don't see it being thrown away, though, as I can definitely see where this will be useful around the layout where a regular compressor based unit would simply not work. For now I'm going to use the heck out it, get to know it, and see what I can do.

But like I said, I've only had it 5 hours.

 

[wheeler1963]

You will learn as you go. We all started somewhere. I am curious as to how long a charge will last you? I am not a fan of the cups for paint (too much waste in the clean up).

You are correct, water based paints can be a bit tricky on the mixture and drying out. Lacquer based paints are more forgiving.

If your air is constantly blowing, that will also dry out the needle faster.

I look forward to your progress. Any help I can give just holler. I've been at it for 40 years now.

 

[KB02]

You are correct, water based paints can be a bit tricky on the mixture and drying out. Lacquer based paints are more forgiving.

If your air is constantly blowing, that will also dry out the needle faster.

Good tip!
I did a little more playing around with it after posting the above to paint some "pin stripes" on my shoving platform project. I was using the constantly blowing air to help dry the light coats between layers. Worked pretty good. Didn't think of it drying out the paint.
Note to self: Turn off the compressor when not in use.

Funny other note:
For whatever reason, when the compressor was running, I was getting feedback in one of my hearing aids. It's not even that loud, either. Nice little extra excuse, though: "Sorry, Honey, I couldn't hear you. My airbrush was on."

 

[wheeler1963]

It must be vibrating at just the right frequency. Keep us up on your progress and how it performs.

 

[TLOC]

Welcome to the world of airbrushing. For $25 that is a great learning tool. I’ve been using the Tamiya Xf line of paints for years thinned with (IPA) Isopropyl Alcohol and rarely can I remember dry tip. As Jerome wrote above you will learn as you go along.

Have fun with it

 

[RhB Michael]

When I was a kid I had a basic Badger air brush and used canned air for model airplanes. I used that thing for a decade at least. It did a nice job on camo paint. Especially the two-tone Ghost Grey found on the F-15 at the time.

 

[KB02]

Played around with the air brush last night trying to weather a section of ballast. Sorry, no pics, but it came out fairly well. I did find a good use for the constantly blowing air: Finding any loose ballast that had not gotten glued down. Apparently I missed a few spots...

Happened to be out of town the other day and near a hobby shop. Stopped in and picked up some Tamiya paints. I only got 5 jars: Black, white, red, blue & yellow. I figure with the the primary colors and black & white, I should be able to come up with any shade I need. Google was great for coming up with recipes.
By the way, Burnt Umber can be made with 3 parts each black & red, 1 part yellow and a touch of blue (if needed). I practiced with my cheap Walmart acrylics; less black and more yellow was the key with those.

 

[steelwheels]

Good tip
Burnt Umber can be made with 3 parts each black & red, 1 part yellow and a touch of blue (if needed).

Thanks
Pep

 

[DeaconKC]

Next time you're in the game store, see if they carry Reaper paints. Water based and airbrush beautifully.

 

[Michael B]

Air brushes...
I bought one a few years back.
It is a gravity fed deal with three needles and tips.
I tried it a few times, but just do not like the feel of it.
I simply went back to my full size Develbiss and have never looked back. I would just like for the SOB that stole my jamb gun to return it, as that is the gun I really want for this.
Most of you guys would be shocked to see how I paint this stuff.
I would have a passenger train cleared in about 30 seconds...

I never spray without my bake light going either.
Infrared, 1750 watts.
One night, I was painting with the light at my back.
The warmth feels good, so I don't mind.
Spray, spray, getting warmer, then I realized the 3812 rag in my back pocket was on fire...

Many years ago, I was at my paint jobbers store.
They were mixing up paint, the same paint that I would mix to spray on your car, but they were loading up spray cans with it.
This means you can order a fleet color, like Armour Yellow, and they can put that in a spray can for you. Think about that - what is to stop you from going to the jobber and having them put any paint you want in a spray can...l

 

[KB02]

A couple lessons learned the other night:
1.) If your going to put the air brush away for a while, never assume that clean enough is clean enough.
2.) Never mix the heavy, cheap, Walmart acrylics IN the paint cup.
3.) If you ignore 1 & 2 above, you will become VERY familiar with the cleaning process... out of necessity.

yeah... Granted, those could be general air brush things, but for this brush specifically, they seem important.

Oh, and #4.) If you get one of these units, get one with the little hose. Did some painting in tight spots. The compressor got in the way a bit more than I anticipated it would.

 

[Michael B]

How do you guys strain your paint?
The one I have is too big - it holds onto a lot of valuable paint.
I want something smaller...and not one that goes in the gun.

 

[steelwheels]

@Michael B "went back to my full size Develbiss"

I'am trying to visualize someone modeling N and using a full-size paint gun. This could change your mind


Not a toy, knob at the rear, adjust the paint

Air cap can spray a fan pattern, a real improvement over the pencil-style airbrush.

Same adjustments as a full-size spray gun. The knob below the paint cup.
will adjust the air pressure.

100 bucks well spent.

I am a Binks guy,
large hose on the left, dryer for the brush.


Pep

 

[Michael B]

I like the looks of that gun/brush.
I certainly would like that much more then the others.

I like Binks too, one of my boothes was a Binks side draft.
Painted a lot of enamel and lacquer with the old model 7.
Those were the days. A guy could patch up a rust bucket and paint it for less then $150 for all the materials...

Dang, they did not send me a fancy knob like yours has...

 

[steelwheels]

One thing is for sure, we both will never run out of air painting models.
Pep

 

[TheXModelRailroader]

In my post Rechargeable Portable Airbrush, I said that I would try it out and let people know what I thought. Well, after roughly 4 hours of ownership, here it is!

This is my review of my Portable Oxygen Injector Airbrush:

I came across it online and thought it looked extremely novel. Turns out they've been on the market for a number of years. Found a bunch of reviews online. I got this one from Walmart, but Temu seems to be the hotspot for them. For less than $25, which included the shipping and Walmart's 2 year protection plan, I now own and Airbrush.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have never even held an airbrush before, let alone owned or used one, so please consider that knowledge when reading this review.

First impressions: I like it.
I set right in on playing with my new toy. I happened to have a spare canvas lying around, so I grabbed some darker paint and used most of the charge that came in the unit through the mail. Once I got a feel for it, I grabbed a cheap cattle car I had lying around and started dressing it up. From my research, this appears to be a single stage air brush; meaning the air is always flowing through the tip. The trigger controls paint flow only. I found this to be a little limiting on some of the finer points I was trying to paint; like the car's wheels. I had to paint them from a bit of a distance and at an angle. It sort of worked, but something I will definitely need more practice on.

I have been using mainly the cheap water based acrylic paints from Walmart. I found a great recipe online for a simple paint thinner: 2 parts distilled water and 1 part 70% isopropanol; this mixed 50/50 with the paint. As I happened to have both items on hand, it was perfect! One review I saw online said that they had clogging problems using water based acrylic paints with this type of gun and I did experience that myself as well. It was his recommendation to use the Tamiya alcohol based acrylics. This may be an airbrush thing in general, I don't know. I only had one clog, and it may have been a bit of paint that hadn't mixed well, too. Again, I'm on ownership hour #5, so time will tell if this continues to be a problem. There is a gaming shop on the other side of town (D&D, Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, etc.) and I'm pretty sure they have airbrushing paints on hand. They're located right next to the grocery store... I'm sure there's something in the kitchen I need...

When I was done playing, I had come up with this:

I meant to take a "Before" picture but forgot. Trust me, though, it was just as bright and plasticky as the red car sitting behind it. I know it's a pretty crappy weathering job, so if you feel the need to comment on it, just be kind. It was my first time, after all.

******************
If you happen to be Airbrush curious, but don't feel like shelling out the dough for a full on set up, but want to try one out, I would highly recommend this product. It's cheap. It's easy. It seems to work well. And I now have the capability to do things I didn't have before.

As Steelwheels said in my other thread though:

I've got the feeling he may have hit the nail on the head. As I grow in experience and knowledge, this may become the back-up unit if I expand get a more professional style set up. I don't see it being thrown away, though, as I can definitely see where this will be useful around the layout where a regular compressor based unit would simply not work. For now I'm going to use the heck out it, get to know it, and see what I can do.

But like I said, I've only had it 5 hours.

Only just came across this.
Thanks for the review! looks great! Might get one for myself!