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Dwarven Forge City Builder Terrain is Great for Wargamers Too

Board Games, News and Info, RPG, Tabletop Gaming Comments Off

Mar 312015

The other day I wrote a bit about Dwarven Forge’s various Kickstarters for their Dwarvenite range of dungeon terrain sets. Something that I didn’t mention at the time was that I think that this current set – the City Builder Terrain System, is really well suited for wargames and skirmish wargames in particular.

What Is the City Builder Terrain System?

dwarven forge city builder terrain system

A sample build of a small city area that would work for a skirmish game set in an urban environment. This uses parts from the Capital City pledge, Imperial Streets set and various smaller add on sets

Without rehashing everything I wrote in my previous post, Dwarven Forge’s City Builder Terrain is a modular, durable, plastic terrain system that allows you to build up urban areas for your tabletop games. Dwarvenite is a heavy duty polymer that’s fairly indestructible and holds its finish well. It’s so durable that some folks just carry around their sets in a tote or duffel bag.

What Can I Make With The City Builder Terrain System?

The City Builder Terrain System sets are fairly complex and give you a wide range of options. They can be purchased in a “dungeon gray” unpainted version or completely finished and ready to deploy on to your game table. These can range from just a small building or two that are designed as more of a movement obstacle for mass battles all the way up to a massive city with a wide range of multi level buildings constructed of different materials and fortification levels. There are even sets available that allow you to construct the sewer system and all of this can be used in conjunction to create some complex battlefields.

Dwarven Forge City Building System Sewers

This battle starts in the buildings and on the surrounding streets, entering into a canal and ultimately descending into the sewers making this a complex and fun battlefield. This set up uses a mix of the new Dwarven Forge City Building sets along with Game Tiles and Caverns water tile sets, demonstrating how all of the various Dwarvenite sets are fully compatible.

This is especially useful for smaller skirmish level games like Malifaux, or Mordheim. The hotly anticipated new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles has also been widely rumored to be or have an additional set of rules making it into a skirmish game

While the Dwarven Forge City Builder Terrain System is themed around a medieval period I think it’s fairly flexible and could be used for a wide variety of settings. You could simulate a rural or old city area in Bolt Action. It’s suitable for many historical games as well. It’s probably also great for some of the Steampunk themed skirmish games that are becoming more popular.

Check out this amazing multilevel build using pieces from the City Buildings, Battlements, City Streets and Sewers sets:

In addition to creating some complex exterior areas, the City Builder Terrain System can be used to create areas with fully finished interiors complete with stairways, line of sight obstacles, walls, doors, windows, balconies and more. There are also ruins add on packs to simulate blighted areas or damaged buildings. You could use the ruined pieces to modify buildings as your game progresses and things get damaged, dynamically changing the layout of obstacles and line of sight on the fly as a result of battle damage.

Pieces can also be combined with parts from previous sets to create water barriers or massive stone walls. The only limit is your imagination.

Dwarven Forge City Builder Terrain System for Skirmish Wargames? Yes please!

As a long time wargamer I really like the versatility of these sets. Typically wargamers tend to build or buy a few static building models and then use the same ones over and over. With the Dwarven Forge City sets you have a large selection of modular pieces that you can use to assemble something unique for your battlefield every time you play. Another benefit is that many static models, especially for medieval/fantasy architecture either don’t have interiors at all or are very limited due to the way they are manufactured. The Dwarvenite pieces give you the option to have fully realized interiors to your buildings. With the addition of accessories from other companies you can even place furniture and other items much like scatter terrain on the insides of your buildings.

Sample tavern interior and surrounding streets

This coupled with the huge range of accessories available from Dwarven Forge and the fact that unlike pre-made buildings which can be finicky and at times a bit fragile, the Dwarvenite parts are nearly indestructible and will probably last you a lifetime. I think these facts all add up to a great value for wargamers and even more so for skirmish gamers.

The Dwarven Forge City Builder Terrain System Kickstarter is in its final few days so head on over and take a look at what’s on offer. For more general information about Dwarven Forge and their products check out my other article here.

Thoughts on the Dwarven Forge City Builder Terrain System Kickstarter

Geek News, News and Info, RPG, Tabletop Gaming 1 Response »

Mar 302015

As you may or may not know, Dwarven Forge, makers of 3D dungeon themed modular gaming terrain recently launched their third Kickstarter for an entirely new City Building Terrain System set. This Kickstarter runs until 6:00 PM PDT on Thursday April 2nd. Here’s a look at the Kickstarter promo video where Dwarven Forge creator Stefan Pokorny lays out some background and an overview of the system:

A Little Dwarven Forge Background

If you’re unfamiliar with Dwarven Forge, it’s a small company that’s been making high quality, hand crafted and hand painted resin dungeon terrain for almost twenty years. They feature a fairly large variety of terrain sets that range from a “basic” field stone stonework motif to some very specialized and unique sets that offer a much more finished look with themes like ”Den of Evil”, “Realm of the Ancients” and “Catacombs”. The owner, Stefan Pokorny is a classically trained artist who has worked in a variety of mediums. He’s also a longtime fan of Fantasy Role Playing Games and this is where his artist background has intersected with his love of fantasy and games like Dungeons & Dragons resulting in the creation of Dwarven Forge.

Dwarven Forge resin sets modular dungeon terrain

An example of a resin Dwarven Forge layout with a variety of sets

Dwarven Forge sets are a large leap above everything else that’s currently on the market and are clearly a labor of love. The result is amazingly detailed yet highly flexible system that allows you to create almost any type of dungeon environment that you can imagine. Sets are highly sought after by fans of dungeon terrain and collecting Dwarven Forge sets is frequently referred to as “the addiction” by those in the know. The fact that these are produced in relatively small batches and hand painted also means they are pricey and sometimes out of stock for significant periods of time.

Detail shot of a Dwarven Forge handcrafted and painted resin Catacombs set

About three years ago, the powers that be at Dwarven Forge decided to explore the idea of producing sets in a different material that would be more durable and easier to manufacture in large quantities, allowing them to be made available to a wider audience at a much less budget busting price. After some research they settled on a plastic polymer that is similar to what hockey pucks are made from and decided to call it “Dwarvenite”.

The base pledge of the original Dwarven Forge Games Tiles Kickstarter (painted option) included an assortment of just four different pieces. The genius of this was that these four basic pieces allowed you to create all sorts of rooms, then stretch goals added variety and many options.

Dwarvenite is almost indestructible. There are videos of the Dwarven Forge staff dropping pieces from the roof of a building and actually driving over a piece with a truck. The results of these tests are that the Dwarvenite material is virtually undamaged. This means that your investment in Dwarvenite will likely be something that will last you a lifetime and can be passed on to your kids or other gaming family. As the pieces can be manufactured in steel molds with standard injection molding processes instead of having to be hand poured in resin they are much less costly to manufacture and these savings are passed on to consumers. The lowered manufacturing costs also mean that they can offer Dwarvenite sets in both unpainted and painted versions.

Because Dwarven Forge was pretty much a two man operation they decided to go to Kickstarter to generate interest and try to fund their new product called “Dungeon Tiles”. Following the “base sets pledge plus stretch goals” business model they ended up with a resoundingly successful Kickstarter that allowed them to produce the new line and add many new types of pieces and accessories to the line. At the end of their Kickstarter they had raised close to two million dollars in funding. In keeping with their reputation for being a quality company with great customer service, they managed to deliver Kickstarter rewards to their backers on time and at a quality level that exceeded backer expectations.

The Dwarven Forge Caverns base set followed a similar strategy as the first Kickstarter

A year later they repeated this success with a Dwarvenite Caverns Kickstarter that featured sets designed to model natural stone caverns complete with stalagmites and other features you’d find while exploring caves. Once again they ran an exciting Kickstarter campaign and delivered their products to backers on time and with outstanding quality. In the video below you can see how by the time the Caverns Kickstarter finished you could create some fantastic cavern layouts:

What is the Dwarven Forge City Builder System

While the first two sets of Dwarvenite all focused on the underground portion of tabletop adventuring, this new set is designed to complement those sets and bring your adventuring into urban areas. The City Builder System is just that, a collection of Dwarvenite pieces that allow you build anything from a small cottage on up to a massive city complete with taverns, inns, fortified guardhouses and just about anything you can imagine (depending of course on how much of this stuff you purchase). The sets allow you to construct complete buildings with roofs and/or completely usable multistory interiors where you can play out your encounters in 3D with miniatures – and if you’re wondering, while this system does include optional battlements pieces it is not expressly designed to construct actual castles and keeps. Stefan Pokorny has indicated that he intends to run another Kickstarter in the future that will center on a castle building system. As is standard for Dwarven Forge Dwarvenite sets, all of the items on offer come either painted or unpainted versions.

A quick overview of the City Builder System in action using resin prototypes:

The one (sort of) negative aspect of this Kickstarter is the sheer variety of sets on offer. While it’s a well thought out project in terms of how it really will allow you create some fantastic urban layouts, this means that by necessity it requires a lot of different parts to accomplish that goal. Base pledges this time offer a complex variety of pieces that allow you to make buildings. There are add on sets for streets and sidewalks, as well as sets for sewers and buildings that are more fortified than typical residential or public gathering places. There are even sets that are ruined pieces that would allow you to create heavily damaged architecture. Add in the fact that he’s offering two distinct styles of buildings (stone and Tudor) and just the base pledges have to be complex to accomplish this.

Another look at (some pretty fantastic) possibilies using a lot of the different add on packs from this Kickstarter:

This means that trying to pick up some of everything during the Kickstarter is going to be cost prohibitive for most backers, not due to the pricing of individual sets which is fairly reasonable, but due to the sheer volume of variety and options. At the time of this writing the average pledge per backer is around $690 according to Kicktraq. Most Kickstarter participants probably have a budget that’s well below the level required to get some of everything on offer during the campaign. Having to stay within that budget will likely mean that most backers have some tough decisions to make about what they want to focus on during the Kickstarter My opinion on this is that unless you’re not interested in the city building aspect of this project then the best value is going to be to maximize your spending on the base building pledges as you’ll only receive free stretch goals with those pledges. You may also want to add in some extra floor packs because of all of the free wall piece stretch goals.

The other thing to keep in mind is that everything else should be available in add on packs from the Dwarven Forge online store once Kickstarter fulfillment is complete. (In past projects sometimes the mix of pieces is changed for retail and but as a general rule DF does not typically offer many “Kickstarter Exclusive” items). Scheduled delivery for this project is January 2016. While some may disagree, I think it’s a good long term strategy for Dwarven Forge to actually offer more options during the Kickstarter than most people can afford to buy all at once. They’re leveraging the power of crowd funding to greatly expand their product line at the beginning of the year. In effect designing and manufacturing an entire years worth of releases in one go which likely creates some significant cost breaks at the manufacturing stage. This should result in continued post KS business for Dwarven Forge as people buy additional sets or options that they weren’t able to squeeze into their pledge during the Kickstarter.

A fortified keep using a combination of City Builder System parts and Game Tiles from previous sets:

Dwarven Forge – My Own Experience & Recommendations

I’ve been using Dwarven Forge products off and on for awhile now. I have some of the resin sets like Catacombs and Realm of the Ancients and I participated in both previous Kickstarters (although I was late to the first one and piggybacked on a friends pledge at the literally last minute). I really like all of the sets I have used to be honest. The sets are different enough to allow you to create a wide range of environments and the Dwarvenite sets match up well with the resin sets. As mentioned above, the Dwarvenite sets are practically indestructible and I don’t have to worry about them getting damaged when kids are around or the cat knocks a piece off of the table. I purchased the Dungeon Tiles sets unpainted and have gradually painted them myself but I chose to purchase the Caverns sets painted for the second Kickstarter. For this third go round I plan to focus on the City sets probably unpainted in order to maximize the number of pieces I’ll end up with. I’ll be picking up add on sets when they go into general release after the Kickstarter fulfillment has been completed.

When asked about Dwarven Forge and Dwarvenite sets in particular I always recommend them as a buy due to the variety, durability and how nice they look on your tabletop. If you’re looking to spice up your role playing games (and dungeon crawl board games!) with great visuals that can really add to the immersion then I highly recommend you visit www.dwavenforge.com and pick some up! Based on my previous experiences I’m confident that The City Building System will meet or exceed Dwarven Forge’s usual high standards and I think that participating in the Kickstarter is a great way to get started with Dwarvenite!

Don’t forget that the City Builder System Kickstarter runs until 6:00 PM PDT on Thursday April 2nd.

Jump to the Dwarven Forge City Builder System Kickstarter here

Airbrushing for the Miniatures Hobby – Airbrush Accessories

Hobby Tradecraft, News and Info, Tabletop Gaming 1 Response »

Feb 172015

In the last couple of articles we’ve looked at airbrushes and airbrush compressors. Today we’ll continue with that theme by exploring all of the extra stuff that you may need as you begin to airbrush. In terms of price per item the airbrush and compressor are likely the two most expensive parts of the process. However there are quite a few other things that you’re going to want to pick up as well. Most of these are fairly inexpensive. Some of these items are optional and you can either pass on them completely or pick them up at a later date. There are a few things though that are pretty much mandatory due to safety or environmental concerns. Even though we’re talking about spraying water based acrylics through your airbrush you’ll still want to take care of yourself and your surroundings.

In this article we’ll tall about all of the odds and ends that I use when airbrushing, why I use them or find them useful and finally, whether I feel they are must haves or optional buys.

I’ve got an Airbrush & Compressor so I’m Ready to Start, Right?

If you’ve picked up an airbrush and compressor or other air source you’re probably thinking you’re all set. Well, not quite. There are a few other items you’re going to want to pick up or at least consider. Fortunately, if you’ve spent carefully on the two big items you’ve probably got some room left in the budget to pick some of these things up.

Airbrushing Is Still Spraying Paint, That Means Safety First

First off lets talk about your airspace. What I mean by that is the air that you’re breathing. When you spray paint you’re going to breathe in atomized paint particles unless you take some precautions to minimize your exposure. I know, you’re probably thinking “wait, hobby acrylics are water based paint, how bad can that be?” What you need to be aware of is that some of the materials in paint, like cadmium used in yellow paints is bad for you if you ingest it. I’m not a doctor so I don’t know what the threshold is for breathing something in like cadmium but why risk it? Cadmium and other ingredients in paint can cause organ failure if you get enough exposure. If you’re already sensitive to things or have other issues (or an issue you might be unaware of) you really should take some steps to mitigate your exposure. If you don’t believe me about how much paint you can ingest in an airbrushing session. Blow your nose after you’ve painted something green or black without a mask and see what that looks like. You’ll probably be surprised by how much paint you can actually suck up when you airbrush.

There are two main ways to deal with this. If you’re painting in the garage then you can probably get by with just a mask. If you’re painting in the house, you’ll want to use a mask and some sort of spray booth. You can make a spray booth, check out Google or YouTube and you’ll find some articles or videos there on kludging together a spray booth as a DIY project. If you prefer a ready made solution you can get a portable spray booth, probably from the same place you bought your airbrush and compressor.

This portable airbrush spray booth will keep your airbrushing environment clean

I use the Master Airbrush Portable Spray Booth. These things used to be ridiculously expensive but have come way down in price over the last few years. Retail is $169 but you can pick this up online for around $80. This is offered in a couple of different packages. You’ll want the one that includes the extra hardware for the exhaust. This comes with a semi-rigid flex hose and a spout that is narrow so that you can wedge it in a slightly open window allowing you to vent the air outside. The plastic outlet actually has a raised ridge around it so that you can close the window on it and it stays in place requiring only a narrowly open gap. (It’s pretty mild weather where I live so having a little gap in the window is no big deal. If you’re in colder or warmer climes you’ll probably want to seal that gap.)

This type of dryer vent hose is much more flexible than what’s included with the spray booth

One caveat: the flex hose was a little too rigid for me because of where I needed to position the spray booth relative to the window. I solved this by not using the included flex hose and picking up a 4” diameter dryer vent flex hose at Home Depot. The dryer hose was much more flexible, allowing me to route the exhaust where I needed it easily. One other note, this spray booth is rated for non-flammable materials. Don’t use it with lacquer or enamel paints because the fan isn’t spark proof . You’ll need to explore other more expensive options if you plan to spray anything combustible. I would rate the portable spray booth as a “must have” if you’re working inside your house. Optional if you’re in the garage.

The 3M 6000 Respirator Half Mask is a good choice when using an airbrush

The other safety item is a mask/respirator. Get a good one because it’s your health we’re talking about. In a pinch you can use a disposable paper one and that’s better than nothing but you’re much better off investing in a good mask. I’m recommending the 3M 6000 series half mask. This is a half mask so it only covers your nose & mouth and won’t get in the way of your glasses. It includes filters that are good for sanding/grinding/acrylic painting and you can upgrade it to use filter cartridges if you’re working with harsher chemicals like lacquer or enamel paints. I’m rating the mask as a must have accessory because health is important and I want you to be around awhile to enjoy your hobbying!

Disposable gloves will help keep airbrush overspray off of your hands when holding small models or parts

The next thing on our list is optional, depending on how much you care about getting paint on your hands. I find it handy to keep a box of latex (or nitrile if you’re allergic to latex) disposable gloves in my paint area. I don’t use these for brush painting but I definitely do use them when I’m airbrushing, at least on the hand I’m holding miniatures or models with. Semi-optional but recommended.

Last but not least for environment accessories is something that a lot of people overlook and that’s good lighting. You probably have good lighting on your paint desk where you brush paint. You should have good lighting where you airbrush as well. Either get another light or if you have a light with one of those table clamps that it sockets into, just pick up an extra table clamp and you can move your light around without having to get under your desk to undo the clamp all the time. Good lighting in your work space is a must have!

I have posted other articles about proper desk lamps and daylight bulbs for hobbying and you can check those out if you’d like a little more information on those subjects.

Airbrush Care and Maintenance Accessories

The Iwata Airbrush Cleaning Station is a must have and includes a built in airbrush stand

In this section we’ll look at items that you’ll want to have to take care of your airbrush and work area. There are several items that I find really helpful to have on hand. One of my favorites is an airbrush cleaning station. This is a basically a jar that your airbrush nozzle sockets into and it allows you to empty out paint, cleaning fluid and water rapidly when you’re doing a color change during an airbrushing session. The jar has a little filter that allows air out but keeps moisture and particulates in. When the jar is full you just remove the lid and dump it. You can probably find a video on YouTube telling you how to build one of these if you want to make it a DIY project or you can buy one. I have the Iwata Airbrush Cleaning Station and I like it because it actually has a built in airbrush holder as part of the handle. You can pick this item up for around $20 online usually. Optional but so handy I really recommend it.

This airbrush stand will hold four airbrushes and clamps on to your desk

Airbrush stands come in single double and quad configurations. Handy to have but not required. Definitely consider getting one if you airbrush a lot and have more than one airbrush.

This 10 foot long braided airbrush hose will give you plenty of room to work and should last just about forever

One thing I really recommend is a 10′ long braided airbrush hose. Don’t use the thin vinyl ones that come with some airbrush packages. The hose will kink and/or crack eventually. I’m also not a fan of the plastic coil up hoses. They always seem to be in the way and I feel like I’m fighting against my hose all the time. If you purchased one of the Master Airbrush Compressors I mentioned in my previous article it probably came with a 6 foot braided hose and that may be adequate for you so try it out first. Since I keep my compressor on the floor I like having the longer hose. Recommended but optional.

This handy airbrush adapter set covers all of the most common airbrushes

If you’re using a braided hose chances are it’s a standard Iwata hose unless it states otherwise. One thing that’s frustrating about airbrushes is that every manufacturer seems to use a different sized threaded fitting for their air connections. You’ll need to make sure you have the correct adapter to mate your airbrush to your air hose or quick disconnect. If you’re not sure, here’s a handy three pack of the most popular adapters. Recommended depending on your airbrush and hoses.

Airbrush quick disconnects are a very handy accessory but avoid the cheap/generic ones as they tend to leak

An item that I really like is airbrush quick disconnects. These don’t typically come with your airbrush but are a really excellent add-on. They allow you to swap out airbrushes almost instantly by use of a snap together chuck as opposed to having to unscrew everything. I have one of these attached to each end of my airbrush hose and a quick disconnect fitting at the compressor and on each airbrush I use. If you decide to go this route, I really recommend you spend a little extra and get the Iwata branded ones. I originally went with generic ones sold by TCP Global and I had rotten luck with those. After trying several of them I switched to Iwata because every one of the cheap ones leaked air like a sieve. Strictly optional but very handy. If you go with quick disconnects spend a little extra and get good ones.

Teflon pipe thread tape – pick a roll of this up at the local hardware store

You may have received a roll of Teflon tape with your air compressor. If you didn’t, pick one up at a hardware store for about two bucks. Use this on anything that’s threaded, like where your regulator connects to your compressor or your quick disconnect connects to your regulator, etc. Basically any place there’s an adapter or fitting needs a bit of of this to ensure it doesn’t leak. Recommended

These tiny brushes will be useful when you break down your airbrush for a thorough cleaning

Pick up a set of airbrush cleaning brushes. This will make the process of giving your airbrush a thorough cleaning much easier. You’ll be using these when you do a total breakdown of your airbrush to clean it at the end of your painting sessions. Recommended. Look for a detailed how-to about airbrush breakdown and cleaning in a future article.

You probably have these around the house, keep a roll handy at your airbrushing work area

Paper towels. Yep, it probably sounds dumb to tell you this but you’re going to want to have a roll handy because you will spill stuff at the worst possible time and need them “right now”. If you’re not spilling stuff, you’re not really airbrushing.

Keep an extra airbrush needle around, so you’ll have it in an emergency

No matter how careful you are, eventually you’re going to bend or damage your airbrush needle. Buy an extra airbrush needle now because you’re going to do this right in the middle of a big project when you can’t afford to wait a few days to get one in via the mail. Murphy’s law also assures you that your local hobby shop will be out of the exact airbrush needle you desperately need in an emergency. All kidding aside, get a spare. Highly recommended.

An example of an airbrush crown cap – get the one for your airbrush if it didn’t come with one

If your airbrush didn’t come with one, pick up a crown cap. Your airbrush nozzle probably comes with a nozzle cap that looks like a nose cone on a rocket with the tip shaved off. When you get in really close to do fine detail that cap restricts airflow and actually creates a bit of turbulence at the tip that can make your fine lines fuzzier than you want them to be. A crown cap has cutaway areas at the nozzle to reduce most of this turbulence but still has protrusions to protect the needle. Some experienced airbrush users will paint without the nozzle cap but I don’t recommend that, it’s a good way to damage the tip of your airbrush needle. Recommended

This small ultrasonic cleaner is great at removing bits of stuck on dried paint from your airbrush

An ultrasonic cleaner is strictly optional but handy to have around when you do a thorough breakdown and cleaning of your airbrush. These used to be outrageously expensive but you can now find them everywhere online in the $40 to $60 range. You fill them with water and dunk your airbrush parts for a few minutes and they’ll basically vibrate all the stuck on bits of paint and junk off of your airbrush. Usually one 5 to 10 minute bath cycle does the trick. More if you’ve been a slacker and not cleaned your airbrush or let paint dry in it. Also, you can get this past your non hobbying significant other by telling them they can use it to clean jewelry too. Optional

Liquitex airbrush thinner works well with a variety of acrylic paints

If you’re using an airbrush paint or a hobby paint, pick up the same brand airbrush thinner if available. Golden or Liquitex Airbrush Medium is also a good choice. Otherwise you’re going to have to do some experimenting to find a suitable thinner. Almost all paint will need to be thinned to be shot through an airbrush. Even some of the paints marketed as airbrush ready may need a little more thinning to really flow well. In a pinch you can use water or alcohol but I’d experiment with that a bit first. I’ll put up another article in the near future about thinning paints for use in an airbrush.

Plain old distilled water. Available at the grocery store for about $2 a gallon

Get a gallon of distilled water at the grocery store. Always run a little of this through your airbrush after changing colors or running airbrush cleaner through it. Two bucks at the grocery store. Highly recommended

windshield washer fluid airbrush cleaner

Windshield washer fluid, available at your local Wal Mart or auto parts. Get the cheap stuff and use it as airbrush cleaner.

You can buy expensive airbrush cleaners to run through your airbrush between paints and after painting sessions. Do this instead: Pick up a gallon of cheapo windshield washer fluid at your local Wal Mart or auto parts. Get the cheap blue stuff that’s around two bucks a gallon. Don’t get the expensive stuff. This is mostly colored water with a bit of methanol and possibly some detergent mixed in. It does a great job of cleaning your airbrush and is dirt cheap. A gallon will last you a long time. Never leave this or any other cleaner in your airbrush, always run clean water though your airbrush after running any sort of cleaner through it.

Plastic squeeze bottles are great for keeping your distilled water, cleaner and other fluids handy

You’re going to want a few plastic squeeze bottles to make your life easier. I recommended one for distilled water and another for windshield washer/cleaning fluid as you won’t want to be handling one gallon bottles of that stuff while you’re airbrushing. Pick up a couple of these liter or half liter sized squeeze bottles with caps and keep those filled up with your cleaning fluids at your work area. Don’t forget to get a small funnel to make transferring from the big bottles to the small bottles a snap. Very handy and of course optional but recommended.

These small plastic dropper bottles are great for custom paint mixes or transferring paint from pots

If you’re mixing your own colors or transferring paint from a large container to a smaller more convenient container get some of these dropper bottles. These are super cheap, around $15 for 50 of them shipped via Amazon and they are really handy to have around.

Plastic pipettes work great for transferring paint between paint pots and your airbrush

Also consider picking up some of these plastic pipettes if you’re using paint that isn’t packaged in dropper bottles. Trying to pour paint from a paint pot into an airbrush color cup is a sure way to make a mess and waste a lot of paint. Highly recommended if you’re using paint from non dropper bottles.

There’s a few other items that are handy to have around but you probably have these around the house or your hobby work area already. Keep an old brush around if you’re mixing colors and thinner in the airbrush paint cup. Also keep a pen and pad handy so you can make notes about custom color mixes and thinning paints as different paint colors in the same line of paints will have different thinning requirements.

Airbrush, Compressor and Accessories, Now It’s a Party!

At this point, you should be pretty set to start airbrushing, all that remains is for you to dive in and just do it. In upcoming articles I’ll revisit this subject to talk about thinning paints for use in an airbrush and how to clean and maintain your airbrush. I’ve added links below to the previous two articles in this series and in the future I’ll come back here and add links to any new articles that are related to this content to make it easier to find everything. If you have questions, feel free to contact me here or to find me over on Twitter @HolyCrapItsLate.

Part 1 – Airbrushing for the Miniatures Hobby – Airbrush Basics & Mini Reviews

Part 2 – Airbrushing for the Miniatures Hobby – Airbrush Compressors & Hardware

As always, your constructive comments and suggestions are welcome. Feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

Airbrushing for the Miniatures Hobby – Airbrush Compressors & Hardware

Hobby Tradecraft, News and Info, Tabletop Gaming 3 Responses »

Feb 112015

Information and recommendations on Airbrush Compressors

Picking up from the last article on airbrush basics I’d like to talk about the other big decision when it comes to entering the airbrush hobby – what to use as an air source. For most of you this will mean some sort of compressor but even with that decision made there are still some considerations on what kind of compressor you should get. Outside of airbrush compressors there are a few other options that include canned air, air tanks and even a spare tire. Lets dive right in and talk about alternate air sources first and then we’ll cover various types of compressors and hardware that goes with them.

Other than an Airbrush Compressor What Can Be Used as an Air Source?

There are lots of questions about airbrush compressors. Lets try and get to the bottom of this!

You have a few options if you just can’t swing an airbrush compressor due to funds or your living situation. The least expensive thing is to get an adapter that will attach to the valve stem on a spare tire. These cost a few bucks and with a fully inflated tire from a pickup truck or passenger car you’ll have enough air to last a lengthy painting session. The caveat of course is that if you decide to use the spare from your car or your spouses car and then don’t have that with you when you need it the cost of dealing with that mistake will likely be greater than if you had just bought a compressor in the first place. Really think about this and weigh the consequences before deciding to go this route. Also consider that tires are generally smelly and dirty and you’ll have to take it somewhere to fill it up occasionally so if you’re planning on having this in your house you may be in for some trouble.

Another solution is the use of canned air like Badger Propel. To be honest this is probably the worst alternative to an airbrush compressor. These cans cost about $12 to $14 each and are a hassle to use. As you use air from these cans they get very cold and the pressure drops. This means you’ll either have to have multiple cans and keep switching them in order to keep airbrushing or you’ll have to warm them up in a bucket of water or come up with some other scheme to keep the cans warm enough so that pressure doesn’t become an issue. At some point with canned air you’ll realize that you’ve spent enough money to have bought an actual airbrush compressor and that’s going to make you angry and frustrated.

Another problem with both of these solutions is that the “regulator” is really just an on/off valve like a water tap. There’s no gauge so you have no way of actually knowing what pressure you’re dialing in and no real control of the air pressure.

One other thing to consider, and this is the best of the three non-compressor solutions in my opinion, is a portable air tank. These are usually available at hardware and auto parts stores but will be less expensive online, particularly if you can get one with free shipping. Portable air tanks vary in size from three to ten gallons typically and online prices for those range from $40 to $60. You’ll need to take this somewhere to fill it just like you would a tire but it’s a lot easier to handle and have around. They hold quite a bit of air and the larger tanks will keep you supplied for several airbrushing sessions. This is a good alternative choice for an airbrush compressor if you need something quiet or if you have a regular shop compressor in your garage to fill it. I recommend getting a regulator for this though as you won’t want to directly connect it to your airbrush.

What Kind of Compressors Can You Use With An Airbrush?

There are several kinds of compressors that are suitable for use with an airbrush. If you have access to a regular shop compressor this will work. You probably won’t want this in the house though because they are very loud so it’s only a good solution in terms of environment if you’re working in a space where you don’t mind the noise, like a garage or dedicated workshop. If you use this kind of compressor you’ll need a manifold and a combination regulator and moisture trap as part of your setup. The manifold is just a splitter so that you can run a dedicated line for your regular high pressure shop air and a line for your airbrush regulator which will allow you to dial down the high pressure your compressor supplies to a manageable range for airbrushing. (Your compressor probably supplies air at 90 to 125 PSI or more and you’re only going to need a maximum of 25 PSI for airbrushing.)

Here’s a typical combination airbrush regulator & moisture trap, perfect for attaching to your shop compressor

Compressors tend to accumulate moisture when they work and this is sometimes ejected out the air line and will foul your paint so you’ll need a water trap to prevent any moisture from reaching your airbrush. You can usually get a combination regulator/water trap for the airbrush side of the manifold.

Do not buy one of these or anything remotely like this. You will be disappointed.

Another type of airbrush compressor you may see recommended is one that is a sealed unit in a small plastic case. These are typically sold to nail artists and cake decorators. You don’t want this. They run constantly, they don’t give you any control over the air pressure and tend to run on the low side pressure wise. This is frequently presented as a budget solution but it just isn’t a very good one. They also tend to pulsate the airflow as you spray which can cause problems with your paints finish. Since they run continuously they also get hot and will sometimes shut down due to overheating.

Finally, we get to dedicated airbrush compressors. These are purpose built small compressors that are designed specifically for airbrushing. These come with or without a tank and run from right around $100 up to and well beyond $500. The good news is, unless you’re a professional artist or have very specific needs due to your living situation there is really no reason to spend much more than $100 on an airbrush compressor.

At the high end of airbrush compressors are specialized, silent compressors. These are very expensive due to the fact that they are almost completely silent. They are designed for heavy usage and usually don’t require any extra hardware like regulators or moisture traps as these features are all built in. The catch is that you pay a very hefty premium for those features and I personally don’t feel that it is worth it for the typical hobbyist who probably spends 10 to 15 hours a week airbrushing, if that. I’ve also seen professional painters state that ultimately these compressors only last for a couple of years even though they are five times the price of a more budget friendly airbrush compressor, and this is coming from professionals who probably run their airbrush compressors 40 or more hours per week, week in and week out.

This brings us to the most common choice for airbrush compressors, the single piston airbrush compressor. These come in both tankless and tank included versions and are your best choice if you’re going to be working inside your house and don’t need to be completely silent. An airbrush compressor without a tank will run continuously, and one with a tank will charge the tank and then only kick on as the pressure in the tank drops below a preset threshold. Having the air reservoir also eliminates any weird pulsation from your air supply while spraying paint. Getting an airbrush compressor with a tank is the best compromise between price and noise and surprisingly, won’t break the bank.

So What Kind of Airbrush Compressor Should I Get?

As you can see there are a lot of choices but some of them are actually easy to eliminate like canned air and spare tires. Honestly the tire as a reservoir isn’t worth the hassle and the dirty little secret about canned air is that if you’re paying twelve dollars a can for that, by the time you’ve purchased eight cans you could have purchased a budget friendly single piston airbrush compressor that includes a storage tank.

The Porter Cable Shop Air Compressor is good for a lot of tasks including being a great airbrush compressor

As far as shop compressors go, I have a fairly small one. I don’t use this for airbrushing because I work in the house. I do use it for airing up bike tires and inflatables, and other odds and ends. To be honest I don’t use it all that much. I’ve had it for awhile and it always kicks on when I need it to so I feel comfortable recommending it. The shop compressor I have is the Porter-Cable PCFP02002 3.5 gallon unit. This compressor is fairly portable at 25 or so pounds and has a carry handle for those times you need to help a neighbor out with a low tire or blow up kiddie pool. This is really adequate for most of the stuff you’re going to be doing in your garage and with the addition of a manifold, and combination regulator/moisture trap would be great for airbrushing if your work in your garage or have a dedicated work space where the loud compressor noise doesn’t matter. This compressor retails for about $140 but you can get it delivered via Amazon for $100 which is a good deal and very convenient.

A Typical 5 Gallon Portable Air Tank – these can be found at most hardware & tool stores as well as online

If you’ve already got a shop air compressor then my recommendation depends on where you do your hobbying. Working in the garage? Get a manifold, air regulator and moisture trap. Have the shop compressor but work inside the house where that isn’t practical due to the racket the shop compressor makes? Get a portable air tank, add a regulator and fill as needed. The added benefit is that this is silent air pressure for working in the house. You can expect to pay about 40 dollars online for a 5 gallon portable air tank. You’ll need to add a regulator to the portable tank to control the air pressure to your airbrush. If you happen to have a Harbor Freight Tools nearby you can pick up a 5 gallon portable air tank from them for around $25. (You may be tempted to buy a compressor from them also but do your homework on that first. Harbor Freight is good for a lot of stuff but I’m not sure I’d trust their power tools to hold up long term.)

If you need to work indoors and be silent or almost silent then you’re going to pay a very big premium for that privilege. When I say “very big premium” I mean you’re probably going to pay five times what you would pay for a non-silent airbrush compressor. I don’t currently own one of these but I have used one and it is very quiet. I have a friend who does nail art so she bought one for her business and has found it very reliable over the course of the last couple years. While I really don’t like the idea of spending this much for an airbrush compressor I’m adding it here for the sake of completeness.

The silent and very pricey Iwata Power Jet Pro Airbrush Compressor

My recommendation for a super silent, reliable airbrush compressor is the Iwata Studio Series Power Jet Pro. This baby is almost completely silent and you pay for that with a retail price of over $550 (!). It does come with a tank and some extra bells and whistles like two separate regulators/moisture traps. It’s also actually a dual piston airbrush compressor that’s designed and built to run two airbrushes at the same time. This airbrush compressor also comes with quick disconnect fittings at the outlets – something you’ll probably want to add to your airbrush kit anyway. (I’ll be talking about these and more in the next article in this series). Extras like regulators and quick disconnects are nice features but don’t justify the total cost on their own. Again, what you’re paying the premium for here is the silent operation. For me and probably most of you, looking to get into an airbrush set up that is way too much of a premium to justify the cost unless you have a very particular set of needs (after all, that’s an extra $400 plus that you could be spending on miniatures and terrain instead of a tool). There is a “Power Jet Lite” version of this airbrush compressor without an air tank and a single regulator. That retails for$420. Both of these airbrush compressors can usually be found online with a ten to twenty percent discount.

The Master Airbrush Single Piston Airbrush Compressor with Tank as sold on Amazon. All of this for only $89 plus shipping!

Finally we have what I consider to be the best of all worlds for hobbyists looking to get an airbrush compressor. Allow me to introduce you to the Master Airbrush TC20T Airbrush Compressor. This unit is a purpose built single piston airbrush compressor with a tank. It include a combination regulator/water trap and even includes a six foot long braided hose. (The hose that comes with this has fittings for an Iwata airbrush. If you’re using something different you’ll need to purchase an inexpensive adapter). The best part? You get all of this for a very budget friendly $100 delivered via Amazon. This airbrush compressor also occasionally goes on promotion with free shipping for $89 or less but at $100 it’s such a good deal it’s worth it to just pick it up rather than wait for a sale.

This airbrush compressor isn’t silent but it is fairly quiet. I’d describe it being equivalent to a tabletop room fan. I airbrush in a portable spray booth and to be honest, the fan noise from the spray booth mostly drowns out the compressor noise as I have the compressor on the floor under my desk most of the time. I’ve had this compressor for a couple of years and for the price (I actually paid about $120 with shipping when I purchased this a couple years ago). I think I have gotten a lot of value out of it. I don’t use it every day and when I’m doing a lot of painting I’m probably still not running it for more than 10-15 hours a week. I’ve heard a couple of people say stuff like “that can’t possibly be any good for under $100. My experience with this compressor has been excellent. I should also mention that it has a two year full warranty and TCP Global (the source for this compressor) has excellent customer service.

I do have one complaint about this airbrush compressor. The design of the connection where you install the included regulator/water trap is ill conceived and the regulator ends up being upside down when you tighten it. This has been the case for at least a couple of years and I’m a bit disappointed that this hasn’t been addressed by the manufacturer. However this can be remedied by using extra Teflon tape on the threads of either the regulator or the nipple that is attached to the air storage tank. It will take a bit of tinkering to get it seated in the upright position but it can be dealt with by the end user. This isn’t enough of a flaw to really downgrade this compressor but if I was scoring this on a scale of one to five I’d give it a 4.5 instead of a 5. Bottom line, I just don’t think you can beat this price and performance level for an airbrush compressor. This is the compressor I recommend to everyone who asks for information on airbrush compressors.

The Wrap Up and Onward to Airbrush Accessories

This wraps up the second part of a series of articles on airbrushing for miniatures hobbyists and modelers. My goal with this article was to provide you with enough information to make an informed decision on an airbrush compressor. For my breakdown and recommendations on airbrushes see my previous article “Airbrushing for the Miniatures Hobby – Airbrush Basics & Mini Reviews”. In the next article in this series I’ll talk about all of the odds and ends that you may not have considered when you started thinking about getting an airbrush and compressor. Some of these items will be things that you’re definitely going to need and some will be optional but handy to have as you grow into airbrushing.

As always, feel free to leave constructive feedback or your own tips and tricks below in the comments section.

Airbrushing for the Miniatures Hobby – Airbrush Basics & Mini Reviews

Hobby Tradecraft, News and Info, Tabletop Gaming 2 Responses »

Feb 062015

Here’s an airbrush with the main parts labeled so that you can get familiar with the terminology

I’ve been thinking about airbrushes a lot lately and there’s been increasing discussion on some of the various hobby groups and boards I participate with or lurk on. The discussion usually starts with someone asking what specifically they should buy or do when they’re starting out with airbrushing. This is a pretty interesting subject and I’ve got a fair amount of experience with it so I thought I’d share a bit of what I know with you all. After I started writing about airbrushes I realized that there is so much to talk about that it would probably be better if I broke this up into a series of articles rather than one ginormous TLDR post. What I’ve decided to do is to turn this into at least a three part series where I’ll cover airbrush basics and my recommendations on specific airbrushes based on my experiences in part one. Part two will cover compressors, hoses and other related hardware and finally, part three will cover necessary and optional accessories – things that I find handy to have around when airbrushing.

Before we really get rolling here I want to mention a couple of important things. First, through this entire discussion I’m going to talking about airbrushes and painting using Acrylic water based hobby paints. These are the same type of paints you’ll typically use for brush painting miniatures and hobby models, brands like Vallejo, Reaper, Games Workshop, etc. I don’t use enamels or lacquers at all so the information presented here may not be suitable for people using those types of paints. Second, if you’re thinking that getting an airbrush will magically make you a master painter as soon as you hook everything up and start spraying paint, well, stop thinking that. Airbrushing will allow you to do a lot of neat stuff and get really nice finishes but it comes with its own set of problems and learning curve. Like any other skill, you’ll need to put the time and effort in to master your craft and fully take advantage of what an airbrush can offer you. Lastly, all airbrush paints are different and most will need to be appropriately thinned in order to spray them with an airbrush. Even the ones that are pre-thinned or labeled “air” paints will sometimes need extra thinning or benefit from some tinkering. I’ll cover this at a later date in a separate article.

The Basics – Airbrush Feed Types

There are three types of feeds for airbrushes. The feed type describes how your airbrush moves paint from the reservoir through the brush body and out the nozzle as you paint. These types of airbrush feeds are Siphon Feed, Side Feed, and Gravity Feed.

A typical Siphon Feed airbrush

Siphon feed means that the reservoir is connected to the airbrush via a spigot under the body. The reservoir is typically a jar with a screw on lid that has an integral hose/pickup tube that sucks paint up into the airbrush when you press the trigger. This style of airbrush is good for moving large volumes of paint which makes it good for terrain or base coating larger models but will generally not be precise enough for detailed work. To be honest this isn’t much better than using a rattle can so I don’t really recommend this style of airbrush for miniatures. (Rattle can = commercially available aerosol spray paint cans with a ball agitator inside that rattles around when you shake it up)

A Side Feed airbrush, this one only allows you to mount the color cup on one side

Side feed airbrushes have the spigot or attachment point for the reservoir straight off the side of the airbrush body so that the paint reservoir sits parallel to the body. These typically have a paint cup and some can be attached to either side of the airbrush which is helpful for left/right hand users. This airbrush style is used a lot by illustrators but in my experience isn’t that great for people doing models or miniatures as the cup seems to always make using this style of airbrush awkward because of the widely varying surfaces and angles you encounter when painting small models.

Gravity Feed airbrush with a fairly large reservoir/color cup

Gravity feed airbrushes have the paint reservoir attached to the top of the airbrush right on the barrel. Paint goes in the cup and when you press the airbrush trigger paint flows into the air stream and out the nozzle. Gravity feed airbrushes, in my opinion, are the best choice for painting models and miniatures because they require lower air pressure to operate and allow you more control over the amount of paint coming out of the nozzle. (You can really thin down paints or use inks and dial down the air pressure to get very fine lines when using this type of airbrush).

Gravity feed airbrushes will sometimes be manufactured and sold with different cup sizes or interchangeable cups so make sure you know what you’re getting before you purchase. I tend to favor the medium size cups although a large cup is handy if you’re base coating something large or assembly- lining a bunch of miniatures.

Airbrush Action Types

Airbrush action refers to what happens when you press the trigger on the airbrush. There are two kinds of airbrush action, single action and double action. Single action airbrushes are the spray guns of the airbrush world. This means that when you press the trigger it operates the same way a rattle can works – paint and air flow out of the nozzle all together. You don’t get to decide how much paint comes out when you press the trigger, it’s all or nothing. For this reason you should avoid a single action airbrush.

A double action airbrush has a two stage trigger system. The trigger moves up and down as well as traveling front to back. This means when you depress the trigger you get airflow without paint and as you slide the trigger back towards you, the paint starts to mix with the air and flow through the nozzle. The further back you slide the trigger, the more paint flows through the nozzle. This allows you a great deal of control over the paint and air mixture enabling you to go from a large flow of paint for broad coverage to fine lines when you need to hit some small details. This does take some getting used to and you’ll need to practice controlling your paint this way but eventually it becomes fairly intuitive. I absolutely recommend you get a double action airbrush.

Airbrush Needle and Nozzle Sizes

Airbrushes come in a variety of needle sizes and you usually find that they have a matching nozzle that either comes packaged together with the needle or will need to be purchased along with it. Needle sizes are usually defined in millimeters, like .21mm, .35mm, .5mm etc. The larger the number, the larger the coverage with that needle and nozzle set.

The largest needles that you’ll be interested in are the ones around 5mm but you really only want to consider this for areas where you need to put down a lot of paint as you won’t be able to do fine detail work with this size range of needle.

Going down a bit from the largest are the .3mm – .35mm “mid range” size of airbrush needles. These are pretty good all around sizes and will allow you to base coat and do some detail work, stripes, checks, camo patterns, etc.

Lastly for our purposes is the range of needles that fall around .20mm to .25mm. This size range is going to give you some really fine lines and allow you to do some nice freehand work. You can also do some base coating with this size but you’ll need to have everything cranked up so you can get the coverage you want. This size range is what I typically recommend because while it may feel a bit overwhelming when you first start out, if you do even a moderate amount of airbrushing you’re going to grow into this fairly quickly. You’ll be able to take advantage of the fine control you already have rather than buying a less capable “starter” airbrush and then needing to replace it a few weeks or months later.

So What Kind of Airbrush Should I Buy?

To sum up you’re going to be looking for an airbrush that is Gravity Feed, Double Action, and .20mm to .30mm needle and nozzle size. Next we’ll take a look at some different airbrushes and I’ll share my thoughts with you based on my experiences with some that I own or have used.

Airbrush Reviews and Recommendations

I’ve been using airbrushes for close to 30 years but not continuously during that time so it’s been sort of a weird learning curve. I started like a lot of people probably did all that time ago – with a cheap plastic hobby shop single action siphon feed brush that was basically akin to a rattle can that you could change colors with. This came with a thin plastic hose and an adapter that allowed you to attach it to a canned air source. This is probably the worst way you can start and I bet that a fair number of hobbyists never get any farther than this because it’s a big dumb ungainly set that doesn’t give you any of the control or benefits of a quality airbrush set up. I’m pretty sure you can still find these Testors brand airbrush kits at places like Michael’s or other craft and hobby stores. Avoid these, you’re going to waste a lot of time fiddling with this and no matter what, you’ll never get fine detail work out of one. On top of that, canned air is ridiculously expensive and wasteful. At $12 to $14 per can of air, it’s likely that by the time you learn to get any decent results with this setup you will have spent enough money on canned air to have purchased an actual airbrush compressor.

Having owned and/or used several different airbrushes I feel very comfortable recommending the following three. These are quality products backed by reputable companies. The airbrushes, accessories and parts are all readily available at good hobby shops and online. Here are my top three recommendations:

Iwata HP C Plus Airbrush Mini Review

The Iwata HP-C Plus Airbrush is a solid, high quality dependable workhorse that will take you a long way

When I finally decided to get serious about airbrushing – about 10 years ago – I made the jump from a Badger series 150 to the Iwata HP-C Plus airbrush. It was a huge step up in quality and control. This airbrush is a high performance, high precision workhorse and has served me well. It is dual action, gravity feed and has a nice 1/3 ounce color cup. These can be purchased with either a .3mm or .2mm needle and nozzle and you can swap them out if you decide to start with the larger size and work your way down as you become more skilled. Retail for one of these airbrushes is around $136 but I have seen it on Amazon regularly at around $100 which is a nice savings. This also comes with a machined metal cap for the paint cup which is nice when you’re holding the airbrush at odd angles for some of those more fiddly models.

I want to note that I have an older model of this airbrush that is no longer available and it has a solid handle back piece as opposed to the current models which have a really nice cutaway designed to help you control your paint flow. About a year ago I noticed that the trigger action had worn down on this and it wasn’t as smooth as it had been so I gradually moved away from this airbrush and tried some others out.

Badger Sotar 2020F-2 Mini Review

The Badger Sotar 2020 -F2 Airbrush is a high precision, user friendly, budget friendly (when purchased on sale) tool. I highly recommend this one

The Badger Sotar 2020F-2 is my current go-to airbrush. This is also a dual action gravity feed model. The designation F stands for Fine and they’re not kidding, this needle is .19mm and will allow you to get some really precise freehand work in. It also has a very fine adjustment dial at the back end so that with properly thinned acrylics or inks and good air control you can make some “hair” thin lines if needed (but believe me, this takes some practice!). The -2 designation is the paint reservoir size and you’ll want to make sure you’re getting that model as it has decent sized 1/12 ounce paint cup. The -1 model is designed for illustrators and the reservoir is actually built in to the airbrush body to facilitate one drop at a time ink usage, you’ll want to avoid this as it won’t hold enough paint for most of the tasks you’re going to be doing.

The Sotar 2020F comes apart easily for cleaning and maintenance and parts are readily available online and direct from Badger – who coincidentally have great customer service. This airbrush kit includes an extra Fine sized needle and a wrench for maintenance. Retail on this airbrush is an astounding $422 but I have to tell you I have NEVER seen it for sale anywhere at this price. They seem to mostly show up in the $200 range if you see it in a shop. However the Badger Sotar 2020F is on sale pretty frequently on Amazon for right around $100 which makes it an incredible value for the level of precision and control it gives you. I highly recommend this one but don’t over pay, wait for a sale!

Grex Tritium TG3/TG2 Pistol Style Airbrush Mini Review

The Grex Tritium TG2/TG3 Pistol Grip style airbrush. Another great choice with lots of well executed design features

I’ve saved the Grex Tritium TG2 for last because even though it is another dual action, gravity feed airbrush it is a beast of a different nature. Unlike the other airbrushes I’ve talked about that have a top mounted trigger that you push down and slide back, this one has a pistol grip and trigger style control assembly. This means that when you engage the trigger you’ll feel that it moves back about half of its travel and then sort of stops/hesitates. The first half of the trigger pull is when the air starts to flow and as you pull the trigger back farther paint starts to flow out (this sounds weirder when I describe it than it actually feels when you use it). This is an entirely different feeling action than what you’re used to if you previously used a regular airbrush but it’s actually a pretty natural feel and becomes very comfortable after you use it for a bit.

The Grex Tritium series has some very well thought out design features that I really like. First the nozzle and needle sets come packed together and are easily changed out. TG2 is the designation for the .2.mm needle and nozzle kit and TG3 is the .3mm needle and nozzle kit. This airbrush also has interchangeable color cups in three different sizes and all three cups include a lid. These cups thread on so they won’t work loose while you’re working. Another great design feature is that nozzle guard/crown tip. These are actually magnetic and will also stick to the back end of the airbrush if you need to change them while painting for those times you’re doing detail work and need to get in really close to the surface you’re painting. While it takes some getting used to if you’re switching from a standard airbrush setup to this pistol grip style it really works well and allows you to do some fine detail work and I think that for me at least the pistol style grip and trigger is less fatiguing during long painting sessions. This kit comes in a plastic carrying case and includes the 3 different sized cups, a regular nozzle cap, a crown cap and a wrench,

The Grex Tritium is pricier than the competition but I think it’s due to the well thought out and improved design features that it has. Keep in mind that it includes extra color cups with lids and a crown cap which other airbrushes do not include in the basic set up. Retail for this airbrush is $299 but it is usually available for right around $200 online. For the extra accessories you get and the nifty design ideas I think it is a good value even though it’s a pricier choice.

The Not So Final Word on Airbrushes for Hobbyists and Modelers

This is intended to be a basic overview of airbrushes and their various features. I’ve also posted some comments about airbrushes I have used and am still using. It is by no means an exhaustive list and I am not a “tool collector” either so you won’t see me buying and opining on every airbrush that’s out there. Let me also say that what works for one person may not work for another. Realistically there is no “be all, end all” airbrush because there’s a learning curve that comes with airbrushing as well as some trial and error for most folks. I am confident telling you not to buy a cheap “starter airbrush” with the intent to try it out for awhile and move up to something expensive. You’ll most likely find yourself frustrated by the limitations of cheap tools and may give up entirely if you have some bad experiences. You’re better off buying a good airbrush and growing in to it as your skills improve.

There’s a lot to learn about airbrushes and in the next few articles I’ll cover a broad range of subjects related to airbrushing.. Next up will be an article about compressors and related hardware and after that I’ll talk about all of the various accessories and airbrush odds and ends that you’ll find handy to have around.

As always, comments and constructive feedback are welcome. Feel free to add something in the comment section below but please keep things civil.

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