Sunday 25 April 2010

The Tools

Just for once I felt it might be interesting to talk about the modeler's central tool - the airbrush.

Over the years, I've worked my way through any number of brushes and brands. Currently I run two airbrushes. I feel that no one airbrush can do everything, so I use a main one, with a secondary for specific jobs. The Iwata Eclipse is my main weapon of choice. Firstly, it costs less than £100 (you can really go to town on these things..) and secondly it sprays beautifully. If you know how to use an airbrush, you can do excellent work with pretty much any decent tool, but the Iwata is a forgiving and reliable piece of kit. It is very controllable, though the jet is .05 wide so it isn't so good with fine work.

At this point, the Aztec 240 takes over. For a cheap plastic airbrush it does very well. Using the fine nozzle (Aztec nozzles being disposable, in case you are unfamiliar with them) I can achieve some very fine detail work. But as with everything, it does have its pros and cons; it's a bit temperamental and prone to jamming and blocking. This makes it rather inconsistent and it requires constant attention - cleaning, adjusting and so on. Also, the cost of replacing the nozzles at nearly £10 a go makes it expensive to run in the long term.

Both of my airbrushes are worked hard. I don't have time to clean the outside, just the inside. The Iwata copes better with rough treatment and neglect, but it's not universal, and the Aztec is showing signs of wear and tear. It might be time to start searching for a new solution.

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