Question about airbrushes: Gravity feed vs siphon feed

[Ryan S.]

I'm seriously considering making the jump to an airbrush, and christmas is the perfect time to be asking for one.

I've read a lot on different brands and models, along with personal preferences, but what I haven't seen is the pro's and con's of gravity feed paint containers verses the bottle-fed, siphon feed.

Would some of you that are airbrushers kindly give me some info regarding both styles as it pertains to our hobby?

Thanks for any information and insight!

[MikeMc]

Gravity is more for small tight graphics..and details, A siphon feed wastes a bit of paint but will work fine for doing whole bodies as the container tends to be larger than a cup.

I use a cup for detail painting and a bottle for body painting

Both fit on my badger 155

Edited December 3, 2011 by MikeMc

[DavidChampagne]

Is it better to use a cup for Alclad chrome since you need lite lite coats and low pressure?

[scalenut]

Gravity is more for small tight graphics..and details, A siphon feed wastes a bit of paint but will work fine for doing whole bodies as the container tends to be larger than a cup.

I use a cup for detail painting and a bottle for body painting

Both fit on my badger 155

badger 155 for the win , it doesn't know it's a bottom feed and sprays great at very low pressures

goes to show,not all AB are created equal. The 150/155 is legendary

Edited December 4, 2011 by scalenut

[Erik Smith]

I would echo above comments - the gravity feed is great for small jobs and touch up, including Alclad. It is less clean up on small jobs as well - just the cup on the AB.

Siphon feed sprays more paint and you have a larger supply for bodies, etc., right in a bottle ready to keep spraying.

I have an Iwata siphon feed and a "made for iwata" NEO gravity feed. The NEO is okay - it is a cheap AB packaged in Iwata clothing and has proven to be erratic in spraying. My HP-BCS is great - easy to clean and take apart and sprays very nice. Only down side is he small nozzle which limits how large a spray is possible - not optimum for bodies, but works pretty well.

I hear the paasche H-5 is great for spraying bodies. It's a single action, siphon feed brush, relatively inexpensive, and easy to find parts for.

Really depends on what you need to paint.

[diymirage]

i used to have a dual action badger 150 and i was a great airbrush...but the clean up was very important, not something you could slack on

now i have a paasche singe action (siphon feed) and i love it

it is just engineered with clean up in mind, it is still an internal mix airbrush but the needle is way different from that in the badger (im sure with it being a single action that helps)

i would definalty recommend my paasche H

[Dr. Cranky]

It all depends what you want to do with it. If its paint glossy models, then I say start with the Paasche Single Action. It will get you some nice results. For tight graphic work and other things, then I recommend the Iwata Eclipse which is a bit pricier than the Paasche. My recommendation is do a little homework and really figure out what you are going to be using it for the most, then adjust accordingly. Happy air brushing!

[Pete J.]

I have and use both. The gravity feed I use when I am doing a small amount of painting such as alcad with a few parts. The siphon feed is better for two purposes. One, if you are doing a lot of the same color, you can get large bottles so you do not have to stop and refill. Two, you can have multiple colors mixed and ready to go. I keep one bottle with thinner. A quick blast of thinner and you are ready to go with the next color, but be careful following intense colors like blacks and reds with whites or yellows. A through cleaning is called for, but if I am doing camofages or similar candies, it really saves time.

[DavidChampagne]

I have an AZTEK A470, dual action.

Good? is there something better? Have had good success thus far..except when I rush of course.

Have not tried ant detail or fine line yet.

[sportandmiah]

I just bought the Iwata Neo today. It is a wonderful brush, lays down paint just fine. I also have the Paasche H...super also.

[Dr. Cranky]

Doug, it sounds like you have the best of both worlds. The NEO like a fine airbrush with the Iwata quailty.

[sportandmiah]

Doug, it sounds like you have the best of both worlds. The NEO like a fine airbrush with the Iwata quailty.

Exactly Cranky. I thought about getting the eclipse, but the Neo is.just fine for smaller items on models. Plus it doesn't waste as much paint.

[Erik Smith]

I wouldn't say the NEO is iwata quality. It is "made for" iwata. I think it is an okay AB. At first, it sprayed great. But, after shooting some lumpy Alclad black base, I had to disassemble the AB to clean the nozzle. Upon reassembly, I accidentally over tightened (easy to do) the tiny nozzle and the even tinier o-ring immediately crumbled. I sealed it up best I could because HL does not carry replacement nozzles (or any parts for the NEO - a major drawback). Then I assembled the remaining parts and was getting a lot of splattering. So I double checked everything and figured out the seal of the nozzle cap was poor. There is some thread seal or something from the factory, but after one time taking it apart, the seal was gone. I noticed this as I was cleaning the brush with windex and bubbles were coming out of the threads. So I sealed it with some thread tape, got it all put back together and it works fine. Until I have to clean it again. My eclipse is easy to take apart, clean, and reassemble and I can easily find part for it - so, I would recommend highly spending more on an eclipse.

[sportandmiah]

Luckily i have 3 hobby lobbys near me which carry neo parts.

[Ryan S.]

Thanks for all the info and insight thus far, guys. To start I'll probably look into one of these tried-and-true work horses like the Badger 155 to get me started.