Are you looking at getting your first airbrush? Well why not two? Come take a look at this article before you buy this holiday season.
I Bought my First Airbrush in eight Years! In fact, it was so cheap, I bought two of them! Whoever said getting into the airbrush game was expensive clearly didn’t shop where I shop.
Disclaimer – this articles has about a gazillion links to my affiliate program for the fine folks of the U.S of A. If you are a fellow hoser, be sure to check out the canadian tool’s page, with the correct links to all the products.
Editor’s Note: there has been increasing reports starting late in the year (2017) of “sub-par” new production versions of the Eclipse that apparently use lower grade components that previous Eclipses. We have seen some of these brushes ourselves, and while we are not sure if this was intentional on Iwata’s part, the differences between new and older brushes are very obvious.
Buyer beware in 2017 and into 2018 with regards to the Eclipse and Iwata brands, which we used to wholeheartedly recommend at Spikey Bits.
Currently we are using the Colani, and Evolution Airbrushes that while expensive on the front end, they are quite amazing to use and a breeze to maintain.
Now back to Max’s article:
My first airbrush purchase in eight years
So, I have a confession to make: I rarely pay for stuff. At least regarding airbrushes. I got a Testor compressor 10 years ago from a friend that didn’t use his, that’s how I got started.
I bought a real airbrush, the Iwata-Medea Eclipse HP CS, shortly after and up until recently, it was the only airbrush I’ve ever bought. Obviously, it did not last 10 years.
When I got the Iwata, total bummer, it was missing a piece. So the company sent me another airbrush with the missing piece; A++ customer service. Those two airbrushes lasted 5 years. After that, I started attending a lot of tournaments, and won, in no order whatsoever: three Badger Patriot 105, a Sotar 20/20 and a Badger Patriot Xtreme.
I’ve bought the Badger Basic Spray Gun Set the day before leaving for a tournament because I bent the needle and needed to finish models for Jay and didn’t want to spend a fortune on an airbrush from a craft store. It remains one of the best 34$ I’ve ever spent on a tool. Good thing I didn’t buy an overpriced airbrush too, because I won a Patriot 105 at that tournament the very next day.
I later received the compressor/airbrushes starter set that I so highly recommend from a friend quitting the hobby. I’ve used that kit ( plus the godly Badger spray gun ) exclusively for this past year.
Now sadly, I destroyed the workhorse airbrush from the 3 in that set, and decided to buy a similar one. Actually 2 of them.
Why buy TWO airbrushes?
Ah, the real kicker of the article. Why buy 2? For lack of a better term, I’ll call it commitment.
Having two airbrushes at the same time puts your mind at ease when you are dealing with deadlines. Whether it’s to get your stuff ready for a tournament or get a client’s model ready by the time you said would. Having to wait two days for a new airbrush can put my whole operation to a grinding halt. I don’t deal with excuses here, and I certainly don’t deal with excuses when it comes to clients – if your game is not together, that’s on you, not on them.
So I get two, and if one suddenly breaks down, well it’s not the end of the world, I can just switch it out until I get my backup airbrush replaced.
Money wise, it’s also a system I like. I currently don’t have the cash to buy two Badger airbrushes. This airbrush is so inexpensive, buying two of this model is still cheaper than buying any single airbrush from Badger (or any brand, for that matter).
Long term thinking, is when the first of those airbrush breaks (because it will happen eventually with all airbrushes) I can get a Badger 105 Patriot Airbrush (or another model of my choosing) to keep until my second cheap airbrush breaks.
Then I can begin cycling through better ones, as long as I keep two on hand at every time.
No excuses, hobby like a champion!
