Review: Central Pneumatic Airbrush

[SgtM]

So, thanks to our resident airbrush guru, Commando, I've been wanting to get into airbrushing. Not only does he do come cool shizzz, but it looks like a lot of fun. Well, I've had my eye on this one from Harbour Freight for a while. It's like $13.00 or something. I figure, it's perfect to start out with. Inexpensive, and perfect for light projects.


What you get in the kit


Airbrush
Wrench
5cc cup
22cc jar
Hanging bracket


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5018.jpg

My dad also gave me a compressor from a kit that he's had for a while but doesn't do anything with.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5016.jpg

Paints. I can use acrylic, enamel, or urethane. I found acrylic paints at hobby lobby tonight for $0.60 each for 2oz. I got black, white, silver, sapphire metallic blue, royal blue, and red. Of course through mixing, that give me a lot of color choices.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5033.jpg

I sprayed some test pieces to check things out, but I definitely don't have any idea on mixing ratios yet. Since I'm using acrylic right now, I can simply dilute with water. I'll be hitting up commando's web site (http://www.airbrushtricks.com) for some pointers.

More pics of the airbrush:
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5025.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5027.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5031.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5029.jpg

Watch for some cool projects real soon.

[OvRiDe]

Sweet deal.. looks great too! Is the airbrush a single or dual action brush?

Also looking forward to seeing urz artz!

[Greco101]

Gaw... all this talk about airbrushing makes me wanna hop on the bandwagon too. To start, I'd probably only be using single colors... no matter what, they always put out way sexier coats than rattle-cans.

My dads buddy was self taught and within a couple years was making hundreds of dollars a week (1 day a week) as slot car meets.

[SgtM]

Sweet deal.. looks great too! Is the airbrush a single or dual action brush?

Also looking forward to seeing urz artz!

Good question, and I forot to include it. It's dual action.

@greco.. MUCH more control than rattle cans. Mixing > me right now though.

[NightrainSrt4]

Is this the one? Harborfreight (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95810)

You def have to get a review up on this thing as for the price it looks built relatively well. Can't argue much with 12.99$

Good find!

[SgtM]

That's the right one Nightrain. Here's a couple of pictures of some flames I did today. Typical claw type. I mixed some black into the blue, but it ended up too dark. Not ready for the true fire stuff just yet. Also, if you look at the rest of the blue and silver around the HP logo, I sprayed that last night. I think I need a better compressor though. We'll see through more trial and error.

I'll say this much so far of what I've experienced. Airbrushing > rattlecans.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5036.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5037.jpg

[SgtM]

Ok.. mixing is getting a little easier. One thing I found out.. You can't wetsand acrylic paints. It makes it easier if you mess up and have to start the project over though. A light sand with 600 and the mistake is gone. I'm painting up another mouse. I think I'll just go with a solid color rather than do a design. Updates later.

[Aero]

wow, nice airbrush. I spent about $100 on mine a few years ago, but its kinda sitting in my basement un-used :(. Its fun, kinda addicting too. Oh, but when your cleaning it, (take it all the way apart and get ALL the paint out, or its a mess, trust me ;)), anyway, be carefull where you put the needles. I laid all my parts out on tape so I would lose anything. The needle was about 1/2 inch off the edge of my desk. One quick swipe of the hand to grab my keys and I had a 6 inch long needle about stuck half an inch right on my thumb by the lower joint. I looked at it for a sec and then ripped it out before I even thought about it....

SO, be careful, airbrushing=dangerous:P.

[SgtM]

I've been pretty good about cleaning it. That needle scares me though. Looks like it's sooooo easy to bend, and I know if it does, I'll need a new one. I would HATE to get that thing stuck in my hand. OUCH! Another thing I'm liking is the extremely small amount of paint needed to get a good coat. Anyway, here's some progress pics. I had previously painted this thing red with spray paints. Again, I'm using acrylic paints.. $0.60 for 2oz at Hobby Lobby. This is the blue metallic. Questions and comments welcome.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5047.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5048.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/DSCF5050.jpg

[BigJohnson]

Wow. That looks like great quality for an investment less than $20. Love to see more of what it can do. I might just have to invest in one of those myself.

[SgtM]

Dude, for $12.99, you really can't go wrong with this thing. I'm thinking about upgrading the compressor. I found one for $45.00. We'll see though. I'm even happy with the paints so far, and the guy at hobby lobby was telling me to expect a disappointment. I got some clear coat on the buttons tonight. I'll wait until it's all done to reveal it to you all.

[Drum Thumper]

Dude, for $12.99, you really can't go wrong with this thing. I'm thinking about upgrading the compressor. I found one for $45.00. We'll see though. I'm even happy with the paints so far, and the guy at hobby lobby was telling me to expect a disappointment. I got some clear coat on the buttons tonight. I'll wait until it's all done to reveal it to you all.

Better yet, take the mouse down to the Hobby Lobby and show the saleman. Then ask him how it feels to get pwnt. :P

[NightrainSrt4]

If I had a compressor handy I would be all over this. I'll have to see if my uncle has a small compressor around. If he does I'll grab one. It's not the one commando recommended to me, but for 100$ less I think it would do well as a brush to learn on.

Double action is def a plus.

[SgtM]

Better yet, take the mouse down to the Hobby Lobby and show the saleman. Then ask him how it feels to get pwnt. :P

I might just do that.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/tbcs/hl.png

BTW.. A google image search for hobby lobby returned this:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/422780886_22f11987aa.jpg

I'll definitely talk nerdy to her!


If I had a compressor handy I would be all over this. I'll have to see if my uncle has a small compressor around. If he does I'll grab one. It's not the one commando recommended to me, but for 100$ less I think it would do well as a brush to learn on.

Double action is def a plus.

There are definitely better ones out there, but IMO, for the money.. this one is perfect to learn on.

[rendermandan]

Dude, I bought that same air brush a few months ago to help painting my case. It works great for the money! Just don't lose the small back rubber O ring that goes around the part that screws into the tip. I accidentally washed mine down the sink when i was cleaning it. Oops! it screws with the air flow and causes some air to get sent back into the paint resevoir. It won't spray right then. I had to take mine back and have them replace it so all is better now. :)

[SgtM]

Sorry.. I hate grave digging, but thought you guys would like this. If you search Central Pneumatic Airbrush, look what's in the top spot:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/airbrush%20stuff/TBCS_ab.jpg

[jdbnsn]

Haha! You are the man Rick! +rep for scoring top google search!

[Drum Thumper]

I've got one of these on the way. Was going to get one of the $50 one from TCP Global, but I like to cut costs where I can. SgtM highly recommends this, so that's good enough for me.

[dcannell]

So which acrylics from Hobby Lobby were you using? Yes, I'm a newcomer to airbrushing, just got the Central Pneumatic from Harbor Freight for $15 :glasses: That makes me a happy camper. On some sites I see the expensive paints for $4 an oz, Jacquard for under $6 for 8 oz and Anita's Acrylic on Hobby Lobby for ~$2.50 per 8oz.
So which way to go :?
Do the cheaper ones need to be diluted :?
Do the expensive ones need to be diluted :?

Another subject - I've read of a 'magical' cleaning formula for cleaning out the airbrush but haven't run across the actual formula yet :think: Any hints?

Thanks, Dave

[SgtM]

I was using the cheap Anita's acrylics which were like $.60 for 2 oz or something. I've since made the switch to Auto Air. Yeah, they're almost $5 for 4oz, but the set of primary colors I got have lasted me almost 2 years. Everything needs to be reduced to about the consistency of skim milk to flow properly, unless you're using ready to spray urethane paint which is a whole other animal, and comes with it's own safety issues (hazardous chemicals). The cheap paints are good to start out with to get a feel for things. That said, if you think you're going to start using createx or auto air in the future, go ahead and get them now. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches and trial and error. I haven't heard of any special cleaning formula other than gun cleaner/restorer from auto air. Since I'm just using waterbased paints, all I ever use is just tap water to clean my brushes (A custom Devilbiss Dagr was gifted to me on Christmas). I take them apart and rinse everything in the sink.