I recently upgraded to a good airbrush, finally, and water based acrylics. I’m learning. Sometimes I do have issues, and I’ve found pressure matters a lot, and tip dry. I’ve always been a TOO HIGH PRESSURE NOW POWER MORE PRESSURE MORE guy, so I’ve turned it down to 18-20psi, but have found a better sweet spot is really 22-25-ish psi… I seem to get tip dry if I pause (to refill paint, etc.), even putting the tip in water/etc. But play with pressure.
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Thanks for the link 
I’ve already started watching it.
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Thank you, I appreciate the tip and will try more pressure with acrylic water base paints.
My normal MO is 5 psi to 15 psi with enamels or acrylic lacquers so I’m probably 10 to 15 psi too low typically for water base acrylics.
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I think you’ll be more smooth and effective at a bit more pressure. I’ve been using scrap plastic to practice (general airbrushing and different techniques). It’s a big help and feels great hen you are successful. I’m loving acrylics. I was always a solvent guy, but it was a pain and I rarely airbrushed,Acrylics are very useful and easy to use, once you get the hang of it.
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That’s a super little tip that is mate, I’ll give that a go thanks.
Interesting re the Micron. I envisaged using it for fine lines only and honestly the Creos is better I think. The Micron is amazing but the Creos is very slightly more accurate, I feel I have more control over it.
What I wasn’t expecting was the Micro to be such a good all rounder. It is my preferred brush for the donkey work now. My HP-CS is off getting repaired and overhauled and Ive not missed it - the Micron Takumi is just such a comfortable brush to use and versatile enough so that you can get a base coat down, then do two or three highlight layers with the last one being super thinned and requiring really close care to get it to go down accurately, where you want it and the Micron Takumi does it all: I cannot say enough about. It is probably the best airbrush I have used at lower pressures as well.
I’ve got a veritable smorgasbord of airbrushes upstairs (partly I think because I am slightly addicted to buying them, anyone else do that?) - Micron Takumi with a 0.20mm needle and an HP-CS Eclipse with a 0.3mm needle and a HP-C with a 0.5mm needle for the donkey work. Creos PS-771 and a HP-B both with 0.15mm needles for detail work and a cheapo Fengda FE180 with a 0.3mm needle for varnishes, chipping fluids and clear coats and so on. I’ve just bought the new AK -9000 airbrush as well, more out of curiosity to see whether it is as good as the reviews all seem to think it is for the price.
Favourite trigger action out of those is the Micron Takumi, finest lines/best control is the Creos, easiest to clean is the HP-CS Eclipse, best feel/balance is the HP-C and best all rounder is the Micron or the (vastly underrated in modelling circles I think) HP-C.
I started out using a H&S Ultra and hated it. Upgraded to a H&S Evo and wasn’t a fan of that either, but my first Iwata was the good old HP-CS and I never looked back from there. Amazing brush.
I’ll review the AK brush when it arrives.
Meanwhile my latest purchases that arrived this morning:
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Chris, that’s a fantastic airbrush run down. Looking forward to more of your thoughts on them in general.
I discovered my accuracy with any airbrush seems to have a lot of influence based on brush balance and color cup. If there’s a big color cup up top accuracy suffers.
I’ve heard via grapevine H&S revamped their suck-taclular Evolution with a new version that addresses the stuff commonly hated about the airbrush. All I can say is the prior generation H&S Evolution was the most disappointing airbrush I’ve ever purchased. I like the nail salon AB and mini Compressor for $60 from Amazon better.
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An opinion from someone who has used multiple tools is very valuable.
I have very bad hands when it comes to painting models. I really hope that a good airbrush will straighten them out a little. I’m impressed by what you said about the Creos PS-771 so far. My anniversary is coming soon and I think that I deserve such a gift. Thank you for the idea.
Be sure to tell us about your impressions of the new instrument.
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I had these two arrive today. Always been interested in the Grumman Duck after watching the movie “Murphy’s War” back in my high school days.
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Morning Yuri,
Yes the Creos is an absolutely amazing airbrush. It has superior close control and an even better trigger action (your mileage may vary…) than the Iwata detail brushes I have (HP-B and Micron Takumi). I like the nice big cup, I like the petal nozzle guard, I don’t use the MAC valve but it is nice, and I love the weighting and balance of it. With a 0.15mm needle in it is incredibly versatile. If I had to use one airbrush only for the rest of my life it would likely be this one.
I read somewhere that the Creos brushes are built at the same factory as Iwata, and I’m not sure if that’s true but the engineering is at least as good as the best Iwata have to offer and that is saying something. It feels like a surgical instrument in your hand, not an airbrush.
There is a discussion to be had on whether the side cup mount on the Micron makes detail work easier vs the Creos as the latter has a big cup in the way of your view directly down the airbrush, but that isn’t an easy thing to make a decision on. Certainly I can see both sides of the argument.
If I had to criticise it it would be that the double ended black screw that attaches the needle guard and screws in the chucking mechanism at the back isn’t polarised, so sometimes you can end up unscrewing the chucking mechanism and spring instead of just removing the needle guard shaft. The trigger is tricky to get back into its hole when you clean it down but that’s just the super tight tolerances of a high end instrument and if you think about it, that’s actually how it should be. Its fair enough. If I’m really picky, the MAC valve makes it difficult to fit into the paint pot to vent/clean it but it does go, you just need to slant it.
The needle limiter is a really nicely nuanced thing and if you’ve got your air pressure and thinning right, hair lines are a doddle and consistent too.
My Creos has been in the wars lately - like a twonk I was stirring paint in the cup with cotton buds and predictably, there was a nasty build up of the fibres behind the nozzle that required me to replace the nozzle. The same day my cat knocked the brush off the bench and it didn’t have its needle guard fitted as I was breaking it down. It landed needle first and bent the needle and destroyed the chucking mechanism so I need to replace that as well. But I absolutely will.
I would also say that on my airbrush journey as it were, I didn’t really get into airbrushing with either the H&S’ as it was something I didn’t “get”, didn’t enjoy in the slightest, was a bit afraid of and couldn’t get any kind of consistency with, and only really became proficient with the HP-CS which is the definition of a workhorse, do-anything airbrush. But the quantum leap came with the Creos. It forces you to thin your paints properly (as it simply will not work well if you don’t), it invites you to get in closer to the model and be really precise with your back pressure and how you move the brush itself - all things that will make you a better airbrusher. No doubt it requires some basic or intermediate skill to really make it sing but when you do the results compared to what you were getting before are startling indeed. You can airbrush figures with it! You can do highlighting segments that previously you’d have thought were difficult with a paintbrush. It was the Creos that made me “an airbrush guy” - its now easily the part of the hobby I love the most and the only part where I feel I actually have any meaningful ability. If I do a good/successful build, it will be because of the airbrushing not anything else and that’s a polar opposite to how it was for me with the H&S brushes.
I do have a lot of airbrushes and some very high end ones too, but bear in mind I use acrylics (VMA, MiG) 95% of the time and AK Real or Tamiya the rest of the time and almost never airbrush pure enamels/lacquers. I’ve always felt that (correctly thinned) enamels are more forgiving of your airbrushing and the brush itself than acrylics are, and you therefore get more benefit of having a better airbrush if you are using acrylics. Airbrushing acrylics is a matter of thinning and patience, but a poor airbrush really makes things more difficult than they need to be, in my opinion.
It makes me chuckle to see how far down the airbrushing rabbithole I’ve gone now… Seven airbrushes hahahaha asking which I love most is like asking which is the best Pink Floyd album. Depends on mood and context, but I’m lucky to be able to appreciate them all for their finer nuances… and I do fancy trying one of those new high end Gaahleris hahahaha
Seriously though, get the Creos. Do it. Its an absolutely God Level brush. As you may have gathered, I’m a big fan.
But of course that’s the thing about airbrushes and modeling in general isn’t it? - its massively subjective. I am aware most who own an HP-series wouldn’t swap theirs for a Creos. I’m lucky enough to have a nice selection. I’d recommend you try one out before you buy it, and I’d love to hear your views.
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Chris, fantastic post!
True pleasure to read with the morning coffee 
A+++
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Very good morning to you, Wade. Thanks for this and have a great day.
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Thanks a lot. Now I want this airbrush even more.
It is very difficult for me to evaluate the quality of airbrushes. If something turns out badly, then I blame myself. And if something turns out well, it’s just an accident.
When it comes to modeling, I find the assembly process more enjoyable and I wouldn’t paint the products at all. It’s all the more offensive to spend a lot of time and then ruin the product with poor coloring.
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Looking forward to trying these AK colors, haven’t really used their line like this before.
Edit: Just realized this probably should’ve gone in the Aeroscale section… 
Edit 2: Edited to include armor related things, dunno where exactly I’ll use this aluminum but hey I’ll find a use for it. 
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I have long wanted to add an American M3 Medium to my collection. While I already own three unfinished M3 models, an Academy Grant, a Tamiya Grant, and a Tamiya Lee, they are kinda awful.
This one looks beautiful in the box.
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And half your order aint Armour related mate 
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Yep… 
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guess, goodies from Moson 
It reminded me of my Scale Model Challenge days 
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