My Toolbox, Part 1- Painting hardware
This is some older content from the previous iteration of my website, but people seemed to find it helpful, so I'm tweaking it a bit and reposting it. Since it's a pretty big list, I will repost it slowly in sections. First section is airbrush/other painting hardware.
Iwata HP- BCS Eclipse airbrush: This airbrush is a beast, and I mean that in a good way. It's a bottle- feed airbrush and used to be my main airbrush, but I have mostly stopped using it in favor of my Eclipse HP- CS. This is mostly because I've switched almost entirely to lacquer paints, which I mix only in small amounts, so having a gravity feed cup makes that easier to do. This airbrush is excellent for spraying heavy bodied or heavily pigmented paints (Such as pearl coats) and has never clogged on me.
Iwata HP- CS Eclipse airbrush: Originally, I had bought this airbrush for detail work, but when I made my conversion to lacquer paints, found it to be perfect for applying base coats and shading larger parts and is now my workhorse airbrush. I typically use the .5mm nozzle on this, though it came with a .3mm originally. I have come to like gravity feed airbrushes more than bottle feed, primarily because I get very little hand fatigue with a gravity feed and making color changes is less of an ordeal.
Iwata HP- BH Hi- Line Series airbrush: As I continued to work on resin figures, I found that I was working with very small, intricate pieces fairly often. Eventually, I wanted something that sprayed even finer lines than the HP- CS. Enter Iwata Hi- Line airbrush. This has a .2mm nozzle/needle combination, and I don't think I really need/want to go any finer at this stage of the game. You can pre- set the handle on this airbrush so it sprays a set pattern/width every time you pull back on the trigger.
Badger 350 Single Action airbrush: I use this for spraying Future and other top coats exclusively.
Iwata Power Jet Pro Studio Air Compressor: The Power Jet was my step up from my first compressor, an Iwata Smart Jet. The Power Jet came with a lot of features that I had to buy separately when I got the Smart Jet- mostly importantly, an air regulator. It also has hookups for up to two airbrushes at once, which lets me have two different colors on hand. I have the model with a built- in air tank, a feature well worth the extra money imho as it eliminates any chance of pulsation occurring in your air line.
Various brushes and ink pens: As much as I love airbrushing, there are some things that really are easier to do by hand when it comes to model painting. I really like Micron pens for doing panel lines on mecha kits and even adding fine details to eyes on human figures. In the case of brushes, while it's not necessary to buy the most expensive Kolinsky Sable brush out there, I have learned you tend to get what you pay for with paintbrushes. So my advice is do not be afraid to invest in a set of good quality brushes; take good care of them, and they will serve you for many years to come. That said, I use sable brushes, which are commonly used in painting watercolors. These brushes have good "snap" and hold their shape very well, which makes them great for painting smaller details. I have several very soft synthetic bristle brushes for when I'm hand painting larger areas or applying a coat of Future Floor Polish (More on that later) and don't want brushstroke marks to show. Coarse bristled brushes are also good to have on hand as they're invaluable for creating textures and drybrushing.
In the next section, I will add the paints I use as well as what I use to prepare kits to be primed and painted.
