Airbrushing very small amounts (siphon)

[foxhandybread]

Hi all! I apologize in advance if this i a very stupid question—I've been away for modeling for many years and this is the first time I'm getting into airbrushing properly.

I have a Badger 200NH siphon feed airbrush and it has been brilliant so far. What I'm finding though is that I often have to spray a very small amount of paint, for detailing or shading, sometimes only about 3 or 4 bursts, and the downside of the siphon is that I have to tip or syringe in a certain amount of paint into the jar for the tube to be able to suck it up. The vast majority of times it's way more than I actually need for the particular job so I end up having to tip it back into the jar, and inevitably lose some of the paint in the process. I've gotten away with just dangling the tube in an open 10ml pot while spraying but this is obviously not the best idea! The obvious solution would be to invest in a gravity feed brush but I'm a little tight on funds so I was wondering if anyone on here had any ingenious solutions to being able to use just a tiny amount of paint each time in a siphon airbrush?

Many thanks all :D

[TeeELL]

FHB,
the syphon airbrush isn’t great for tiny amounts. I know this isn’t the answer you are looking for, but consider a cheap and cheerful Chinese airbrush - many will poohoo the idea but, they come with small paint cups and are cheap as chips. Best thing is to dismantle and clean the brush thoroughly before use.

[foxhandybread]

Thanks Tony I had suspected this was going to be the case. I'll have to start checking out some online shopping venues...

[fireblade]

I'll second Tony's suggestion. You can actually pick up a gravity feed off of a certain auction site for under twelve quid, posted. If you get one with a removable cup you can take it off and fill the chamber with a small amount of paint. There are so many pluses in using a gravity feed I think you're likely to look at getting something a bit better than 'budget' if you try one out.

[TeeELL]

The concept of ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ comes to mind. However, I have a Chinese clone airbrush, Iwata Neo (my personal favourite) and an H&S Infinity. The Chinese clone is as functional as the Neo and I’ve had no issues with it, as Fireblade so rightly says - if you take the cup off you can fill the chamber with the tiniest amount of paint.

[montessa315]

I agree that a gravity feed airbrush is the way to go. Wouldn't normally recommend the cheaper versions (as Tony says, buy cheap, buy twice) but for what you want it for, it will do the job.


Alan.........

[foxhandybread]

Thanks ever so much chaps for the tips. I think a cheapo gravity feed is the way to go—someone did suggest to me a jar attachment for the siphon airbrush such as https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/produc ... model-350/;, anyone have any experience using these?

[TeeELL]

FHB,
why are you interested in a jar, when you want something that handles small amounts? I have 2 Paasche syphon airbrushes with cups and jars - great if I want to airbrush half my car!!!!

[ucontrol2000]

Well, I normally use a gravity feed airbrush, but I try to give an emergency tip for your problem. I think you could fit a smaller jar into the standard airbrush jar, so that you can use less color and reduce waste.

[TeeELL]

Oh, that is very neat U‘2’, very neat indeed. ‘Out of the box you are thinking’ (in best Yoda voice), ‘applaud you I will‘.

[JamesPerrin]

An excellent solution!

[foxhandybread]

That is very clever Ucontrol, I will give this a try. Genius!