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The Aztek has the most hypersensitive
trigger I have ever felt, this is what I
use.
THE BEST
AIRBRUSH
There's no such
thing as the "best" airbrush. There are so many independent
variables on what constitutes being the "Best" that it's hard to
generalize and isolate one particular brush to be the best for all
concerned. Trying to diatribe about what constitutes the best is
just like saying who has the best steak at a certain steakhouse,
it is an immensely vague and grey area and mark my words you will
never win. You will have many things to consider when
choosing/buying your brush such as:
Ergonomics: The weight
displacement of the brush in your* hand and of course how heavy
your hand is.
Translation= People with
heavy hands tend to like metal airbrushes i.e. the Paasche VL,
Iwatas, etc and this is particularly important via "Spacial
awareness" in shading. So the heavier your hand, the heavier of an
airbrush I think you need.
What your trying to do with the brush:
Are you doing blockouts, blasting,coverage,
detail....what?
Translation: I would not use a Paasche
VL for detail, I would use a custom micron, an Aztek 4709, or an
airbrush which has more trigger hypersensitivity in which the
Iwata Revolution, Eclipse do not offer in my opinion. ( Note:
theres a big jump in trigger hypersensitivity once you jump above
$159.00 in the Iwata family ). Also let us take in consideration
that when you read any discription on any airbrush its going to
propagate in its specs that it gets a "Hair-like line" etc. Let us
try to remember that this is one of the biggest mistakes that
people fall for when it comes to discerning the inner dynamics of
what constitutes control. Always remember this: It's one thing to
get a fine line, but it's another to be able to sculpt and shade
that fine line SMALL SCALE without getting a cramp
at the base of your hand or pinky. Many people force themselves to
try and get detail with an airbrush that just was not meant to
work at a certain level and they end up getting RMI ( Repetitive
movement injury). So everyone has their "Idea" on what detail
means. Detail could mean a photorealistic crease around an
eye or a palm tree on a t-shirt, so let us all take that into
consideration before we iconoclast the "Detail Phenominon".
How much can
you afford to spend: I would recommend the Iwata HPC plus and
above ( Price-wise) if your going spray automotive paints i.e. the
Iwata is the industry standard in the field and here in Indiana
you can snag one for around $159.00.( Note: Do not try and save
money and expect the same performance from and Iwata HPC as
opposed to an HPC PLUS...big difference in control, so spend the
extra $60 bucks.) If your gonna go all out and get the "Rolls
Royce" of all airbrushes then snag an Iwata micron, but I
personally use the Aztek 4709 because I have not found to this day
an airbrush that has the softness of the trigger. ( Aztek Kits are
around $100 on ebay or of course snag a 40% off coupon at an art
store and it will only be $92.) I do not use the Aztek airbrush
because of the quality of the brush i.e. how it's manufactured, (
Actually they have a long way to go to get to the level of how
durable metal airbrushes are made). I use it because I can do the
artwork without getting a cramp in my hand. When you work
smaller.. you need more detail....thus a softer trigger. Small to
me isn't a drop shadow on a flame, small is a crease or shadow
transition around the rhetoric muscles of an eye etc. The
Aztek company needs to make their airbrushes more durable thats
for sure but it gets the job done and feels like a pencil in my
hand, which is my personal law for choosing the right airbrush. (
Pencil in my hand means that I can shade with the same
acuity that I can with a pencil, without getting a cramp in my
hand, which is usually at the base of the pinky). I also recommend
any of the Omni airbrushes as they are amazingly durable
airbrushes and as far as "Bang for your buck" you cannot lose with
this family of airbrushes. The control is great and I actually did
a whole gymnasium floor with a bottom feed Omni and only had tip
dry three times in a 40 hour work-week. I call the Omni the
"Poor-mans-Iawata" but it's a great airbrush and has been
around a long time. Last time I looked Omni's were priced very
friendly, but they vary in different
venues.
Translation: If you look in any airbrush
magazine you will see that in the studios of the artist's, you
almost NEVER see just one airbrush, you see many different kinds
yielding to many diverse applications and scale. Take all of these
things in consideration and ask people what they have, and most
importantly what PRESSURE their spraying and the scale-size their
working at because that affects the line acuity and the softness
of the trigger. Most Microns have hard triggers at 50 PSI ( Thus
you need significantly lower pressure) and most Azteks perform
very poorly at anything under 50 PSI. So there's going to have to
be some chatting going on and exchanging of imagery to see who
achieved what with a certain airbrush.
Last note: Stay away from single action
airbrushes. They are about as useful as a can of Krylon Spraypaint
as far as detail. You need a double action airbrush to do almost
everything. When I taught high school airbrush and one of the kids
did a great job in class, at the end of the semester we had an MVP
and I used to go to Goodwill and get a bowling trophie, break the
bowling guy off and mount a single action airbrush with super
glue, spray paint it gold, and give it out as an award. So that is
the only real use I have ever found with a single action airbrush
lol besides of course maybe blasting clouds or spraying stain on a
rocking chair lol...or spraying stain on a rocking chair lol. Hope this
helps.
IWATA
OMNI
art-su
PAASCHE

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