Review: FoxHunter KMS Airbrush Kit & a cheap "0.2mm" dual action Airbrush
Comments
One thing I am uncertain about is these hose adapters that came with the airbrushes, I wonder are they for the quick release gizmo ?
Or are they simply for the attaching onto a fresh hose ?
Hopefully the experts among you will be able to see what I mean from the photos 🙂
Those appear to be the adapters for the quick disconnect, my G-25s came with the same fittings and that is what they are on mine.
really ? wow ! cool 🙂
oh wait, that means I need to get another bit to go on the end of my hose...
sounds a little rude when one says it like that but you know what I mean i am sure 🙂
Anyhow, did you say you've got the same kit ?
which quick release adapter for my hose do I need I wonder because that would be very nice indeed to quickly release a brush 🙂
Good job on the review, Choppa! Some good and honest info in there. Well done! 👍 👍
As for the adapters, they look like regular hose connectors / hose splitters to me, i.e., the ones you stick directly into the hose end.
A quick disconnect connector has a shorter, more square looking tule (from the side). As far as I can tell the adapters on your airbrushes have a somewhat sloped and longer tule with indentations, to allow grip on the inside of the hose. I don't think I see any quick disconnect adapters in any of the photos.
not necessarily a bad thing by the way. I have had cheap quick disconnect adapters that were completely useless because they leaked air with every move of the airbrush. The fit was not tight enough. You could hear the bursts of air coming out. Obviously that made airbrushing pretty much impossible 😉
yeah I must say they did seem a bit long for a quick release and looked ideal for sticking hoses onto with tie wrap to squeeze the hose into the indented bit of the adapter.
Well anyway I can think about all that when I am ready to upgrade my brush,
next week... lol
No but seriously it is all good for now, if I want fine lines I will just make some stencils to hold above the surface like I do with spray cans but like anything, practice and playing with the settings will fine tune the basics, I don't feel I deserve a fancy brush yet, other than a smoother trigger I don't think I would appreciate whats good about it, like learning guitar, we all start on a crap one so when we get good we appreciate the nice guitars so much more 🙂
Anyhow, glad you liked the review, hope someone finds it useful, bit more info than on Amazon, I tried to answer the questions I was asking before I bought it 🙂
Next task is all about what paints to use and avoid, for instance I have no idea if the seals on these brushes solvent resistant or not, at these prices probably not....
They will not be resistant to solvents. That's for sure. I tried with my first airbrush and failed miserably 😛 Looked to work out fine at first but after a few days it was DEAD! All rubbers were gone / turned to goo and the metal (in and out) was starting to corrode. But it was a REALLY cheap one, so I didn't really mind 😉
I did pretty much exactly what you did, started with cost effective products and worked my way up. I think that's a good thing. Indeed, just like the learning to play a guitar example you mentioned 👍 🙂
well I've seen people go out and spend thousands on something totally beyond them and they really do not appreciate what they have and one silly mistake and they have ruined it completely total waste, to be fair I've done it myself on occasion so this time thought cheap gear, cheap mistakes 🙂
With regard to solvent based paints can one get away with using them if one cleans the brushes super thoroughly with warm soapy water afterwards and then a thorough rinse through ?
and do enamels and turpentine count as solvents ?
I know cellulose can be really corrosive
I need a list (in order of corrosiveness) of what types of paint there are...
In fact I need to go back to school !! 🙂
Yeah, lots of people make the mistake of overestimating themselves, only to find out it isn't working out (whatever they chose to do and for whatever reason). Starting slowly and easing into it is always best 🙂
Enamels and turpentine shouldn't be a problem to use. Like you said, just clean thoroughly afterwards. You can use any of the specifically manufactured airbrush cleaners for that. I happen to use Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner, which works very well.
When airbrushing enamels there is one thing to keep in mind though: enamels are toxic! And by spraying them through an airbrush they get atomized which makes it a quite hazardous undertaking! Make damn sure your room is properly ventilated and that you wear a respirator (with the correct filters!) AND safety goggles! The latter because the atomized particles can enter your body / bloodstream easily through your eyes as well!
Right, good to know I've usually done all my spray can stuff outdoors, usually, but this is going to get important as I start to do a lot more of this, which I intend to, I'll stick with acrylics for now though, well mostly, the knoxious stuff I can do out doors though
Pretty impressive and informative - I really need to pick up a new airbrush sometime soon!
Now you have gone and done it. It is time to accessorize. Need to save your penny's (Pence ?) for one of these to help keep the fumes down
amazon.co.uk/Excelva..keywords=spray+booth
Then there is the sonic cleaner to clean your AB after making all them fumes in the house
amazon.co.uk/Lakelan..ywords=sonic+cleaner
I reckon the extractor fan looks easy enough to make just need to get a filter sheet, but the sonic cleaner is different matter but not as expensive as I might have thought, handy links indeed !!
something to think about in due course, cheers for the links 🙂
Hopefully this review will end up with a complete round up of everything you need for airbrushing from the cheap and cheerful to the expert options to the things to avoid etc.
M.Julian Marles, cheers for the feedback, good to know this has been useful for someone 🙂
But that said if anyone has any faults with this review do not be shy about speaking your mind, corrections etc. come from nit pickings and as ever it is the errors that need the attention 🙂
Anyhow, paints is the next thing on the list, the variety of bases, corosive qualities as well as coverage, finish qualities, prices etc. Seems to me this is probably the more complex bit of the equation, if only because I know so little about whats out there as yet 🙂
Speaking of accessories !
Office chair anyone ?
I would quite like this but £500 is a bit steep for me 🙂
Needs a decent stand to sit on, a swivel chair 5 wheely leg thing would be ideal I reckon with adjustable recliner 😄
The perfect chair for airbrushing 😄
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eB..e=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123
LOL @ the office chair! 😄 😄
I have a fairly good chair, though nowhere near as expensive as that 😉 think 1/6th of that price. But a good chair is also a thing to look for. It makes the whole experience a lot more fun. In the first chair I used (a very cheap one) I was not able to do sessions longer than an hour before my body started to hurt... everywhere...
As for the fume extractor: I have that exact thing (in my album about my workspace you can still see the exhaust extension hose), the one from Amazon, and it is absolutely unfit for fume extraction. If you spray in the "cabin" the fumes actually "roll back" right into your face! That's because the fans are VERY weak.
If you take a look at my album about my workspace, you will see that I have a simple kitchen appliance cooker hood installed above my desk. That way it naturally captures the fumes (since they will go up against the back and rise) plus that thing can do 750m3 per hour, which is seriously sucking the air right out! I have tested with smoke and there is no way the fumes can go anywhere but into the hood.
This cooker hood is also even a little bit cheaper compared to that thing from Amazon 😉
But like you said, Choppa, it's fairly easy to build one yourself from computer fans. But keep in mind it will never have the same extraction power as a dedicated cooker hood though.
yeah £66 for that does not look like a bargain to me and PC cooling fans seem weak for this too, but I do have a few Brushless motors that can kick out almost 1 HP that will happily run on 12V that would dwarf 750m3 an hour.
Yeah this aint an expensive fix, If I can make my desk I can make an extractor shroud 🙂 but seeing as I am doing acrylics next to an open window it can wait 🙂
I use only acrilycs and I dont get high From it. 🙂 And I dont use any special ventillation.
I sprayed enamel once! Oh God the whole room was smelling From thinner really badly. After that I never sprayed enamel again. And Personally I like the smell of tamiya paints 🙂
I haved used Tamiya paints before and I liked them too but only used them with a "hair" brush not an air brush 🙂
I prefer Acrilycs also, I mix a lot of my own colors. I buy the big bottels of craft Acrilycs and mix my own. But I do have a rather large stash of Model Master Enamels. I only spray them in the basement with all the windows open, still stinks up the whole house.
by craft acrylics you mean paint from the arts & craft type of shops ?
as opposed to a brand called "Craft Acrylics"
I buy them at a store called Micheal's it is an arts and crafts store. They thin easiely and you can use water or Acrylic thinner, which is what I use. They adhere very well and dry quickly. I apply a coat or two of future over them before decals then a coat after to seal the decals. Then I use Krylon acrylic flat or satin varnish right out of the spray can to seal and tone everything.
Here is a link for an airbrush that Clifford recommended. The site has a lot of choices but it is the G25 that he said is inexpensive and reliable. tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/abdbrand.aspx
Good link, the compressor in the top right of that page looks absolutely identical to mine. I wonder if these airbrushes are available in the UK ?
Since we are throwing plugs out for Airbrush stores. Here is the one I have used several times in the past ---> chicagoairbrushsupply.com/ - Says they ship worldwide.
Many thanks for this review - which I was waiting for 😉 Very well described and helpful!
hey my pleasure, glad it was of some value.
as ever any thoughts or considerations please do add them here 🙂
Album info
This is a beginners eye view and first impressions of the cheapest/best compressor and airbrushes I could find on a limited budget.
I went for this for £80 🙂
amazon.co.uk/FoxHunt..ter+KMS+Airbrush+Kit
Having unpacked it all like an excited kid at xmas and having painted my first model with it I feel glad I have finally got an airbrush setup, but there are some things that are some things I am not entirely happy about and I can see some changes, upgrades and modifications in the not to distant future, but then I always knew that was going to be the case at £87 all in delivered for a compressor and 3 airbrushes 🙂
Firstly the compressor, nice and weighty out of the box, the manual is basic but at least it has a parts list and diagram.
Specifications-
Single cylinder compressor with a 3L air tank.
1/6th of a HP running at 1450/1700 rpm.
Pumps out 20-23L per minute.
Auto start & stop, start