Hi everyone! I looked and maybe didn't use the best search terms "airbrush, suggestion" but I didn't see anything specifically on this topic. I want to pick up an airbrush to work with acrylic , mostly on fabric. I have goauche, but I think I might pick up some paint for toys since I would have the machine and I've always wanted to work on some but that's less of a priority for the machine. But the main focus of the machine is acrylic for fabric/clothing. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for a good low-high or mid airbrush combo to pick up? A google search returned : "Genesis.XT" and it says it controls "both air and paint" through the trigger, I don't know if that's something that would hinder me later on.. My skill level with an airbrush is non-existent but I've painted with oils, acrylic and every other medium a fair bit, have moderately steady hands and have a brain and can follow instructions. All comments welcome! Thank you. EDIT: Currently I'm looking at : https://www.amazon.com/Grex-GCK03-Airbrush-Tritium-TG3-Accessories/dp/B003VIVGWY
i've never heard of Grex, but i think acrylic is pretty thick, and can be frustrating to spray because it requires so much effort to properly thin. I think even some of the better model acrylics probably meant more for airbrushing like Tamiya and Mr Hobby can be frustrating to spray. I think because of that you definitely want an airbrush with a wider spray. I would recommend this Iwata Madea air compressor, mine has been going for over 5 years without issue https://www.amazon.com/Iwata-Medea-...355&sr=8-6&keywords=iwatamedea+air+compressor I switched from Iwata airbrushes to Tamiya, I love them. They make a wide spray gun that i have and would recommend. The spray can also be adjusted to a pretty fine amount. But you have to order from Japan, https://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-Spray...86&sr=8-1&keywords=tamiya+airbrush+wide+spray This set up would cost you a little over 300.
Weird, I'm not sure why of all the notifications I get for posts your reply wasn't one of them.. Thank you Joe! That's all good info! I hadn't considered much the thinning of the acrylic to get it airbrushed at all (which actually is a good thing since I won't have to spend as much on paint overall I think..) I'm going to definitely keep at least the compressor in mind going forward. Will I be able to achieve thinner/finer details with a wider spray gun? Most of my fabric work amounts to lettering and smaller faces...actually I should've provided an example of the work I do originally. Here is some stuff I've done just using acrylic with fabric medium. View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram I would want to be able to achieve similar things on t-shirts, at least and if possible other textile.. though I do know that some stuff I will still have to do by hand with a brush, (probably lines, etc). I just want to make sure I won't be getting too large of a spray to do the work I need to.I bought a nice older Iwata brush on ebay years ago and ended up losing it in all the moving I've done over the years : / I did look and the Grex company sells a line of acrylics that works on textiles and a bunch of other surfaces apparently...I would probably just buy one of those regardless of what I went with and try to reproduce the consistency of it using mediums/thinner. Also ultimately I do realize this is a toy forum and I could probably take this question to somewhere more suited for it, so sorry.
You will never get super hard edges like that with an airbrush. Even with a fine spray. With sprays the edge will always be a little soft. The only way to achieve something like that would be with masking of making a stencil, not a bad idea, then you could make runs or editions.
I figured as much. I guess I intended on doing any fine details with a brush if i needed something that wasn't soft. I think I got it from here, thanks again!
Iwata Neo is a good affordable brush, and their customer service is really good. You're gonna have to mix a little alcohol into water to thin it out. pull all the rubber parts off and soak it in acetone to clean it. Createx makes a ton of fabric paints for airbrush' that should be able to go through most brushes.
