...revisited.

Airbrushes are misunderstood critters and too many folks shoot themselves in the foot, when first trying to learn the skills, by not understanding which equipment type is best suited or by being fed bum information.

There are two types. In railway modelling the single-action external mix brush most closely replicates a miniature spraygun; good area coverage, good opacity, simple, robust. I recommend the Paasche H for most hobbiests who are painting railway models. Because I used to paint professionally, mine are industrial-grade Binks Wrens. I've had mine for four decades now, and still use them as a staple.



Things get a bit different with plastic models; for example 1/72 aircraft schemes are far more complex on a far smaller surface, so paint applied on a far-finer array and multi-colour blends are common, unlike shooting a simple bauxite red wagon or a diesel loco with two masked opaque colours. Here, being adept with both the single action solid-colour sprayer like an H or a Wren and an artist's double action type becomes hugely advantageous. My latest dalliance into aircraft models has inspired me to dig out a few of my old Thayer & Chandlers...



...and re-learn my way around them. They've been put away since before I got married.

The difference is pretty simple. In the first photo, you see the nozzle which can be rotated to set the paint-spray. From then on, its fixed. Nice even coats of paint at a nice even fixed rate.

In the second, the nozzle doesn't fix the paint-flow rate, but an internal flow-rate needle is moved in and out of the nozzle by pulling back on the finger button on top. Push the button down to start the air, then rock it back and forth to vary the paint-flow.

I very rarely use a double action brush in railway modelling and don't recommend them. They are complex, a bit fussy, require a fair ammount of required skill and practice. Just a lot of un-necessary gee-whiz that makes it far easier to screw up what should be a nice simple even paint-coat. Double action brushes don't do larger surfaces well as the paint-flow is far smaller than with a Wren or an H.

Where the artist brush shines, though, is in doing this sort of thing:





The light blue was laid in a nice even coat with a single-action Wren. Then, the Thayer & Chandler was un-limbered for the three blended and patterned colours needed for the camouflage of the fuselage; four colours on a surface area not much larger than a pencil.

Neither the Binks Wrens or the T&S artist brushes are cheap, but at the time I wasn't spending money on a name, but on a very nice quality tool; the best I could afford and at the time perhaps more than I could afford, looking back. I certainly have no regrets doing that, rather than being frustrated by lower-quality tools. I'm very much enjoying getting a bit of a re-acquaintance with those more esoteric T&S brushes, but for most people (especially in the railway modelling game) they are esoteric indeed.