Testing A $14 Dual Action Airbrush - Is It Actually Good ?? 

I use this airbrush for about 8 months now and I 'm totally impressed of it. I have stopped using my Iwata Revolution BCR and use this for every job except tiny line and dot free hand camouflages for which I still use my Iwata HP-B. This is the absolute value for money airbrush. Fortunately the a little tall trigger is not a problem for my fingers and fortunately I never use acrylics like Vallejo, Humbrol, Italeri, so I haven't faced any problem of using all the colors I usually spraying.

Great video! The trick with the cheap airbrushes is using Metal polish on the needle tip, nothing super gritty a polishing compound that's silky smooth works best. Aftwer you polish it notice the huge difference in performance. I polish my needles with Brasso and a polishing pad on my Dremmel, after a few applications the paint sprays better each time. It's really the needle polishing that cheaper units don't do as much as the higher end brands, hence less labor less cost.

Great work - by far the most comprehensive videos I’ve seen.

Fantastic video. The first one I've ever seen that actually pointed out what made expensive airbrushes better. I've been using a RoyalMax iwata knockoff with Tamiya paints for years and couldn't understand why anyone would want to pay so much more for an expensive airbrush. Now i know.

Thorough, straightforward, straight talk review. Love your "No Stone left un=turned" attitude. Appreciated!

I found that polishing the needle with metal polish , or automotive cutting compound, helps these cheap airbrushes.

Thanks for posting this, BRex. I am going to try it out for priming and gloss coating if I get good results with Primers. Amazing that something this cheap actually works! I never would have ordered had I not seen your review/test.

I have a few different cheap Chinese airbrushes. Like Animalyze71 pointed out, polishing the needle really helps. The biggest issue with these cheap airbrushes is the seals. They are made out of really cheap rubbers that break down after a few cleanings. Obviously hotter solvents will break them down quicker. Some of the airbrushes even come with a replacement set of seals. It costs about $10 for a new set of seals so I usually just order a new airbrush when I need new seals. I always opt for the .4mm nozzle sets or larger and use these exclusively for primers and clear coats. I can abuse the heck out of them and if they break down I just grab a new one. Saves wear and tear on my pricier airbrushes. I wouldn't use these for my daily airbrush though. Veda makes a nice cheap airbrush which runs about $20 buck you get a lot of extras for the price. If you can't afford one of the name brands, or if you're not sure about getting into airbrushing this is a really inexpensive way to check it out.

Thanks for the in-depth review. I learned a lot.

Great demo for me. I’m researching beginner Air Brush Painting to learn how to repaint 3 of my EPO foam model airplanes!

Paul from NB Canada. Thanks for such an in depth review!! I also look for an "ALL IN ONE" airbrush, but in my travels have ended up collecting 16 of them! Thats why i LOVE the content on this page, keep up the great work!!

Great info..Keep up the nice work..

I was told that if you keep the air on and only regulate the paint it stops splatter and it seems to work really well. I used to get a lot of splatter and by keeping the air on it stops the sudden rush of air taking any residual paint and splashing the model.

I have a premium airbrush from China that cam with a super cool case with a latch and shaped foam in it for each part of the airbrush and it came with a 0.3 needle and nozzle installed and a 0.5 needle and nozzle and a 0.2 needle and nozzle in spare containers. It also came with a siphon bottle, and a siphon bottle with a goose neck attachment as well as a cup and lid. and the one feature is that the front end of the airbrush has a swivel on it so you can put a cup on it and use it as gravity feed or you can rotate it and attach a siphon bottle on it hanging from the bottom, and it also has a closable valve to restrict the flow of paint as you desire, so all in all it definitely is a premium airbrush; and I paid $30 for the whole thing. The very first thing I did when I got it was to use a small piece of 1000 grit sandpaper and polish the needles as the needles had some burs on them from the manufacturing process, and they produced some splattering, but after polishing the needles, my airbrush worked better than my vintage Paashe airbrush for both ultra fine as well as high volume spraying. So for anyone who cheaped out with a cheap Chinese airbrush, I highly recommend using some 1000 grit and polishing the needles, but don't get carried away, you want it nice an smooth, that will definitely cut down on the splattering that Barbatos Rex encountered in this video, plus, don't be afraid to lube up the parts that move in these ultra cheap airbrushes, and be ready to replace the O-rings if you are using a lot of paints that need solvents to clean up, as the rubber used for the O-rings is of extra low quality, but you can't argue with the price. Sure it might not be as refined as an Iwata, or any other number of high-end airbrushes but it shows just how overpriced the expensive ones are since a Cheap Chinese airbrush can perform almost as good as any of them. No judge in a model contest was able to tell I painted my models with a $30 dollar airbrush/ once you get accustomed to the airbrush, and work out any issues they may have, but the one I bought doesn't splatter anymore since I polished my needles. SO don't let people make you think that a cheap airbrush won't work, they definitely will, but they aren't as refine as the high end ones. plus I am a retired pensioner, I have a very limited income and I can't afford the hundreds and hundreds of dollars for high end airbrushes and compressors, Barbatos Rex has no problem using cheap compressors and I use the exact same one he has given away on his channel before. I'm happy to have an airbrush at all.

Great video. I watched it all the way through. I bought last year a master air brush but I still haven’t used it. I will next year and if I need to upgrade I’ll get a $100 one like an iwata or one like yours. But I’m very new and haven’t set up my paint booth yet. This was a good video to watch and I learned a lot. Thank you for this video.

good job man keep up the good work

I have one of these and the trigger is tall and in a spot that is uncomfortable. One thing that can improve how it sprays, you should press down and keep the trigger letting the air and pull back when you're ready to make your pass. If you press down on the air and pull on the paint real fast like you're doing, it can cause these cheaper airbrushes to spit a little more and give a rough finish with certain types of paint. You get a cleaner paint flow with the air running constantly. Plus it helps with the uncomfortable feeling of that trigger keeping ir pressed down, you can control the paint a little smoother when you do that. And you can shorten the trigger. Take the little brass pin that swivels and you can cut that down. You will still get proper travel pressing down the vale for the air, but it will sit lower. I did that to mine and it made it much more comfortable to use.

I am using exclusively cheap airbrushes to paint model car kits. They fulfill the purpose perfectly. The major downside are the seals. They fail every once in awhile due to solvents. I guess they would last long with water based acrylics. But seal kits are dirt cheap. They cost less than 1€ plus shipping.

G'day m8....an Dam !! that metal varnish is just what i need!!. I 3D print my 4x4 bodys in my hobby of RC Crawling and Trail running, and this will help mitigate and reduce some Scratching on my bodys from Brush and roll overs, so i can keep that lovely paint job nice just a wee bitt longer!!..cheers for all your work ol son, and insight, from a m8 and Gundam fan Downunder.

Thanks for sharing this information

Thank you very much.

Could you do a video on primers? Cover their coverage ability, spraying, what ratio is needed to thin and how easy it is to clean

dang nice dou thanks scooter d just bought the air sprayer p.s. i love the modelmasters black gloss painted a 69 chevy11 wit that stuff fell in love and im someone who will spend 1 to2 hours in the ppg store scooter out

Awesome video brother...

I am fairly new to your channel buddy but I enjoy your videos

Would be interesting too see a side by with a multi hundred dollar H&S air brush vs the $14 guy? imagine if no body could tell the difference. cheers for all your work. jv.

I bought that same one off of a different website, and mine came with a bunch of pipe brushes and a half spike type thing. It unscrews and inside is a metal pin that's tapered into a point, but the pin is cut in half where it starts to form the point. I'm new to all this and have no clue what it's for.

try using a polishing compound on the neddle

Funny i just bought this exact airbrush as a backup (i paid $20 from amazon) i took it apart to inspect and found that when you remove the very rear nozzle cap all you find is a threaded copper tube for the nozzle- nothing elaborate about it. But thanks to your test i'll just use it for clears and possibly for the alclad metal lineup- thanks Rex.

I have the 26 dollar version but is all brass construction really tuned out to be a great deal no name on it anywhere

I just purchased the neodec(?) Airbrush, I have a Iwata Neo- so I'm not familiar with all the adjustments that comes with this one, is there a website that you recommend to show me how to adjust things?

Nice work on the video, are there acrylic/water based paints that are easier to airbrush?

Wow 3 out of rest that work well on that cheap airbrush amazing deal of amount of money and I was thinking about buying cheap airbrush for model

Like the americana or Verma cote ?just curious

The Humbrol acrylic you have is a old product dating from the early 90's so you've done well to get it to spray at all..

If you put a nozzle and needle out of a more expensive airbrush, would that make it spray better?

I realize this 100% the same with the Hobby Mio airbrush that I used for more than 1 year. The only differences is the color of the airbrush's body :')

Link doesn't work, what airbrush is it and where to buy It, thanks

This sounds like it will be great for Aqua Gloss. I won't feel bad about being lazy with cleaning on a cheap airbrush whereas with my Revolution CR I want to be as kind as possible to it. With this guy I'd boil a pot of water, take it off the heat, and stick this in there to loosen the aqua gloss up.

Would it do fine for painting the body of a car?

Old video, but I'll post my question here. How much primer should pieces receive?

Hello, I'm a new viewer another great video keep them coming. question what do you think is the best chrome paint to use with a paintbrush need to paint the teeth on my alien.

With cheap airbrush it is good idea to polish the needle first. It's usually not perfect and those small unevenness can give a lot of trouble with water based acrylics. Just use polishing compound and it should work much better.

Can you do a tutorial on how you buff and polish the chrome paint on your model kits please?

For as cheap as this airbrush is it seams to do a pretty good job

Only available in the USA :-( Looking for my first airbrush to do models and chrome Lego parts and this would be great - would you have any other details, like a manufacturer or model number that I could Google to see if I can get it down here in Australia (or get it shipped from somewhere)?

that looks pretty damn good for $14

Where can I buy a filter like the blue one? Whats its original purpose?

I don't believe the cratering in the troublesome paint was the airbrush at all. That kind of cratering is usually contamination of some sort, be it oils on the surface, wrong thinners etc. Maybe those paints didn't like the residue from acetone. Whatever, I say re do your test on those two paints that cratered with the cheap airbrush. The Humbrol is a different problem from the cratered examples, you could be correct on that.one. Runs and such are not the same as craters or what looks like fish eye effect.

I am new to airbrushing, hence ignorant. Where would you get needles for this airbrush?

What air compressor would you recommend for a newb??

Have you tried automobile paint with any of these guns thanks

When airbrushing any lacquer you should always have your paint extremely thin. Especially with a small needle. If it’s thick at all it shouldn’t be spayed in anything less then a .4 needle.

Be careful disposing acetone into paper towels due to potential for autoignition.

What airbrush do I use. I really need a new on since I just realized the cheap 10 dollar one i have been using has a bent needle in it I've been using it for a couple of weeks now, haven't cleaned it untill today and realized needle was bent to hell and back.

Interesting review. I have seen videos of people teaching others how to make their trigger taller because they complain about low triggers and here you are complaining the opposite 😂 so for the trigger. I personally do not think the trigger is an issue with this airbrush. I am more interested in knowing how well this airbrush works after a few strip down clean up. Usually these cheap airbrushes works okay for a while but after disassembling them a couple of times.... they will need some bees wax (or other methods of sealing the nozzle) or it will have trouble spraying most things except thinners.

Hi, do you use an explosionproof fan?

And to second what you were referring to on the trigger you're supposed to have your finger on it but In Front of it, it's Dual action that's just where you like to put your finger. You hold down for air and pull back for paint.

The trigger up and down is your air, and on that gun., you push it down and leave it down, now just move the trigger to and fro, the more movement the more paint gets released, move brush closer for finer line ,back for wider hope that helps

Can you do candies with the craft paints

That humbrol acryllic is not a "real" acryllic, all of the acryllic are real acryllic, doesn't matter what you can thin it with. The acryllic in the name comes from the bonding agent, a type of plastic that can be thin with alcohol, water and some more things and has a lot of variation so some work better with one thinner and others with a different one, but that depend on it's exact formula. This bonding agent is even in a lot of lacquer paints, nearly all of them so they are not as flammable if I remember correctly. Being thinned with water is one of the biggest benefits that acryllic brought to the table but it is not they're only characteristic.

The needle size is on the box.

Im new to airbrushing and will be doing it to rubber masks but my question why is it everytime I go to use one it doesn't spray?

i use one of these. like 10$, single action, dead simple.

I've purchased quite a few different items from China, and in my opinion, their knock off game has gotten pretty strong. Some areas are better than others, but 5-6 years ago, that airbrush prolly wouldve fallen apart in your hand.

Good work but at Airbrush that $14 cost

The spitting could also be caused by the air not being on. All the time. Not knocking g your ability but I've always been told air on all the time. Keeps the paint from build up on the needle hence causing splatter. I watched tour finger thru the whole video and not once did I see you keep the trigger pressed. Not being a critic just observing.

slow down, whats the name of the thinner?

Any homework sir ?

If no indication of needle size, usually a #3 (.3mm) is the standard for hobby painting. Someone spaying autos or an artist won't be buying a Chinese cheap brush.

Airbrushes are completely overpriced, marketed and aimed like £2000 handbags with a label, for women (or possibly men!)! I have a Veda 180, £25 as good as any £250 brush. It's all nonsense!

like mercedes you pay the name

Is this airbrush a piece of junk or not?

Do you do real art, or do children stuff? Let's see some art work.. then you can say not bad..

Why is the paint a different color? There's nothing wrong with that $14 airbrush I've taught airbrush classes as well. Spending $700 and spending $20 on an airbrush is a company difference. Yes some airbrush's have different features and that's where the dollar amount separates them. Now I have to fake some of your tests with a grain of salt. I personally have that same airbrush and done fabulous work and only spray authentic candy paint thru it. I don't need to buy the normal expensive airbrush's I use to use/Buy