Master Airbush. Is it good for beginners?

Gunpla is a fun hobby. Beginner modelers can pick it up came make a very good looking kit from basic tool,  or you can be a professional and paint it and mod it to your content. 

Painting the Gunpla is fun, but very time consuming if you are using brush. You can use rattle can to spray them, but they do get very costly. The only option is airbrush. Honestly it’s the only option if you want really well done scale models. No rattle can, can match the control and detail of the airbrush.

Here is one picture that shows what airbrushing can do, without modding the kit.

Unlike few years ago, the price on the airbrush as come down to the point, average people can now own an airbrush. If you search them now, Company like Master produces very cheap air brushes. If did some research, you will find that these are actually Chinese knock-offs so you might wonder. Is it worth it?

Why yes. Yes it is.

I actually started on Master airbrush set. It was a hundred dollar set with big compressor, and I used it for a year until it broke apart. I self taught on how to use the airbrush, and when it finally broke, I got myself a better one. Here are my old kits that I had used my old Master Airbrush. I didn’t know much about airbrushing but still, little bit of creativity, these kits came out great.

This is a Master airbursh set that you can purchase from amazon for $50. Probably cheapest you can get. I ordered to see if these airbrush can be used even to the experienced modelers and like em.

So here is my review.

First. let me say that I am not a professional modeler. I am a simply hobbiest who likes to make scale models as hobby. I have been making Gunplas, during my what little time I have off and over the years it had became very costly hobby.

 The unit came in a basic white box that is packaged very well. I did not see any damage to the unit

 And here is what is comes with.

Unlike my original one, this one came with a instruction booklet that shows how to use airbrush. I kinda with mine had this before because I had to figure these out all on my own.

Also parts list of other parts you can purchase like a battery pack.

And here is the airbrush.

Here is another booklet with parts break-down, which you can use when cleaning.

First thing I did with the airbrush was take it apart and clean it. I immediately ran into a problem. The needle was loose. When inserting a needle there should be little bit of resistance when passing before the cup. It was a simple fix since all i had to do was tighten the needle seal. Still alot of new guys will not know this and its not like this is in the instruction book.

Also I noticed when I took the cap off of the cup inside was very rough. Little disappointed but still considering the price, can't really complain.

After through cleaning, I tried it on piece of paper and tried to compare it to my Badger Sotar airbrush which is for detail work. The paint I used was Vallejo Model air.

Here is a line made by Master. Its spotty and inconsistent. This was actually cause by air compressor. The small compressor did not have air chamber and causes the air to pulse. Also without air gauge it was hard to get correct pressure.

Here is a line using my Sotar. Even with pulsing compressor, it made a fine line. (You can still see pulse) I guess this is the difference between cheap and high end air brush.

Okay, Time to GUNPLA! to test out this new airbrush, I chose a cheap kit. I had this lying around and thought to try it out.

 Not alot of parts, yet detailed enough.

It was also very easy to build, so I can go straight into building. I know the kit is blue, but I will be painting it mostly white to test out how the white comes out with this airbrush. White is extremely hard to paint.

 First I took the kit apart

 ...And primed it. I immediately ran into a problem. The primer I use is Vallejo grey. This thing would spray for a little bit than start clogging. I had to take the nozzle cap off and clean the needle with alcohol

Also, prolong use of Vallejo primer caused the cap to seal off. The paint had stuck inside and dried. This had never happened before on other airbrushes. weird.

Here are the primed parts. Still, It sprayed in very spotty way, and I was not happy with the results.

Here I tried to pr-shade. The lines were hard to control. This was caused by the numb feeling trigger. No matter how much I pull, the feel of the trigger was the same. This really made me appreciate a good trigger on my Sotar and my main airbrush Grex. This would not be a problem with those especially with trigger lock they have. Plus, unknown air pressure didn't help it either.

Another problem began when I used the airbrush for a long time. See that Splatter? This is due to the compressor not having the water trap. Slow condensation would build and would cause the airbrush to spit out.

I first used Vallejo Air to paint this blue part. Vallejo air is suppose to be used for airbrush only and can be used without thinning. still. The result was horrible. It would spray unevenly with different opacity. This caused several headaches for me as I tried to paint.

 I wasn't so sure why I was having so much issue. I took the airbrush apart and cleaned it more. It became more painful to clean since inside the airbrush was very rough. Here is a photo of inside the cup. See that thinned paint pooled on side of the cup? there is very rough line there. When paint dries there its painful to clean. After each session, I had to use ultrasonic cleaner to get everything off.

Here is a picture showing part of the finished product. Here you see the difference between brushed and airbrushed part. The V-Fin was brushed on and you can see its very even. The body which is airbrushed is evenly laid but uneven layer caused it to caused it to come out all wrong.

I was really frustrated. Most of the problem was caused by the compressor, which is designed for portability. This and the finicky airbrush made me really wonder if this cheap airbrush set was really worth it.

I calmed down a little, (after throwing SD Gundam few time) and tried a different route. The SD Gundam is pretty much ruined, so I picked up different kit. It was an Airfix 1/72 scale F4F-4 Wildcat. It was a newly tooled kit, and I wanted to build one anyway.

Unlike the SD Gundam, I used the bigger compressor that came with my old Master kit. It had air gauge and water trap so all I had to do was hook it up.

I also ditched my Vallejo paint and used Tamiya paint. Good lord what a difference it made.

 I forgot to take pictures, because well... I was pissed, but I managed to take these. See how evenly the white is laid out? That is a Tamiya Gloss white. Its very notorious for airbrushing, but this thing sprayed it like a champ. The picture might look a little off because of weathering.

The Cockpit green was sprayed very well too.

I was impressed with the results, I went back to Gunpla. This time its Jegan!

 Gawd, I really love grunt suits.

This time I went back to the small compressor, and thoroughly cleaned and lubed the airbrush. Even re-adjusting the needle bearing. (It came loose again) And the result was amazing. Just see for yourself. Here are all the tools I used (Not including a brush and cleaner) Yup I weathered it too.

I used the airbrush to pre-shade and post-Shade. Its hard to tell, but it shows in this pictures. That  subtle change in color? That is shading. The rattle cans cannot do this.

In this picture, see that back of the leg? Its not light effect. I used post shade and darkened  the bottom part and this effect made the small kit look big on photo, or in display.

I have heard that airbrush needs to be broken in. Maybe I was having a problem because it wasn't broken in, but now it brushes fine. I still have problem with Vallejo air and Vallejo Primer sticking and causing needle cap to block. I tired thinning the paint and retarding the paint but it did not help. I had to clean again and again during each paint session. I would use rattle can primer, but I don't have any since Vallejo Primer works really well.

Would I continue to use it? No. My 'go to' airbrush would still be Grex. It sprays better, and trigger has feel to it where you can feel the resistant, so I can tell how much I am spraying. It also has trigger lock, which I use alot when making small lines such as panel lines. Grex is also very ergonomic, so its very comfortable to hold

Would I recommend it for beginners?

Yes.

The airbrush, even with its problems, works as intended. It's a great way to start and this unit will teach you on airbrushing. Also, while it is painful to draw a small consistent line, It sprays evenly (Tamiya Acrylic) and I was able to paint an amazing Jegan with it.

There is alot to airbrushing, other than spraying. You have to learn how to diagnosis problems, and how to fix em if you can not to mention proper maintenance. Its easier to learn this on cheaper airbrush than other $200 plus airbrush, where you would be worried about damaging expensive unit. True story, The original Master Airbrush broke when I over tightened needle nozzle and broke it inside. By than I had used the airbrush for over a year and decided to spurge and bought expensive airbrush (Sotar) Which i just plugged it to Master air compressor which still works 3 years later. 

My problem was with the small compressor. While it works as intended, its very hard to use. I had to 'feel' for the air pressure, and pressure is import when painting different kind of paints. It did work well when I painted Jegan, but I had to let it rest here and than due to water build up and over-heating. Yes this compressor would shut down when over heated. The bigger compressor can withstand continues use.

If you are low on budget yes get this compressor. However if you can afford it, get the one with bigger compressor. Its $100 at the amazon. 

Oh and don't forget to get other stuff too, like spray booth. I'll review my unit soon.