Aztek is a Testor's brand and can be found at craft stores and local hobby shops or purchased online. I have a double action HF airbrush and spent $15 w/coupon. So far, I am pleased with it and if it fails I am out not a lot of money.

That's it--I did it! I just took the (airbrush) plunge! I bought this airbrush & compressor set (see: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...em=250719274959 ), which is available in quantity on eBay for $51.95.

I think a good (well-practiced) airbrush painter can get excellent results even from a cheap airbrush ("Technique over Technology"), because that was my father's experience. The one my father used in the 1960s and 1970s for hobby painting applications was from Sears, and he got excellent results with it. It was a very simple "blow-across" type with a fixed, built-in nozzle, and the whole unit could be screwed onto an ordinary 6 oz. or 8 oz. glass paint jar. For its high-pressure air supply, he used an ordinary single-cylinder Sears air compressor that was powerful enough to inflate tires and to power his large, professional-grade external-mixing paint sprayer that he used for painting houses and woodworking projects.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

I agree with you Blackshire. Why not practice using an airbrush by using a cheaper set. The better you get then you can decide if you want to invest in a better quality airbrush. Sounds like you got a great deal on your purchase.

Hmmm....I still have my Sears airbrush. It came with a small compressor and a normal sized paintgun. I've probably had it since the late 1970's.

I always thought it was a Badger airbrush that had been re-branded.

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Kit (aka Cranky Kong)

I'm just a roadie for the banned...

Thank you. Before I ever aim it at even the cheapest rocket, I'm going to practice airbrushing pasteboard boxes (the closest analog to tan kraft paper body tubes that I have). Not having a spray booth, I'll lay old newspapers across my stove and tape more sheets of newspapers to the stove heat shield panels on the walls in that corner of the kitchen, to catch the overspray. I can also use the stove hood's exhaust fan to evacuate any fumes from the acrylic paints (these paints shouldn't have much in the way of fumes).

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

That's a good idea. Kalmbach Publishing the parent of FineScale Modeler has a publication of how to use an airbrush. It is designed for scale modeling but the techniques can be used for painting rockets as well. Check in to it it may be useful finescale.com

Good luck in your airbrushing!

I appreciate this tip. Handling, mixing, thinning, spraying, and cleaning up acrylic paint is totally new to me (I used my father's old Sears airbrush a few times, but only with enamel and lacquer paints).

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Also, here is a "How-To" article on airbrushing with acrylic paints (see: http://www.ehow.com/how_6312283_air...lic-paints.html ), which also includes "sidebar" articles on mixing acrylic paints for airbrushing, making airbrush paint, making airbrush *body* paint (hmmm...my friend's draft cross mare would look nice painted up as a Zebra...), and using acrylic paints.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

3/2021...happy to be getting back in to rocketry!

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Novaar #205
NAR#91659SR

Well, welcome back! Looks like, based on this thread age, it's been about a decade!

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970