Airbrush selection advice needed

[swarmofseals]

A few months back I purchased the Master 3 brush beginner airbrush kit (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-3-Airbrush-Compressor-Kit-Dual-Action-Spray-Air-Brush-Set-Tattoo-Nail-Art-/140975810534?hash=item20d2d027e6).

I've started to get the hang of it and am getting decent results but am starting to run up onto its limitations.

Vince Venturella recommended starting with this kit and then eventually moving up to an Iwata Eclipse-CS or Neo. I've done some reading on those brushes, and the Eclipse-CS seems like a nice, quality tool.

My main concern is this: I paint fantasy models almost exclusively, generally in the 28mm (approx) scale -- things like Age of Sigmar/9th Age, Cthulhu Wars etc. Most of these models have a lot of fine detail, and even the larger models tend not to have a ton of flat, even surfaces like you see with scifi/tanks. My hands can be a little jittery at times too.

In my research on the HP-CS I found that people generally suggested that it's good for tanks and larger infantry but can't really handle the detail on smaller infantry models.

That got me wondering if I should be considering the HP-BS instead. It seems like a fair number of folks who have the CS are planning to get a BS at some point in the future for fine detail. The biggest problem I am running into with my Master stuff is the level of detail, so maybe I should just get a HP-BS for that and stick to the Master for laying down quick base coats? Then again, I've also run into people who say that the HP-BS really requires a decent tank/compressor setup or you'll run into problems with pulsing that you might not notice with the CS. Given that I plan to keep using the Master compressor for a while, I can't help but wonder if I'll run into this problem.

Then I ran into some folks recommending the Harder Steenbeck Infinity series, which has some two-needle options that cover fine detail and larger spray patterns. Generally it seems like folks find these to be significantly better than the Iwata models, but the price is also quite high. That said, if the endgame is spending $300 on two Iwatas, one for detail and one for larger scale, then maybe it would be better to spend that $300 on one Harder Steenbeck that does both at a higher quality? That is quite a lot of cash, though. Would I also need to upgrade my compressor in this case too?

Any thoughts on this would be very helpful!

[Dez]

I went from a Master 33 to a Badger Sotar 20/20 and never looked back. I've painted whole models with it.

[swarmofseals]

49 minutes ago, Dez said:

I went from a Master 33 to a Badger Sotar 20/20 and never looked back. I've painted whole models with it.

Do you typically use the fine and medium tips? Looks like Sotar would run about $260 for a two-tip setup. EDIT: Also, do you find it annoying switching between tip setups (assuming you do this) as you work?

[Dez]

Not at all, but I rarely swap them out anyway.

[Sadysaneto]

Badger patriot is excellent value for everything.

Badger krome and paschee talon are great value for more precision work.

[Jharen]

Seeing as your already have your Master stuff you may want to consider leaning more towards an airbrush that's going to help with finer detail work (I use a Badger Krome but there's plenty other good choices).  Keep that Master stuff handy for your workhorse stuff like priming, base coating, etc.  In the areas you feel you've been hitting the limits of what those Masters can do, switch over to the better airbrush.