Harbor Freight Airbrush Product Review

     Recently my Badger 360 suffered a failure - the seals inside failed causing paint to flow backwards through the brush and out of the trigger. While that brush is on its way back to Badger for repairs, I decided I needed a backup airbrush to get me by. Since finances are tight, and having heard that Harbor Freight Tools, a source of mostly cheap, Chinese imitation equipment sold airbrushes, I stopped by to take a look. I ended up buying the product you see here for $10.99. What was I getting into? We'll see.
     The brush came packaged well enough. A standard cardboard box with clear window holds a thin molded plastic container in which the airbrush and associated parts rest. There is a small instruction manual and a limited 1-year warranty card. Along with the airbrush itself, you get 1 small and 1 large paint jar. These are glass with plastic lids. The small jar's lid incorporates the siphon feed tube, but a big downside to this set is the lids are not interchangeable. The mouth of the large jar is bigger than the small jar's. In addition to the jars you get a five foot plastic air  hose, a standard 1/4-18 adaptor for the hose, and an adaptor that fits the airbrush propellant cans such as made by Testors. Finally, you get a small wrench to aid disassembly of the airbrush needle and its associated parts.
     For $10.99, how is the quality? It's about what you'd expect. Machining is rough and threaded components are slightly tricky while screwing them on. The rear handle, like the body, is plastic and hollow, and a press-fit into the body. I don't expect the air hose to last long, due to it being a simple plastic hose. If it doesn't get brittle with age and crack, crimping or pinching while I use it will probably shorten its life. I'm not sure the O-rings in the needle assembly will tolerate stronger chemicals such as lacquer thinner, so I plan to avoid those in this brush.
    How does it spray? The box claims you can get a pattern from 2" down to 1/4". The smallest line I could get with it was around 1/2", and that's being generous. That being said, once I got my air pressure dialed in, spraying was relatively easy. The nozzle adjustment which varies the size of the pattern is pretty coarse, so just a minute turn of the knob can have a sizeable effect on your pattern. You're not likely to get fine detail work out of this brush. However, as you can see in the pic, it's fine for general coverage and  for pre-shading panel lines, as long as those panel lines are in larger scales. I'm thinking at 1/72 or smaller a pre-shade will be challenging.
    Considering this is an interim tool to just get me by until my main airbrush is fixed, for the price and performance, I'm happy. Another advantage is that if this airbrush fails for whatever reason, a new one can be purchased very cheaply. Harbor Freight also sells a deluxe version, which is a little nicer, for around $25. Unfortunately that one was not in stock when I was at the store. After January I plan on buying a Badger 105 Patriot with the fine needle conversion kit, for use as my secondary and backup airbrush.
     Here are some pics:

The box, and what's inside the box.

The air line and its fittings.

Airbrush, disassembled.

Slightly different view.

As soon as my air pressure was dialed in, general patterns came out okay.

Practice run on some panel line pre-shading.

   

High Plains Con XXIV A Success!

     On Saturday, October 12^th, the High Plains Modelers put together their 24^th annual High Plains Con Model Show & Contest. Modelers from far and wide gathered at the Ranch in Loveland to show off their skills and compete for prizes that were nearly as fabulous as freshly cooked bacon. Although entries totaled on the low side at 168 models and 36 entrants, our vendors more than made up for it. The selection was nearly as good as any contemporary hobby shop as more than 12 vendors arrived to hawk their wares at extremely friendly prices.

     Within the High Plains Modelers, the following club members won awards:

New Scott

1st in SciFi Spacecraft and Best Spacecraft (Sponsored by CoMMies) for his Fine Molds 1/72 Y-wing.

3rd in 1/72 Armor for his Revell M60A3.

Jeff

 1st place in 1/48 Softskin with his Tilly and a 2nd place in Spacecraft/Sci-Fi with his Slave I. Jeff’s son Ayrton took 1st in Junior Auto with his Ferrari Enzo, a 1st in Junior Armor with his M3 Lee, and Best Junior for the Ferrari.

Mark S.

2nd place in the Military Vehicle, Soft Skin class, 1/35, for his

US 2-1/2 ton 6x6 cargo truck.

Pablo

1st Place: JASDF Phantom II (1/48 multi-engine jet)
1st Place: A-4 Collection (Group builds)
3rd Place: P-47 "Flying Penguin" (1/32 Single Engine)
3rd Place: 1/72 Br.86 (Miscellanea)

Jerry

Third place in Figures for his Frankenstein /w skeleton model.

  

Gary

 1/350 Nautical - 1st Place with his I-400 Japanese submarine; Diorama - 1st Place with his 'Operation Milkman'; Best Diorama sponsored by High Plains with his 'Operation Milkman'; Modern Armor - 2nd Place with his Israeli M50; Heavy Commercial - 2nd Place with his Kenworth 'Honest John' Hauler; Softskins - 3rd Place with his 1/35 15cwt Truck.

Chip

Military Multi-Engine Jet, 1/72^nd and Smaller, 2^nd Place, SR-71 with D-21 Drone

Military Single Engine Jet, 1/48^th and Larger, 1^st Place, F-86F-30

Military Single Engine Jet, 1/72^nd and Smaller, 1^st Place, F-100D  

Military Single Engine Jet, 1/72^nd and Smaller,  2^nd Place, F-8II

Congratulations to all!

     High Plains Modelers would like to thank each and every participant and vendor, and not least of all the crew and volunteers, for helping to make this a great show. Thanks!

     Now let’s ogle some pics! Click each pic for a larger version:

Vendors arrive to set up.

A good looking snowplow, fresh out of the county wash bay.

This Cookie Monster is not PBS approved. ;)

An overview of the show in progress.

Mark Persichetti brought leftover Nationals gear to sell. Unfortunately, he eluded the photographer.

Our esteemed compatriots-in-styrene from Denver, the CoMMiES, arrived with a veritable plethora of goodies.

This tank destroyer vignette was very impressive.

Chuck Yeager's ride. 'Nuff said.

An impressive diorama of a Coast Guard station.

You don't see many TBM's in Atlantic ASW colors, but this one pulled it off nicely.

P-40 Warhawk. A curvy, classic steed of the air.

Achtung! Fockewulf!

An impromptu Build & Bull broke out at one of the tables.

The judges take their job seriously.

That windshield looks way too clean. ;) Give that mainainer a raise!

A tough call on this great looking bike.

The awards ceremony in full swing.

After a long day and a successful show, the High Plains Modelers ride into the sunset.

September 2013 Meeting

      In the wake of a massive flood that submerged much of Northern Colorado, and to the accompaniment of the first signs of autumn, the High Plains modelers assembled in the basement of Hobbytown for their September meeting. Our usual location at the Ranch was being used for disaster relief.
     The main topic of the September meeting was the upcoming High Plains Con 2013. Although at first we wondered if our show would need to be rescheduled or canceled, Marc L. came through at the last minute with news that our reservation at the Ranch was A-OK. We're still on track to present a great show Saturday, October 12th, from 10-5 at the Ranch in Loveland. For details you can check out our dedicated show page at http://highplainscon.blogspot.com/ where you can download a show flier and find other good info.
    But: on to the models! We didn't have quite as good attendance this month, but fortunately there was still some first class work to be shown off and drooled over.

Chip's 1/144 F6F Hellcat. Mee-ow!

Dave's gorgeous 109. 

New Scott's M3 Stuart, complete with cat whisker antenna. No cats were harmed while procuring this essentail detailing part. 

Gary's landing craft. 

Chris's Yak-28 Forger with fictional Cobra markings