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Modeling in General
General discussions about modeling topics.
VIDEO
Sparmax Max-4 Airbrush Review
staff_Jim
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Posted: Thursday, October 29, 2015 - 10:39 PM UTC
Matthew reviews and tests this new airbrush from Sparmax. The Max-4 can be configured either as a dual-action or single-action airbrush.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
Hisham
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Posted: Friday, October 30, 2015 - 11:19 PM UTC
Thanks for a very good review, Matthew.

I was just wondering, when you were painting the camouflage lines on the Elephant, do you remember what PSI you were using?

Hisham
firstcircle
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Posted: Saturday, October 31, 2015 - 07:54 PM UTC
Hisham, thanks. Exact psi is a bit hard to say, as that isn't how pressure is set on the Arism compressor - if you saw the review I did of that, you may recall that it uses a bleed valve to set the pressure, and the needle of the gauge itself changes as the trigger is pressed on the airbrush. Anyway, the result through the brush was quite high, I think around 25psi.

This pressure was enough to obtain a quite clean, tight line, without much over spray, without the air pressure causing any spidering on the surface. I think you can tell also that the paint is dying quite quickly. The Tamiya paint base coat is extremely matt, which helps the camo stripe set quickly, I expect the chance of the paint spidering would be increased if you were painting over a satin or glossy base coat.
Matthew
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Posted: Sunday, November 01, 2015 - 04:04 AM UTC
@firstcircle - Matthew,

Excellent review, well explained and demonstrated! Like the usage of streaming text and close up views. Perhaps there are other airbrushes on the market with this option of single and duel mode settings, for me first time seeing this feature made available, nice.

Your take on the cleaning is a plus, will be looking into obtaining a set those clean up brushes to add to the toolage.

~ Eddy
firstcircle
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Posted: Sunday, November 01, 2015 - 02:54 PM UTC
Thanks Eddy, the dual / single action thing was new to me as well.

The subtitles came about because I couldn't speak with the paint mask on but I'm not quite pro enough to do a dubbed voice over

The cleaning brushes were very cheap from Amazon, but you can go some way with those interdental brushes.
kipanderson
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Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - 12:52 AM UTC
Hi, very helpful review and tips on how to clean your airbrush. For someone thinking of taking the plunge airbrush wise very useful stuff. Thanks. Kip.
tread_geek
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Posted: Sunday, November 22, 2015 - 03:28 AM UTC
Matthew,

Very good review of what obviously is an extremely versatile air-brush. The demonstration of use was particularly nice as opposed to "static" images. I am also glad to see you clean the brush in a similar manner to how I clean mine. Looks good for use with the one true scale (1/72)!


Cheers,
Jan
CMOT
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Posted: Sunday, November 22, 2015 - 01:16 PM UTC
This is an excellent video review Matt. I like the way you cover all aspects of the airbrush and present it in a clear, calm and precise manner. Having watched this I really would like to see more reviews of this type from you, as you are very good at it.
firstcircle
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Posted: Monday, November 23, 2015 - 04:01 AM UTC
Thanks for saying such nice things about the video. Kip, glad you thought it useful. Jan, I actually started off by videoing myself doing a three colour camouflage on a braille Dragon Pz III, but when I watched the footage back it was too poorly framed and focused, so I had to find another subject, ie an already built kit. The Elefant was an xmas present from my grandma in about 1975, been sitting in a box for years, and that big slab side is a perfect blank canvas. The braille kit is Armorfast, and I have to say that I did think about you when deciding to still include a small scale kit as well as the Elefant.
Darren, glad you liked it, and I think this one did come out better than my first effort, I definitely learnt a lot while doing both of them. More than happy to do more of this type of thing, and happy to hear you think I sound calm - that wasn't always the case, for example when the planes kept flying over because we had easterly winds near Heathrow for weeks, or when I forgot what I was meant to be saying for the fifth time in a row, or most especially while actually doing the painting on the Elefant!
spongya
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Posted: Thursday, January 07, 2016 - 03:31 AM UTC
You did not joke about having a 30 year old stash

Really great video; thank you. It helps with maintenance as well as choices.
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