Holbein Airbrushes?!

[NecronautDrummer]

I'm at the stage in my current build that it's time to start laying down some paint. The school I teach at has an airbrush kit from Holbein. However, the thing's been sitting in storage since the early 90's. Anyone ever heard of it before? The model number's a Y-3.

Being new to modelling, I have no airbrush, other than this one at school. I tried it out today... dual action trigger, internal mix, and a tiny, tiny gravity feed top cup. My findings:
Pressing the trigger down should just release air. This releases the paint too, in a small, but spattery amount. Trigger's a little clunky when you pull back too, and the paint spatter continued all the way up to full paint blast.
I adjusted the air pressure down from 35 PSI (what it was set at originally, long ago) down to about 15 PSI, thinking that this might help with the trigger action and spattering. It did not.
I was spraying straight water with a little food colouring, just as a test of this brush.
The air hose needs replacing (dried o-ring), but the compresser is really quiet. It even has a moisture trap. ;D

My thoughts:
Seeing as it's a public school, they would have dropped a minimal amount of cash on this setup. I shudder to think of finding a replacement needle for this 20+ year old airbrush of unfamiliar make. And I think that the cup needs to be bigger. At 35 PSI, I'd be out of 'paint' in about 5 seconds. At 15 PSI, it would last about 20 seconds. That might be good for small details and touch-ups, but I want to prime and undercoat my model too, and the cup doesn't seem up to the task. Finally, I'd feel better if the cup had a lid. But the compressor is definitely worth keeping.

Is this brush worth salvaging? Have I found some hidden gem? : Or should I just get myself a Badger 100 or equivalent Paasche and a replacement air hose?

Is this even a valid test? Should I try shooting some properly thinned acrylic or enamel just to be sure?

 

[ShutterAce]

I've never seen one but they are supposed to be very good units. German I think. ???

 

[Seven of Nine]

The Holbein airbrushes are coming from Japan, don't let yourself be fooled by the name!

The model designation 'Y-3' sounds like it is a licensed model from Izumiya - a pic of your airbrush would be very helpful ...

Does your ab look like this: http://www.unholzer-airbrush.de/shop/catalog/images/Y_2.jpg

or more like one of those: http://holbein-airbrush.de/Holbein_Seiten/Toricon.htm

The latter link showing actual models ...

In general, Holbein airbrushes have a good reputation within the airbrush community and are very good for beginners. Precisely manufactured parts, quality end control, low price.

I don't have a Holbein ab (don't need - I'm overstocked with Badger, Harder&Steenbeck, Iwata and Rotring) but like written above they have a good reputation.

To your problems: Your description sounds like the ab wasn't cleaned very thoroughly and that dried paint on needle, nozzle and needle packing lead to what you described. The best solution would be to get yourself a large bottle of 'Createx Airbrush Restorer' (scroll down!) and submerge your ab in the cleaning solution for about two hours - either disassembled or completely assembled. After the cleaning, rinse the ab and your problems should be history. If your needle and nozzle are damaged you can try to get replacements but first I would try to clean the ab thoroughly.

When inserting the needle, twist it while you push it forward carefully - this ensures that it sits flush with the nozzle! Don't use too much force or you'll damage the nozzle!

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Hey, thanks for the help. The airbrush I was using looks most like the first one in your link list, 7of9. I'll pick up some airbrush cleaner this weekend and give it a shot. There's a lot of bits of dried ink or acrylic paint around the outside, so who knows what's ben left uncleaned on the inside! I did find an online art store out of Vermont that deals with Holbein parts, so if the needle's bent up or anything, at least I can find the parts. That same store has some exploded diagrams of the brush, so I should be able to disassemble it for cleaning with little to no trouble.

Speaking of parts, are there any o-rings or seals that might need replacing, seeing as the airbrush has sat unused for about 20 years?

 

[Seven of Nine]

Speaking of parts, are there any o-rings or seals that might need replacing, seeing as the airbrush has sat unused for about 20 years?

Cleaner alone might not be sufficient. Better try the restorer - it dissolves even the hardest paint without damaging seals and bearings!

Seals and O-Rings should be ok after the restorer treatment! If not you should take your ab to your ab store and ask them what parts should be ordered! The problem is that it is quite unlikely that replacement parts are still available for an ab that might be oop for some time - if the actual Holbein parts and the older ones are interchangeable is out of my knowledge!

Also please make sure that needle/nozzle are of same diameter like the actual parts and actually fit into your ab (again - let the pro in the ab store do his job!)

in general i would suggest to you to seal every thread with teflon tape - some time ago i wrote a small howto on ab maintenance here

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Took some pics of the beast:

Here she is, in all her glory : . An early 90's Holbein Y-2 airbrush. The paint cups about 2 cc's or 2 mL.

A close-up of the title stamp.

An exploded view. Most parts unscrewed with a little effort. Most parts.

The needle receiver wouldn't come off. It's supposed to unscrew, but it's seized on there pretty tight. I tried a couple sets of pliers on it (wrapped in rubber tubing), but she wouldn't budge.

Pretty dirty on the outside and inside.

And finally, an inspection of the needle tips. One's pretty banged up, but the other's in much better shape. Not perfect, though. Can it be straightened, or should I just get a couple new ones?

 

[spud]

i wouldnt expect ya to paint a full afv wih that cup . but its a good start.

try heating the tip to expand it then it should come off just dont catch it with your hand when its hot .

 

[NecronautDrummer]

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Does the whole front come off? Or just the tip? Most airbrushes like that just the tip comes off, and considering it has two flat sides on it, I would say that it the purpose on it. Similar to Iwata, Tamiya, Mr. Hobby ABs, there is usually a little wrench in the box with the AB (I realize this isn't a brand new one, but should be relatively easy to find) that you put on the tip to unscrew. I generally only put them on finger tight as they are usually a pain to get off otherwise.

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Yup, the little tip does come off with the supplied wrench (which thankfully wasn't lost). I just forgot to take it off for the strip-down. But according to the diagrams, the tip assembly is supposed to unscrew from the main body, as well.

I generally only put them on finger tight as they are usually a pain to get off otherwise.

The instructions say to coat the threads on the little tip with some paint to ensure a good seal. Do you do that with the tip?

 

[spud]

that there is prob why its a pain in the ass yo get offyou could try soaking it in some brush restorer for a bit

 

[sunsanvil]

The instructions say to coat the threads on the little tip with some paint to ensure a good seal. Do you do that with the tip?

Never heard of purposely gumming up a threaded tip with paint. Any contemporary design doesn't require anything in this respect but IIRC older Badgers called for the tiniest bit of bees wax.

 

[sunsanvil]

Is this brush worth salvaging? Have I found some hidden gem?

Looking at the pics I'd say you are going to need at very least a tip and needle set. Have you priced them yet? I just googled a bit and so far found only one source who quoted $40 for the nozzle and $18 for the needle. If those are even close to what you will have to pay I'd say its definitely not worth rebuilding it (outside of the novelty/vintage factor).

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Is this brush worth salvaging? Have I found some hidden gem?

Looking at the pics I'd say you are going to need at very least a tip and needle set. Have you priced them yet? I just googled a bit and so far found only one source who quoted $40 for the nozzle and $18 for the needle. If those are even close to what you will have to pay I'd say its definitely not worth rebuilding it (outside of the novelty/vintage factor).

That's what I was afraid of. I'll try the airbrush restorer this weekend, and see how it works after that.

 

[Seven of Nine]

The needle doesn't look like fubar! If the nozzle is still ok you should try to straighten the needle again.

There are several ways to give it a try, here are some tutorial videos:

How To Fix A Bent Airbrush Needle

how to fix bent airbrush needle

Now the nozzle - why unscrew the nozzle? Leave it where it is and go for the restorer treatment, that way the important part, the inside is cleaned and no thread is endangered of damage.

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Awesome tip, Seven of Nine! I'll defo be trying this out, after an airbrush restorer bath.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Now the nozzle - why unscrew the nozzle? Leave it where it is and go for the restorer treatment, that way the important part, the inside is cleaned and no thread is endangered of damage.

Ummm...to clean it. paint will build up in the tiny tip, without taking it off to clean it, you will never get all the paint and gunk out of it. Plus, with it on, you can put a brush back through the chamber to clean it.

Restorer is fine to get dried on gunk out, but you should still run a brush back through the AB body, and ream out the tip to get all the crap out of it.

 

[NecronautDrummer]

I'm not terribly worried about it, in the end. If the Holbein works, fine. If not, I found a Paasche Talon that I fell in love with, and it's on sale until Nov. 15th at my local art store. They deal with Paasche, Iwata, and AZTEK. Saw them while I was picking up the airbrush cleaner, restorer, and a nozzle cleaning station.
On second thought, the Talon is WAY cheaper in my Micro-Mark catalog...

The Holbein's colour cup is tiny, so it'd be fine for detail & pre-shading work (if it sprays that fine), but I need an airbrush with a larger capacity cup for basecoating and priming anyways. So, here's a question which ought to set the board on fire ;D ... which airbrush do you use and why?

Along with the obvious features (dual-action, internal mix), I'd prefer a side-mounted medium-to-large capacity colour cup with a lid, just so I can see where I'm spraying on the model. The ability to mount a big (15 ml or so) paint bottle would be a nice bonus, but not really necessary. Finally, the availability and price of both accessories (variety of nozzle sizes and patterns) and spare parts is my last concern. I'll be looking into this much more closely, myself.

 

[NecronautDrummer]

I may regret my CC bill at the end of the month, but...
I found a Paasche Talon with all 3 nozzle tips and needles (giant gravity feed reservoir with the cup cover) and air hose (which I needed anyways) for $117 Cdn including shipping. Pretty solid customer & forum reviews (trigger smoothness is an easily corrected problem if it's even an issue), variety of tip sizes, and great parts availability. Not a side feed like I wanted, but the fact that I can rotate the brush a little to see what I'm doing and not worry about the colour spilling out is a fair trade-off. Besides, side siphon feeds seem to have their own inherent problems (balance, cleaning out the siphon tube)

I must say that I was mighty tempted by some Sotar 20/20-2's on Amazon.com for around $180, but they only came with a single size tip. And I felt that a decent Iwata was out of my price range. I found a bunch of Master airbrushes, but they seemed conspicuously cheap. I didn't even bother looking at AZTEK brushes, due to past experiences with the plastic tips.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Personally, I use (and sell) the Harder & Steenbeck line. With those, you don't have to worry about a cup size. The Solo's come with a 2ml cup, but can be changed out with a 5ml cup (which comes with the 2n1 sets), as well there is a 15ml cup for those really large jobs, and for the really small jobs, there is the micro cup, which is probably 1/4ml, basically the reservoir in the airbrush itself, just keeps the paint out of the threads where the paint cup goes.

I have the Infinity 2n1, .4mm needle and head as well as the .15mm needle and head (smallest in the industry), as well as the 2ml and 5ml paint cup. The Infinity is their top of the line, however their Evolution is a great AB as well.