airbrush reviews

Master Airbrush Review

In today’s airbrush review I decided to start with quote from one of emails I’m getting from my readers “It seems like you have reviewed the top models of several brands. On the other end of the spectrum, I realized there are some unknown manufacturers offer something that looks like the high-end airbrushes, e.g., Iwata CM-C Plus. I hope you won’t find my suggestions boring. I suppose most people won’t have the budget to buy many airbrushes & many like myself has learn things the hard way wasting $ on the quest to find the most right tool.

I don’t have that particular airbrush that looks like Iwata CM-C Plus to make a decent review but I happened to have the one that looks exactly as Iwata CM-B and that costs under 40 bucks with delivery and everything. The manufacturer is from China and the brush is called Master Airbrush BD-200.

It is a double action airbrush with regulation of paint amount. On the first look and touch you will think that this is solid and fine airbrush and maybe you will be curious why this tool is so cheap?

So let’s see if this is good stuff for small money.

A few closeups at the tool so you can see how it actually looks.

You may see from the pictures above how this airbrush looks after some time and what the use of different paints and reducers  may cause for the chrome look (especially seen on the cup).

Let’s take it apart to see how it looks on the inside.

Closer look at the needle.

I would like to apologize for my dirty hands but I think all painters will understand why they are dirty and that sometimes it is really difficult to get rid of all that paint.

In my opinion, so far this airbrush has too much useless parts that fail their purpose (if I compare it to any good brand airbrush). The quality of materials used for this tool is fairly good as in this price range you can’t expect more. Huge minus here is that all the sealing (O-rings) are made of rubber so any good reducer will destroy them all very quickly. To solve this there is a small tweak that you can read here.

I find it very difficult to control this airbrush while using Createx and Auto-Air paints. But with finer pigment (Nitro) it works better until reducer will make its work on the packing.

The best solution is probably to use china ink or something similar as it is very soft, does not smell and it’s not toxic. Of course the use is limited (Can’t do car airbrushing for example).

Another thing that I would like to point out is needle centering. Well it is far from something called self-centering nozzle system I mentioned in H&S Infinity Review. Actually there is no way to center the needle the proper way and it is not centered at all, the whole time. I could not make a proper snapshot so I made a drawing just to show you how it is actually centered :).

1. needle, 2. nozzle, 3. air, 4. nozzle cap

As you can see that the quality of needle and nozzle is very poor, they are offset. What does offset mean for everyday airbrushist? After you push the air and open the paint, offset will cause delay of paint delivery and paint is in different amount that you actually need. After a bit of time the paint won’t come out at all so you’ll be forced to pull the trigger even more to bring at least some paint but there is already a significant amount of paint collected inside that will just spit out at once and will make a blot on your painting. Very disappointing.

Conclusion

I’ve tried more airbrushes from this manufacturer. I even tried to buy and change some parts like needle and nozzle (all available sizes from 0.18mm to 0.5mm) just to get rid of the offset, unfortunately no results.

With this airbrush you can fix some scratches, paint some models, cell phones or do any really small job. It is not that bad to work with stencils but I would say unthinkable to do freehand. I think that manufacturer will help not just us, customer but himself too if they include in description the fact “NOT SUITABLE FOR FREEHAND“. My overall feeling is that any beginner starting with master airbrush will lose the interest in airbrushing as art for some time surely or in worst case scenario for good.

If you have tried something similar or have any other airbrushes that make bad name for airbrush art, please tell us in comments below and don’t forget to tell your friends to be aware of such brands.

I’m not saying that all Chinese airbrushes are bad and I’ll be glad to check any other Chinese airbrush guns hoping they will score much better.

Leave a Comment

47 Comments on “Master Airbrush Review”

  • Thanks for the great review which could help many to save wasting $, preserve the joy of airbrushing & perhaps protect the environment by reducing waste.

    I was tempted to purchase a similar Chinese airbrush which looks like Iwata CM-C+.  Like most people, I can’t tell the O-ring & the self-centering nozzle bit as they are just too small.  It would be the time when something like offset occurs that one would find out the difference.

    Most people loves to save $, however when a tool can’t perform what it suppose to do would mean a waste.

    I’ve given up the thought of purchasing the Iwata look alike but instead will focus my energy to find out where I could find a good airbrush at cheaper price when I need another airbrush.

  • buy the top brands don’t waste your time with cheap air brushes, we all want to create fine art work save your money buy an Iwata sell some art work on line buy anther, with the right tools can produce some really fine and sick art work. 

  • Yep, I agree with you guys.  Cheap airbrush will save some money but just from the start. Then you just spend more money trying to find something better or in worst case will drop the whole thing – airbrushing.

    • is it possible that there is a fake badger and iwata?

      •  I don’t know, I have not seen something like that. Usually it has some unknown words written on it or no names at all. Have you seen any fakes?

  • Do you know anything about “Veda” airbrushed. It’s another cheapo brand like the master but wasn’t sure if they had the same issues or If it was at least a good enough brush for beginners to learn on before deciding on the better well known named brushes. Thanks!

    • Hey Megan, no I never have heard about Veda but I certainly going to check them out.

      • They are made in China. I have two. For about $21 to $35 apiece. Are they any good? They are for the beginner. The factory also makes Iwata believe it or not. Of course for a lot more money. Sometimes you may get a bent needle and contacting the company is pretty much useless. I know I got one. The other two are good though and work well.

        • Hello Larry,

          Thank you for feedback, appreciate it a lot.

          • ok

  • Some years ago I airbrushed T-shirts and Tags at a local market during the summers. I am preparing to participate in a community project . I will be painted a lifesize fiberglass bear. I will need to use an automotive paint and will be spraying shapes in the 1″4 to 3″ sized round and ovaltype shapes. I’m thinking an Iwata that holds the paint in a bottle. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I could also use advise on stencil material for painting this  3 dimensional form.

  • I have Master airbrush, as seen in your picture, It is brand new, my second one the first one the paint didn’t come out, they had me throw it away, sent me another one, it still don’t work. The paint will not come out!! It does Spray water though!

    • Hey man, for your problem there are many different solutions. It depends on the other factors then airbrush itself. I would like to know what paint are you using (too big pigments in paint ca cause the problem). If you can buy an ink refills for ink-jet printer, try it. Ink has very soft pigments that will go trough any size of a nozzle. It will mean that you are not using the right paint. If ink won’t come out then I would take the brush apart and check bearings.

      About the water this is another case and depends very much on your compressor. If it has a water trap but still spits water try to put behind compressor output a car diesel filter.

      As you can read in my review I can’t call this airbrush good and there are better alternatives. Still, let me know how it goes.

  • Hi, I’m frustrated…got a g22. Its new and clogging up. I tried pressure 20 and I’m unsure about reducer consistency in paint. Any advise?

    • My only advice here is to make paint thin like milk, if this does not help then make it even thinner. And also clean that airbrush properly. Some time it may start clogging because you use fast drying reducer…

  • Great topic we have a box of 3 china airbrush’s , we bought a airbrush off a guy that we knew with compressor it blew about 8 lbs of air with a airbrush that was a miss mash of parts it was branded buy a store which is out of biz go figure. We then bought 3 more china brush’s which all broke with in a week or 2 ya I know dumb dumb the cost of a education I guess at least we can use the old needles to clean our good airbrush’s right?

    We broke down and bought a badger 360 wow what a difference sine then I have bought a Grex nice brush as well as a couple of Iwatta airbrushs and a aztek and they are all great. I hope my mistakes might help some one into buying good stuff you get what you pay for and airbrushing is so much better with good gear.

    • Hi Todd,

      good and very very informative comment. Thanks you for that.

      • I own a Masters MAS 233 set, has .2, .3, and .5 needles and tips. Cost was $60 US and works flawlessly for me. I understand steering people towards the higher end brushes but I feel it is a bit unfair to be condemned so easily. Realistically, your not comparing apples to apples its like buying little ole granny a 100k sports car who only drives once a week…its just not practical. Speaking for myself, you can give anyone all the tools they could ever want or need but if they don’t take the time to learn how to use them … it was all for nothing. JMHO

        • Hey Shadow_rider!

          Thanks for your comment.
          As someone already mentioned here, you might be right. If artist is a true master then he can work with any, even the cheapest airbrush.

          But I have two fair questions for you:
          1. What paint do you use with your Master airbrush (I’m more interested in thinner for that paint)?

          2. Have you tried any of Hi-End airbrushes? If yes, how would you compare it to Master?

          Cheers

          • Trust me, I am not by any means trying to say a person shouldn’t purchase a high end brush, I am just trying to say that I feel something like a Masters series could be a very good entry level machine if you are on a budget. As for the paint I use…currently I am using Valejo because it is redily available at my local hobby shop but do intend to try create, especially the Wicked and AutoAir lines because I want to get into doing some art on my truck and my sons bike. I started with a cheapo $15 airbrush from harbor freight and moved up to Masters currently. Will I purchase an Iwatta, or a Badger in the future, probably but my point was most people cant afford to lay out $200 – $500 just starting out so while I do agree from a professional level a masters wouldn’t work for Ed Hubbs, or Mike Lavelle, or any other pro brusher, I feel should guide people to what they are comfortable with. In my humble opinion I feel something like a Master series would be an acceptable entry level brush.
            No I haven’t tried a high end brush yet because my experience doesn’t warrant it nor does my wallet at this time.

          • Sorry, I forgot to answer your thinner question…..these are water based paints and I only thin with water but clean with a 50/50 solution of windex in a ultrasonic cleaner. if I feel I need something stronger I use a few drops of valejo thinner. BTW, the windex I use contains NO ammonia, NO vinegar, and NO phosphates, I get it at Sam’s Club in the gallon size jugs for $4

          • Thanks for this detailed description man. I really appreciate it and I think you’ve got the point.

            Off course Masters can be good starting airbrushes. But for some uses they will require some small modifications. As you paint with water based paint, you are fine, but O-rings in this brushes will have to be changed if you plan to use solvent based paint.

            Also after some time the chrome from the surface of airbrush will start to peel but it does not mean you cannot continue to use it.

            I strongly agree with you, if you are on the budget there is no point to spend money for Iwata or something else expensive.

            There are much cheaper brushes, i.e. Badger Krome, pay a bit more than for Master but have much better quality.

            Thanks again for your point of view, it makes the whole review much more objective.
            Cheers

          • i i had start with a veda 180 on ebay for 45$ witch have air regulation same as iwate hp-ch (the one i would like) i had buy it with a free gift, nozzle and needle in 0.2 and in 0.3. i had try some paint into it too (golden, createx, wicked, fast color and yes… dolorama lol) the best one is wicked in 0.2. (my 0.3 never work fine… ), its the only one i can reduce enought to use the 0.2 mmm and have a great result but i have the problem too with the centering of the nozzle. i turn it to center as maximum before use … 6 mnounth and he and it lost a lot of precision . now i dont want to paint anything with it its just to much hard beacause now i can use it with some skill… i had buy a veda 130 )for 20$ ! (without air regulation) on ebay too but this one doesn’t work att all lol i had take some part on them lol now to continue to learn i think ill need a bether one like de hp-ch… i had read on the internet, de master and the veda are really same for the quality. but… with all the chineese copy, one can work and the second no… if you have chance you will have a good one like me the first time :) look what was my second airbrush ever with this :) (8.5″x11″sheet)

  • i i had start with a veda 180 on ebay for 45$ witch have air regulation same as iwate hp-ch (the one i would like) i had buy it with a free gift, nozzle and needle in 0.2 and in 0.3. i had try some paint into it too (golden, createx, wicked, fast color and yes… dolorama lol) the best one is wicked in 0.2. (my 0.3 never work fine… ), its the only one i can reduce enought to use the 0.2 mmm and have a great result but i have the problem too with the centering of the nozzle. i turn it to center as maximum before use … 6 mnounth and he ad lost a lot of precision . now i dont want to paint anything with it its just to hard beacause now i can use it with some skill… i had buy a veda 130 )for 20$ ! (without air regulation) on ebay but this one doesn’t work att all lol i had take some part on them lol now to continue to learn i think ill need a bether one like de hp-ch… i had read on the internet, de master and the veda are really same for the quality. but… with all the chineese copy, one can work and the second no… if you have chance you will have a good one like me in the first time :)
    (the paint is on a 8.5″ x 11 ” inch sheet)

  • I represent a San Diego airbrush artist. Some of his work is created by deep etching the image into a 24″ round, 1/2″ thick piece of glass or crystal. He then comes in with the airbrush, and adds color creating a beautiful piece. This is a rare medium. Has anyone attempted this method? Results? What do you think of his work?

    • I uploaded images. Can you see them?

      • Now I see them

        • Hello Greg, I see the images. It is beautiful!!!
          I’ve never tried such thing as painting on glass with airbrush yet but having something like that at home could be good addition and really rare.

          Who is this artist?

          • Hello,
            You are correct, this is a very rare medium. The piece was done by a native San Diegan artist Paul Bramer. Mr. Bramer, has been airbrushing for over 40 years. He is very innovative, and has been a pioneer in the airbrush scene all along. Besides the beautiful airbrush job, the image is deep cut (sandblasted) before the paint. The pieces are really amazing. I’m currently looking for a gallery in which to showcase some of his work.

  • With a careful eye and patience you can file the hole so that it’s centered. I have 3 of these airbrushes and have spent days dialing them in. They are now AMAZING,very responsive and will do a hairline so small its incredible. I use dremel diamon bits to carefully fix the hole so that its centered. Do this by hand with the bit and not using the dremel!!!! It takes a while but its worth it. Finish up by carefully polishing the face of the cap with a rubberized abrasive polishing wheel.

    • Hi Bob,
      very interesting advice. I would like to try it some day. Can you please share some pictures or video perhaps how to do that. You can send me a personal message via contact page and I’ll share it here on this blog.

      • Hello Mr. Voronko, i would like to know something… What is the required amount of output volume of air for an airbrush? i mean how much of air pressure required??

        • Hi Antish,

          It depends what do you want to do, but for average use like art painting it is from 1 up to 2 bar (15 – 30 psi)

          • Thank you very much, One last thing, you have suggest me a value like 15-30 PSI… My question is that: Is there any standards for using this particular pressure?

          • Hi Antish,

            off coarse not, there are no standards regarding this. It depends only on how it is used.
            See, if your paint is thick you need more PSI, especially with small nozzle size.
            If you mix the paint to milk consistency (this is recommended) then the pressure will depend only from nozzle size.

            Also when you going to paint a big area you want more PSI even with bigger nozzle, if you want to paint a hair thin lines you need small nozzle and much less PSI, it’s that simple…

            What is your use? What are you trying to accomplish? Are you going to paint something very small (like phone) or something bigger (car or a wall)? Or is there any other use you want?

          • i am doing my final year project based on a compressed air system… while doing my research, i have to justify all findings about compressors and airbrushing. i’m constructing such design according to standards and appropriate regulations!

          • ok, so I hope I answered your question..

  • I just purchased a Master TC 20 and it came with NO instructions on how to operate it. I’m really excited to start using it but haven’t got the foggiest idea how to start. It’s already put together, what now? How do I put water in the reserve and how do I use it. It came assembled.

    • HI Karen,
      is it the airbrush kit you have? As I am looking on the net and TC 20 spits out only air compressor.
      Also, why would you put water in the reserve?
      On YouTube you have a lot of videos about TC 20 compressor.
      But if it is airbrush I would like to see some product page so I can tell what it is and how to deal with it.

      • yes its the kit. the only reason I asked about the water part is cause on the operation diagram it shows a water release valve that confused me.

        • if the water release valve is on the tank of compressor, then it is to empty the tank when some water is condensed in it. Usually when it’s new you should not have any worries about that. Ideally you should not have any water in it.
          if there is some then just open the valve and empty the tank.

          Really there is a lot of that stuff on YouTube so you should be better to check it there

          • Thank you Sergej, you have been a great help!

  • Well, the truth is these are not sold or marked for the professional. These airbrushes are cheap alternatives for the casual user who needs something dirt cheap. I know I wasn’t expecting quality from this gun, and the price dictates I will get what I pay for. I wanted this brush to use for some quick primer work and it handled the job fine. I’m not sure what others are thinking when buying an item as this, but do the research before you buy anything. To be honest, at 30.00 USD, what do you expect? REALLY? It’s not like your out a bundle if you buy a cheap knock-off, but be aware, it is intended to be used by those needing a cheap alternative.