Budget around $250 ish. New HVLP gravity feed gun. For automotive ( Base coat, color coat and clear coat) Suggestions please. I am a noobie just starting.
If you’re a noob a $25.00 Harbor Freight gun is all you need. Seriously. You can get really good results with them and until you get some spray time and practice you won’t be able to get any better results with a high dollar gun. Paint is 90% prep. A good painter can get good results with a cheap gun but the best equipment won’t matter if you rush it or don’t know what you’re doing. Ask me how I know...
I use that gun for primer, and topcoats inside of compartments, chassis, and the occasional interior.
A combo kit like this Some come with multiple tip sizes 1.3, 1.4 are the common paint sizes and sometimes they will come with a larger tip like 1.7/8 for primers Your local automotive paint store should have sales magazines for kits like this
I am not an expert but I use the $9 Harbor Freight guns. Clean them real well before you use them and I just throw them away after I'm done with the paint just , easier than cleaning them.
The more this thread goes on, the Harbor Freight guns keep getting cheaper. $25, $15 and now $9. If we wait long enough they might be free.
I've posted this before: One of the best automotive airbrush artists in the business is an old friend who uses $15 dollar Harbor Freight stuff. He loves them. Go figure...
I recently used a $10 HF gun [1.4] to spray Urethane primer and top coat Acrylic Enamel on an assembled skid steer..Lot of adjusting of spray pattern to get into nooks and crannys..Gun worked very well for me since I haven't used a spray gun since '87 !!
I own 9 paint guns. I started painting in the 1960's. My advice is two fold: no.1 is that the finishline 4 kit with 3 nozzles isn't a bad place to start, BUT, it takes around 12 cfm which is a lot of air. No large compressor, don't do it. It has a large nozzle that you need to spray high build primer without so much orange peel that you'll be counter-productive. No.2, the older H.F. gun which is a model 48430 or something like that was a good compromise. It takes less than 9cfm to run it. By having the paint thinned the correct amount to match the nozzle capacity, you can do a nice job. If you have access to a good painter, see if they will show you how this all needs to work before buying anything. Don't forget to match your budget to your skills and future needs if you continue in the hobby. It's always best to buy once, not twice. Air capacity and paint area description need to be a strong factor in the decision.
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