Copic Airbrush - compressors

So I went out and bought myself a Copic Airbrush system!

I've got a real Iwata Airbrush and the Letraset Marker Airbrush as well, but the art store I work at discontinued the Promarkers which I needed for the Letraset Airbrush. So it seemed like it was time to get the Copic one.

It's awesome!

I made sure to get the one that had the adaptor can, because I already had a compressor. I highly recommend that if you are going to use this even a moderate amount, get a compressor.

No matter how good the airbrush is, or the canned air is it just won't be as consistent as having the compressor.

There are of course, pro's and con's of both. The compressor is a one time cost, though it can be quite a cost, but you only have to buy it once, it's also not as portable as cans of air. the Cans of air are definitely less expensive, but in the end you pay more over a longer amount of time.

Think of it:

There are 2 air cans you can get for Copic. The D60 for $13.40 you get  7-8 minutes of airbrush use. and the 180 for $16.80 40-45 minutes of use. 

The compressors that I would recommend are either the Smart jet compressor for $365.80, or the Ninja Jet compressor for $213.20. Copic has a compressor available that is very reasonably priced (comparable to the Ninja).

Smart Jet is from Iwata. Iwata makes compressors for airbrush artists and have the best warranties and customer service available! I highly recommend them, but if you want to pay less you can get a table top compressor from the hardware store for probably around 100$. Just make sure it can go to 50psi. 50psi is the pressure you need for the copic ABS (Airbrush system) and not above, so a lightweight compressor is all you need.

So you are spending $17 for less than an hour of use with a can. that means you pay for the copic Compressor in less than 12 hours of use with the cans. That's pretty astonishing! and you think that the compressor has a warranty of 3 years, and will most likely outlast that warranty by at least a decade, that is a hell of a lot of savings.

 Even so, 12 hours seems like a long time to have continuous air, but when I first played with mine, I played for it 3 hours straight! The can of air was basically useless to me at that point.

SO there you go, I'll add more about the airbrush system later, but I wanted to mention compressors first! Happy Markers!