Best Beginner Airbrush Kit 2024: Dick Blick’s Iwata Power Pack

At the start of my airbrushing career, as a beginner I wanted to get into it with the best airbrushing equipment I could afford with a modest starting investment. For months I would shop around swap meets, online stores, and yard sales, scouring for the best deals on piecemeal cheap airbrushing equipment. Get a regulator in one place, hoses in another, digging out a compressor from an old farmer’s barn, convincing myself that I was somehow saving money. Throw in the price of gas driving to find these deals, and all said and done I was in for about $1000, but had wasted months of time collecting equipment before I could even spray my first puff.

Now Beginners Have It Easy

Looking back, I could kick myself “not seeing the forest for the trees” so to speak. I had a jumble of mismatched parts, that kinda worked okay together, with a few adapters, a little plumbing tape and epoxy. Knowing full well the need to upgrade asap, this compounded the diminished gains from my nearsighted buying strategy. Each piece of used airbrush equipment, although seemingly cheap, would be replaced one-by-one by higher grade professional airbrushing gear.

Today, most of those items are long since sold for even cheaper than I bought them, or simply scrapped and recycled. The one and only item to this day that has remained in great working order happens to be the one piece of airbrushing equipment I splurged on: the small but mighty Anest Iwata Airbrush. Coincidentally, bought new from a Dick Blick store, now over 20 years ago.

Two Art Giants Join Forces

That’s why I’m excited that Blick and Iwata teamed up to make a high quality airbrush kit that can get you started immediately. It’s the type of pro level equipment that will grow with you, rather than you growing out of it. No need to upgrade anything, it’s already pro grade. And at a price so good it’s probably impossible to find a better deal. If you are a beginner looking for the best bang for your buck getting a professional airbrush, look no further than this amazing kit.

This Airbrush Kit Has Everything You Need to Hit the Ground Spraying

The thing I love most about this kit is that it sets you up with all the necessary working parts to get started producing stunning airbrush art. The Iwata Eclipse Dual Action Gravity Feed airbrush has a .35 mm nozzle and is extremely versatile, tuned enough for detailed fine art, temporary tattoos, or makeup, but also being able to handle higher volume paint flow for larger automotive projects. It works flawlessly with a broad range of paints and materials, anything from thicker acrylics, to fine airbrushing inks.

Small Airbrush Compressor with Big Results

While small, the Iwata Smart Jet compressor packs the power, giving you clean even spray, and precision air regulation from 1-25 psi. It’s about as quiet as a compressor can be, and fits easily on a desktop or tool box. Even if you eventually outfit your paint workshop with a larger air compressor, this little unit will be the perfect choice if you ever need to do any artwork or scratch repairs offsite. If airbrushing body art at festivals is your thing, you couldn’t ask for a more perfect setup.

The design of the hose system is ingenious, with an intermediary pigtail hose acting as a pressure reservoir, smoothing out the air pressure and eliminating sputtering before it reaches the regulator. Keep your airbrush and workspace squeaky clean with the Spray Out Pot, a 10 oz. glass cleaning apparatus usable with any style of airbrush, once again proving its use far beyond the beginner phase.

Beginner Priced, Professional Grade Airbrush Kit

This Is The Airbrush Kit I Would Recommend to Friends or Family

Quite easily the best airbrush deal I could find, I’m not too proud to admit that I’m more than a little jealous that they didn’t have this kit around when I started airbrushing. For all of my amateur mistakes, I made the wise choice of buying a brand new Iwata airbrush that still works great today. Had I bought the rest of the Iwata gear I would probably be saying the same for the compressor and cleaning pot. (Speaking of which, the cleaning pot is one of my favorite peripherals I’ve ever used!)

With Great Care Comes Great Performance

Hoses, seals, needles, and springs need to be replaced occasionally as part of regular maintenance, notwithstanding this every piece of Iwata equipment I’ve bought over the years works perfectly. For airbrushes and paint equipment of all kinds, Iwata is a brand I consider to be the peak of quality standards. It can’t be overstated that although this is sold as a beginner airbrush kit, this stuff will work for you through the years producing beautiful art and professional results. This kit is a great springboard into an airbrushing career, and when you’re ready to expand you collection, consider further research into Iwata Airbrushes when gearing up to take on larger and more complex art projects.

• Source 1: Online Practice Exercises and Getting Started
• Source 2: Iwata Operating Instructions