Infinity Two in One Airbrush

Harder & Steenbeck

Reviewed by Brett Green

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I have only used three brands of airbrush in the last 35 years or so.

The first was a syphon fed, double action Paasche VL that I bought in the mid-1980s. I never really mastered that airbrush and did not use it very much for that reason.

Next was a Testor Aztek airbrush. I bought this one after I had seen the results that my friend Chris Wauchop achieved. This airbrush transformed my modelling.

I used the Aztek airbrush for nearly 20 years, replacing it a couple of times under Testor's Lifetime Warranty, but in the end I could not find parts here in Australia so I bought an Iwata HP-C Plus airbrush.

I bought a few other Iwata airbrushes over the years too and I have generally been very happy with them.

My airbrushes endure a fairly hard life as I paint 20 models or more per year with all sorts of paints and thinners. I usually buy a new airbrush every few years as the old ones seem to suffer from a loss of airflow and precision, even after nozzles and needles have been replaced. I don't blame the airbrushes for this - I think it is likely to be seals being either eroded or swollen by aggressive solvent thinners.

I was just about to buy another new replacement when John Miller from Model Paint Solutions sent me this airbrush for review. I hadn't seen a Harder & Steenbeck airbrush close up, so I looked forward to putting this one through its paces.

Harder & Steenbeck offer a number of families of airbrush including the Evolution and the high-end Infinity. Last night we examined the Evolution.

Tonight it is the turn of the Infinity airbrush.

Variations in the Infinity range include suction and gravity feed configurations with various optional sized nozzles and needles.

Today we are taking the Infinity Two in One for a test drive. This is a double action, nickel plated airbrush that provides both a 2 ml and 5 ml top feeding colour cup; plus a 0.15 mm and 0.4 mm needle and nozzle.

The airbrush is presented in a black plastic storage box.

This is a premium airbrush with some innovative features.

These include the so-called "Quick Fix" paint volume control at the rear end of the airbrush. This allows accurate paint-flow control and the ability to return to any given paint volume setting thanks to its engraved scale.

The trigger pressure may be adjusted via the smaller adjusting screw that is accessible via the cutout in the handle.

The action of the trigger is very smooth, even using my strange thumb-trigger technique.

In common with the Evolution, the design of the Infinity's body also has some useful features. The paint cups are attached by a screw thread to the upper front body of the airbrush. This thread is compatible with both the 2 ml and 5 ml paint cups included in this package.

The paint cups are seated with a PTFE seal. PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene better known under the proprietary name of Teflon. This is a chemically inert material that will not be damaged by the majority of solvents and chemicals.

The nozzles and caps are an interesting design too. Instead of having a tiny, delicate nozzle that screws directly to the front of the airbrush body, the Evolution features a nozzle with a manageable-sized metal body, a narrow 0.2 mm or 0.4 mm opening at the front and a PTFE seal at the rear. The nozzle is then sandwiched between the front of the body and the threaded cap. As the cap is screwed on, it presses the nozzle back into the body until it seats snugly against the PTFE seal.

This design has a number of benefits. First, it is easy to handle (and see!) this larger nozzle assembly. Secondly, you don't need any specialised tools to remove and replace the nozzle. Also, you will not risk snapping the thread off a fine, delicate nozzle (I have broken off a few nozzle threads on other airbushes in my time).

Two styles of needle guard are included. The first is a simple two-pronged guard.

The second is a fully ringed guard with two narrow arms. This might be helpful for maintaining close exact distances from your model.

The guards simply press on to the nozzle cap and are interchangeable between the 0.15 mm and 0.4 mm nozzles.

A protective cover is also included for when the guards are not in place.

The needle may easily be removed by loosening the textured needle chuck after unscrewing the rear body cap.

I have also confirmed that the nozzles and needles may be interchanged between the Evolution and Infinity airbrushes.

Test Spray

I think the only way to really evaluate an airbrush's performance is on a real live plastc model, but I was curious to test out the Infinity today.

I loaded up the airbrush with a mix of around 75% Tamiya acrylic thinners and 25% acrylic paint (Tamiya XF-5 Flat Green), and airbrushed a number of squiggles from fine to wider.

Performance was very impressive for both the 0.15 mm and 0.4 mm nozzles and needles. In fact, I was surprised at how wide I could spray with the 0.15 mm nozzle and the fine results possible with the much bigger 0.4 mm nozzle.

I did find that I needed to thin the paint a bit more than usual to ensure consistent flow using the 0.15 mm nozzle.

However, the inclusion of both the 0.15 mm and 0.4 mm nozzles and needles means that you will be able to perform any model painting task from ultra-fine to broad spray patterns with this versatile airbrush package.

Harder & Steenbeck's Infinity Two in One package is a luxurious, versatile and robust modelling airbrush for very fine lines up to broad coverage.

If you are looking for a single airbrush for all modelling seasons, this might just be your answer.

Thanks to Model Paint Solutions for the samples.

Text and Images Copyright 2019 by Brett Green
Page Created 13 August, 2019
Last updated 14 August, 2019

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