Packaging

Inside the handsome packaging is delivered the Gaahleri Mobius-TG Premium Series Airbrush complete with a 0.5mm needle and both fan cap and round cap as well as a large capacity 2-3 oz gravity fluid cup. The reverse of the package gives a complete teardown of the brush showing the full disassembly procedure and parts naming.

The packaging also provides some basic details about the airbrush and it’s intended use, i.e. it is intended for Medium to Extra wide spray pattern, and is part of Gaahleri’s Premium series (other series include Classic, Advanced, Ace and Supreme).

On opening, the airbrush is extremely well packaged with the brush and cup securely contained in the interior foamboard, over top a thin piece of foam completes the protective case around the brush, a quick start guide and customer insert are added to the package along with 2 spare O rings. The airbrush comes fully assembled and ready to use apart from the cup which just needs to be screwed on to get started.

The Airbrush

The Gaahleri Mobius-TG is a good looking, if a little chunky, airbrush finished with an all-metal look, polishing, electroplating and PVD coating are combined to provide the finish and metallic appearance of the airbrush. The handle is described as having an all metal appearance with soft rubber back and anti slip texture, though it does feel quite plastic and perhaps somewhat lets down the overall appearance of the airbrush with its harsh join lines and more plastic feel. This aside, the airbrush is well built with beautiful action and more than adequate control options to restrict the flow of air and paint as well as fine tune the trigger pressure. The trigger is well shaped and extremely comfortable to use even I would expect for extended use. The paint cup is very large, holding up to 3oz of paint for extended use before requiring any refill. Breakdown and cleaning of the brush is very simple and quick, Gaahleri use a patented quick release nozzle which requires no tools to loosen and remove the nozzle, cap and collar. This makes for quick and effective access to these components for cleaning and teardown. The needle is well seated and feels comfortable in the airbrush housing. The Mobius-TG is supplied with both a fan cap and a round cap for options depending on the requirement. The fan cap providing the option to spray with wide width coverage while the round cap allows for some relatively detailed spray for a 0.5mm offering. I also received the Gaahleri 0.3mm conversion kit for the Mobius-TG, the process of changing the setup took no more than 1 minute, the collar allowed for rapid replacement of the nozzle and the needle replacement was seamless.

Using the Airbrush

In order to test the airbrush, I first tested the fan cap in horizontal and vertical positions on some paper towel, the results were as expected, a wide spray (wider in the horizontal position) which would be effective and usable for large surface coverage. I used a well thinned Tamiya German grey acrylic and painted a 3d printed bust I had lying around, the coverage was good, with good action from the brush and very little overspray or splattering, the brush was connected via a quick disconnect male fitting which when paired with the correct female component allowed for quick connection and disconnection of the airbrush form the air supply. In my case, I used an Iwata Ninja Jet dialed up to around 10psi with a moisture trap/regulator connected to the brush coupling. Some fiddling about with the needle depth and air pressure control on the brush allowed me to reach a pressure I was happy with, as long as the paint is well thinned the brush performed admirably.

Switching to the round cap allowed me to dial in to a much finer spray, even with 0.5mm needle, some additional adjustment until I was comfortable with the result but very quickly and easily achieved. Coverage with the round cap and level of detail should be sufficient for most models in larger scales. With an increased flow the round cap would also suffice to base coat many pieces. I ran a quick test on some cardboard to observe the results, all in all I was pleased with the performance of the brush with its 0.5mm needle and caps, the fan cap would be very useful for large surface areas and the round cap is more than capable of delivering some good detail.

Pros

• Premium packaging and presentation.
• Excellent price point for a quality airbrush.
• Provided with two caps for quickly interchangeable spray pattern.
• Easy disassembly for the main functional parts ensuring quick and easy cleaning capability.

Cons

• Handle feels a little cheap, seems to cheapen the airbrush somewhat.
• Airbrush is very thick, it would not fit into any of my airbrush holders.

Many thanks to Gaahleri for providing the airbrush and to IPMS for facilitating the review.