I model mostly small scale WW2 subject matter and 20/28mm miniatures. I had bought previously one of the bigger piston compressor and it worked for a number of years. It was noisy,cumbersome and a bit of a pain to use, the constant vibrations sending it dancing all around my workbench. I was looking for something quieter, smaller in size and able to handle general airbrushing with a minimum of hassle. Iwata silver jet compressor is the answer for me. I run the compressor at about 20 psi with a paasche double action Crescendo. I get very smooth result spraying acrylics. The controls are very easy to use and quite intuitive. The compressor comes with everything you need to get it running, including a nice coiled airhose. The inline filter (used as a humidity trap) though will only work with Iwata airbrush but so far i cant say I've had much water sputterings. The description doesnt mention it but the airhose comes with adaptors allowing the use of Iwata, paasche or badger airbrush. Im not sure if this particular compressor would be useful for someone airbrushing more than 1 hour a day though, but then again, those kind of customers will usually stick to the higher-end compressors. As far as general airbrushing goes, this compressor will do the trick anytime

Let's see now just how long I have been using mine....hmmmmm long time I didn't have to wear glasses to read the paint bottles & my beard didn't get stuck under my T- shirts when I changed them. But on my last session I did notice a couple of strange noises during a usual spraying session. I have been using it to spray model cars & trucks alike,so my paints have ranged from the available model paints to the high end automotive finishes & have had no issues so far. I use the Iwata HP-BCS double action, internal mix airbrush, again, which is as old as the Tennessee hills, but a good clean-up session after each use it still looks SPAN BRANKING NEW. I would recommend ANY Iwata product to ANYONE!!!!