Review – Paasche Talon

One of the first things that you will notice about the Paasche Talon gravity fed airbrush is how striking it is. Accents of shiny chrome along with brass coloured anodized aluminum draw your eye to this brush. It’s a big airbrush, with a big colour cup, a thick body and a decent heft to it. To be honest, when I first picked it up I expected it to be much heavier, but the inclusion of an aluminum handle helps to keep it surprisingly light and well balanced.   I purchased a used (but very good condition) Talon from a local buy and sell.

My particular airbrush was the 3 in 1 version that came in a wooden box with a hose, 3 needles (0.25, 0.38 and 0.66) and matching nozzles, with the 0.66 coming with a special fan cap to make it into a wide pattern spray gun. Each of the air caps has a threaded and removable crown cap allowing you to get up nice and close to your subject and expose that needle to allow for better removal of tip dry.

I prefer spraying without the crown caps as I find paint accumulates on them and can cause splatters, but I always store my airbrushes with the crown caps installed. These particular crown caps arch outward, ensuring that paint will not accumulate, no matter how heavy handed you are with your paint application.   The nozzles on the Talon are screw in and they are LARGE! I have complained about other airbrush nozzles being tiny and easy to lose. You won’t have that issue with the Talon. They are big and beefy and if you somehow manage to drop one, you won’t have an issue finding it in the carpet. The Talon uses a simple system of lines to differentiate between needle / nozzle / crown cap sizes.

A single line denotes the 0.28mm, 2 for the 0.38mm and 3 for the 0.66mm. This makes matching them up very simple. You do need to tighten these down to avoid air leaks, but don’t fear snapping them off. They are well made and strong.   The needles have a very pronounced taper, with the body of the needle very thick and robust and then a stark shoulder where the needle begins to taper out to its final diameter. I was unsure of this at first, but the needle feels substantial in your hand and I feel that it could withstand some abuse if you accidentally dropped it. Each needle is marked with the same system above and it makes identification easy.

They are very polished so they slide easily through the body of the airbrush and when the trigger is pulled back, they move without hesitation. A lot of people don’t understand how important a polished needle is until they try and use a cheaply made knock-off or off-brand brush that doesn’t polish internals. A smooth needle will help get you a smooth finish.   The colour cup is LARGE!! 0.4oz and is emblazoned with a beautifully laser etched Eagle. I think that this adds to the aesthetic appeal of this brush and it is subtle enough that it blends in with the overall look without overpowering. The large cup means you will not have to refill often, but it also means that you may have an obstructed view of your subject if you are the type of airbrusher that gets behind your cup. Luckily, I am not and it is not a deal breaker for me.

The Talon comes with an included colour cup cover, which is a must if you fill it to capacity! This large cup will be particularly appealing to automotive airbrush artists or model makers who paint terrain or large surface areas.  The handle, as I said previously, is made from anodized aluminum and comes in a very cool brushed brass colour. On the end sits a needle limiter that is nicely accented in chrome and it ties the look of the brush together. An ample cutout allows you access to the needle chuck, allowing you to pull the needle back and flush the brush without removing the handle. I don’t often get a lot of clogs, so this is not as important to me as other users, but again, I think it adds to the look of the brush and most likely reduces weight at the same time.   The actual internals is very simple.

The rocker assembly is a single piece that keeps the rocker and needle tube together. I really like this because it is a snap to install and I have spent too much time looking for the little rocker from other airbrushes in the carpet. The spring is strong and you can adjust your trigger tension as you like. I always prefer a softer touch to my trigger, so I like the fact that I can back it off and not resort to cutting my spring to get the tension I want.   If this brush has a minor fault, it is the trigger and valve assembly.

The valve is a simple ball valve with a spring surrounding it. As you press down on the trigger, it depresses the valve and air begins to flow. Very simple and dependable design, but I find that the spring is far too soft and as such the air is either on full pressure or off, and attenuating pressure at the trigger is difficult. I think that if there was a stronger spring in the valve assembly it would allow the user more control and I am going to attempt to fix that with a more robust spring.

The trigger is good insofar that it moves well within the brush. I would have liked to see it a bit more polished to really be silky smooth, but I plan on doing that myself with some high grit sandpaper and polishing compounds. It does move easily within the airbrush and I was able to feather paint easily. I want to emphasize that I am not saying that the trigger on this airbrush is terrible – not at all. But it is far different from what I am accustomed to and I am sure that with practice I will be able to control it as well as my other airbrushes. On top of this, I prefer the lightest of trigger action, so I am not the typical user.

The Talon, and all Paasche airbrushes use a proprietary hose size. Luckily they shipped this airbrush with the correct sized hose, but I needed to buy an adaptor for my quick release. This is not a deal breaker at all. Badger also has a proprietary size, and reasonably priced quick release adapters are easy to find. Just make sure you order the part when you get the airbrush (you can get them from Paasche as well) and you will be ready to airbrush from the start.

One of the huge advantages of this brush is that the needle / nozzle sets are interchangeable across the Talon / Raptor and Vision line up. This means that you will not need to purchase multiple needles and nozzles if you want to employ different brushes. I love this feature and wish more airbrush companies would embrace this concept. Parts are also very reasonably priced. Of all the airbrushes I own, the Paasche Talon is by far the cheapest to buy extra needle sets for, with a full needle / nozzle combo under $35 Coupled with the fact that Paasche is one of the oldest airbrush companies in America, I have no fear that I will be able to find parts for years to come.

Cleaning is a snap. It comes apart quickly and it is simple to clean. The big colour cup makes it a bit harder to get into the nooks and crannies, but the inside is nicely polished so paint tends not to stick and I am a fan of using thinners on the brushes. Speaking of thinners, the brush is equipped with a PTFE seal, you can spray any type of paint through this brush and not worry about destroying seals. It is a very simple screw in the seal, meaning that cleaning and replacing it is easy. That being said, it is a substantial seal and I don’t expect to wear it out anytime soon.   As with my last review, I don’t want to comment much on spraying the brush as I don’t feel that I have enough trigger time to do it justice. Each airbrush has unique quirks that one has to learn, but my initial tests are favourable. As I said, the trigger is smooth and I can easily lay down a smooth layer of paint with ease.

By installing the 0.28mm needle and thinning the paint, dropping the PSI and getting in close I was able to get some very fine lines. The 0.66mm is far too large for my use and it would chew through paints far too quickly. But for someone who is spraying automotive paints or thicker acrylics, the 0.66 would be ideal. I think that this brush with the 0.28 and 0.33mm brushes are exactly what most model markers will need. It will allow you fine detail along with a large enough needle to spray primers and base coats without clogs.

Pricing for this brush is competitive. The 3 in 1 in the wooden box retails for $239 Canadian. This comes with the airbrush, 3 needle / nozzles , the fan cap, wrenches, and a hose. Compare that to the Harder and Steenbeck Infinity 2 in 1 at $367 Canadian or any Badger 2 in 1 around the $200 Canadian mark and I think that the Talon is reasonably priced, considering it comes with every accessory you will need. If you don’t want the wooden box or hose, you can get the 0.33mm for $108 Canadian – which is an amazing deal, and for an extra $40 you can get the larger needle and quick release.

So do I recommend this airbrush? Overall, yes I do. For $108 Canadian for the entry level, or $239 Canadian for the whole setup, this brush is a great value. It looks amazing, it feels great in the hand and it sprays well. I am still unwilling to give it a full “seal of approval” until after I use it for a while and really get a feel for it, but I am fairly certain that will enjoy using this airbrush and it may take a spot as my daily driver for a while, which is a huge deal seeing as I have been using my venerable Patriot 105 for many a year now and it has been my go since 2017.

For $108 I would urge anyone who is new to airbrushing, or looking for an upgrade, to give this a try. It won’t break the bank and it will be a definite upgrade over starter airbrushes.