Comparison · Airbrushes
Gravity-Feed vs Siphon-Feed Airbrush
Cup on top or bottle underneath — which architecture for miniatures?
Option B
Siphon feed
Bottle below
| Spec | Gravity feed | Siphon feed |
|---|---|---|
| Working pressure | Lower — paint falls into the nozzle; fine work at 12–20 PSI | Higher — needs ~5+ extra PSI to lift paint up the tube |
| Detail ceiling | Higher; the miniature/kit standard | Lower; pattern coarsens at detail pressures |
| Capacity | 2–9 ml cup — refill on big jobs | 20–60 ml bottles — sprays a whole model without stopping |
| Color changes | Rinse the cup, keep going | Swap bottles instantly mid-job |
| Cleaning | Fast — cup is part of the body | More parts: bottle, lid, pickup tube |
| Typical use | Miniatures, kits, fine illustration | T-shirts, large models, base-coating fleets |
The verdict
For miniatures and model kits the consensus is one-sided: gravity feed. Lower working pressure means finer atomization with the thin paints this hobby runs, and the small cup is a feature — you mix two milliliters, not twenty.
Siphon feed earns its keep on volume: automotive-scale coverage, terrain boards, or swapping pre-mixed bottles across a batch job. If that is not your bench, buy gravity and never look back.
A quick, honest note: some links on this page are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we may earn a commission when you buy through them — at no extra cost to you. It never changes the price you pay.
Sheet 09 · Bench Goods
