Best Airbrush Extractor / Spray Booth for Miniature Painters

Last Updated on December 2, 2021 by FauxHammer

I never really considered doing this article until Mark (one of our Facebook page admins) asked me, what Extractor booth should I get. It made me consider my own choice of extractor booth as I’m sure I have not chosen the best option. So after a looooot of Research, here I present you with the Best Airbrush Spray Booths for Miniature Painters

Please Note: This site uses affiliate links. Our Affiliate Partners are shown below
(Affiliate links will result in compensation to the site on qualifying purchases)

Click this link & buy your hobby stuff from Element Games for the UK & Europe to support FauxHammer.com – Use Code “FAUX2768” at the checkout for double reward points.

Artus-Opus-FauxHammer-Starter-Set-Banner-3
TAG TTC Kickstarter Advert 1

Our Affiliates / Hobby Stores

FauxHammer – Latest Video on YouTube

Do you need an airbrush Spray Booth?

Need? No. Not unless your health is something that matters to you.

When you are airbrushing. Your paint, pigment, medium and other additives are atomised. And so any of this stuff that misses the model ends up floating around in your local atmosphere, so you are gonna be breathing all that crap in!

Whilst most paints you put through these units are non-toxic, you can still end up using many substances which are harmful. Unless you want to live with the inherent risks associated with breathing in such fumes. You need to take safety into account when airbrushing.

At the very least, wear a ventilated mask. Ideally (as I do now) an extractor and a mask)

Initially, I had neither. I would sit in my conservatory with little more than one of the boxes my models came in. Used to prevent overspray onto my dining table.

I suggest this because it’s how I started airbrushing

And after a large batch of priming, I would be endlessly picking black snot out of my nostrils during my evening shower.

Moving up from this I bought a basic mask which at least prevented spray particles entering, but not fumes. So then I upgraded to a higher quality mask (above).

When I finally bought my Extractor (I’ll detail below which one I got) I still found that the filter on this mask would grow steadily darker over multiple uses.

Since 2020, I think a lot of us have learned just how important our lungs are.

So, I’d strongly recommend an extractor and working in a well-ventilated area. But most importantly, get a respirator.

Best Airbrush Extractor / Spray Booth for Miniature Painters

When you look online for these types of units you will be presented with numerous options, all of which are pretty much identical to the last. there are so many similar kits knocking around out there. All mass-produced in eastern continents and then someone comes along and sticks a badge on the side with their own logo on it.

So essentially below we are mostly looking at considerable options between numerous “models” of Airbrush Booth

So with that said, you mainly keep an eye on the visual difference between these units (which I’ll describe clearly) so you can get the right one for you. Chances are, the name on the side of it, or on the box, will be one of many various. These brand names are arguably irrelevant.

Best Airbrush Extractor / Spray Booth for Miniature Painters – Summary

don’t want to read why and just look at a quick list. here we have summarised the article below. But it is worth you considering some specifics, especially with the range of different e420 models/configurations available

Model
1Bench Vent – BV300S-D – A3 Ducted Extraction Unit
2Aircom 17watt Extraction Unit
3Sparmax SB-88
4Dual Fan – Airbrush Spray Booth
5e420 Basic Spray Booth wit
6e420 Basic Spray Booth with Extraction Tube
7e420 Basic Spray Booth
8BD-510 Airbrush Spray Booth
9Arttystation Spray Booth OPERA-06
10Hobbyzone HZ-AS1

Know of any others we should consider? let me know in the comments.

Best Airbrush Extractor / Spray Booth for Miniature Painters

10. Hobbyzone HZ-AS1

Dimensions: 40.3cm x 28cm x 29cm (15.9″x 11″x 11.4″)

Whilst this item may look little more than the cardboard box most beginners start with, it does have some benefits which could easily be overlooked.

If you are new to airbrushing, maybe you haven’t even picked up an airbrush yet and are just doing research into various bits of kit. you may not realise how important an airbrush stand is. You’ll soon learn in your first airbrushing session. You need somewhere to hold the brush as you change paint, prepare models and generally just need to use your hands for other activities. you cant just lay it down as the paint will pour out of the hopper.

Well, this ticks the box for that little necessity. and you can assemble the unit so this clip does on either side.

It also comes with a handy drawer (the only unit on this list that has such a feature) which is large enough to store an airbrush in its case and several other airbrushing sundries and consumables.

It’s hard to see in the image above, but towards the rear corners, behind the turntable, are have 16 pre-drilled 3mm holes ready to hold cocktail skewers, dowels or clips for holding your parts.

The turntable however is a rather useless feature for miniature hobbyists. They are more applicable to people painting scale-model vehicles.

Style-wise, this is rather nice looking and goes well with anyone who already has some of the other HobbyZone Modular Workstation kit. Though after a short time it will just look covered in paint.

9. Arttystation Spray Booth OPERA-06

Dimensions: H394mm x W412mm x D269mm

This model is actually one of the strongest airbrush particle and fume extractors on this list. However, it’s the setup and configuration which marks it down considerably.

This unit can be bought on its own, but the preferred (possibly only) reason to get this is as part of the Arttystation Opera Modular Workstation. (which by the way is my preferred workstation over the Hobbyzone version of the same thing. Check our review).

The arrives flat packed and is built by you. in the most part this just involves slotting the wood together and a bit of gentle hammering with a rubber mallet.

Product

As standard, this unit comes without the Acrylic Covers or Toggle Switches shown above. The former of which can also be used as a front cover attached by magnets. It’s a really clever design and goes incredibly well with the Opera Workstation. units.

However, in addition to the parts shown above that aren’t included, there are some parts not shown which are also not included, but very important.

One is the filter that covers the grill. But, the rather incredibly important thing is the fan.

I have this unit and in order to get it usable, I also needed to obtain a 150mm blower fan and flexible ducting. You then need to wire up the blower to the switches if you want them to work too.

Why there are 3 switches? I have no idea. I never wired it up.

Great unit, but only considerable If you are buying a full Arttystation Workstation setup – and you are happy with paying for and connecting the extras.

8. BD-510 Airbrush Spray Booth

Dimensions: 35x30x48 cm

Here’s the first of our generic choices, You’ll see this listed as Fengda, ScaleModelShop and others. those are basically just the names of the online stores that sell them.

It is however one of the more powerful of the cheap extractors thanks to the larger drum fan powering airflow.

BD-510 Portable Airbrush Extractor

This unit comes in just one basic model which includes the ducting vent which is intended to vent fumes and such outside. Whilst it has a more powerful blower, it’s the flimsy casing that lets this down. it just comes across as a bit cheap.

7. e420 Basic Spray Booth

This item, through the next few models, not only share the various brand names, from “HaoSheng” & “Floureon” to “Display4Top”. Mine’s by “Bartsharp”. But they are also just slight variations on the same product.

Search “Airbrush Booth” online anywhere, from Google to eBay & Amazon, the page will be littered with these things.

So my focus over the next few entries will be explaining the major differences. There may be some minor differences such as the location of the power button – but these things are essentially just revisions of the unit. and due to the spread of brands, there’s no way to specifically track the revisions of the original unit type they are all based on and compare.

The good thing about the popularity of these units is that the filters are easy to come by.

Basic Portable Airbrush Spray Booth

This first unit is the basic model which is essentially a box with a fold-out semi-opaque shroud

The basic unit is one to watch out for as it comes without an extraction hose and just vents the air out the back.

As for air extraction in general, these things are powered by little more than a basic PC fan.

As I said there are a few variants of this unit, so I’ll cover these units now. You need to carefully look at both the image

2 x e420 Basic Spray Booth (sort of)

Here’s a variant you may see up for sale. Two of these units side-by-side. Or in some cases, you’ll see a listing for a single booth, but the images will show it paired up with a twin. On that same page, you’ll be advised that you can connect two of these to make a unit twice the size.

Well, the truth is you can. Kind of.

2 x Portable Airbrush Extractor - Brushstroke

The image above shows what this looks like in reality. This is the setup Brushstroke uses and as you can see, there’s a huge gap running between them.

On the listings, you’ll see the photo of the pairing is normally taken at an angle from the side to disguise this gap. In some cases, they’ve put a cheap turntable over the top to hide more of this gap.

What this image doesn’t show is that the upper shroud also sags unless you connect the two with some tight cable ties.

I highly doubt these were designed to be paired, but instead someone figured out you can kinda do it and just started marketing them this way to sell more.

So it can be done, just be aware of this issue, you can easily cover it with something like a cutting matt.

6. e420 Basic Spray Booth with Extraction Tube

The next variant of this is quite common and that is any of the versions that come with an extractor tube.

In fact, these are so common that what you need to watch out for are equally priced products without the extractor, when looking for a unit to buy, you’ll probably (like me) sift through so many of them that you’ll become blind to the finer details.

When I ended up buying the unit without the hose for £2 more than it would have cost me for the same unit but with a hose.

get the one with the hose so that you can actually express the nasty stuff away from you further than straight out of the back of this unit.

5. e420 Basic Spray Booth with Extraction Tube and LED Light

The final version of these is once again identical to the units above. and yet again you can get it with our without a hose, you can also attach 2 of them together – albeit with the noted caveats above.

It never occurred to me how important it would be for me to have a light inside one of these units. This is an issue personal to me, but my booth is at the side of the room, and there’s me between the main light source and the booth.

So I’m constantly casting a shadow right in the area I want to light up the most.

The model itself.

Portable Airbrush Spray Booth with LED Light

If you do find yourself needing light in any of these booths. you could always just mount a lamp to your desk from the side. ideally both sides. or you can get a cheap LED light strip.

4. Dual Fan – Airbrush Spray Booth

Dimensions: 61 x 37 x 32 cm

You’ll be forgiven for thinking these are just another variation of the models above. They are eerily similar.

Due to the similarities, this type of unit will be hidden amongst all of the others, so you need to pay close attention when trying to find it.

The first (least noticeable due to the camera angle) difference is that the rear box is different from the cuboid shape of the models above. With a wider front that tapers down to the narrower rear casing.

Dual-Fan Portable Airbrush Spray Booth

The other difference, which is a huge benefit is that the exit port for the vent is on the top. this means you can get the unit closer to a wall than the previous models.

Powering the extraction of air, we now have a dual fan configuration. to suck more nasties away. You can also control the speed of each fan using the dials on the top. Why are these useful? no idea.

It’s also bigger than the above units and looking at it you can probably pair it up with another should you wish to make a larger area.

3. Sparmax SB-88

Dimensions: L52.3 x W40.3 x H31.6 cm
Airflow: 62-68 cfm / 105-116 m3/hr
Noise Level: 62 dB

Now we have the chaff out of the way, it’s time to look at some proper extractors.

The first one up is by Sparmax. a popular Airbrusht company who make some of the best Equipment out there. Their TC-620 Airbrush Compressor is number 2 (and number 1 for realistically affordable) on our list of the best Airbrush Compressors.

Whilst it may not look like much from the image below, this is the first proper unit on our list, as it actually provides specs on Airflow, rather than just be a big fan in a box.

Whilst it’s not the largest unit on the list, what this houses in the back is a proper drum fan. This will pull a lot more air than a cheap PC fan. And isn’t that the main point of these booths?

Sparmax is a leading brand and for a proper small extractor unit, this is the first real choice.

2. Aircom 17watt Extraction Unit

Dimensions: (Open):- 403 x 250 x 345mm (WxDxH)
Airflow: 91.8 CFM (156 m3/hr)
Noise Level: 45db

Calm down, the unit shown below is both the Extraction Unit and the add-on the expansion module. so it’s only half this size in reality. I just wanted to show in comparison to the portable options above what a model which is intended to be paired up looks like. Though there is no base, you can easily use a matt.

Not having a base for the extractors is fairly common on the higher-end models – which mage the point about the gap on the cheap portable models rather moot.

Aircom Basic Unit fitted to Add On Expansion Module (17W)

This is the smaller of the 2 options from Aircomm, they also offer a stronger 38-watt unit, which to be fair, when you are spending this much money is worth getting over the cheaper 17-watt since it pulls more than double the air.

38 Watt unit spec below

Dimension: (Open):- 403 x 250 x 345mm (WxDxH)
Airflow: 190.7 CFM (324 m3/hr)
Noise Level: 50db

A fantastic unit and highly recommended by the likes of Harder and Steenbeck. (the people who make the best airbrushes for miniature painters). I’m not sure what the relationship between Harder and Aircom is, but these devices (like Sparmax)) are listed on harder’s own website. Could be a partnership or ownership thing going off.

Either way, if Harder & Steenbeck are recommending these. I’m listening.

Personally, of all the options on this list. it’s the one I’d most strongly recommend as it hits the balance between being affordable, but also being an actual extractor, rather than a box with a fan in it.

1. Bench Vent – BV300S-D – A3 Ducted Extraction Unit

Dimensions: W505 x H390 x D430
Airflow: 355 m3/hr
Noise Level: 58dB

This is just one of the myriad of extraction options by specialist UK company BenchVent.

Benchvent provides solutions for everything from Laboratories and Electronics Workshops to Industrial solutions. If you need to move air, these guys are certainly worth your consideration.

Within their Hobby Category alone, they have myriad options denoted by standard paper sizes from A3 (here) all the way to a dual vented A1. They also offer variants of each, offering either a ducted vent or an active carbon filtered recirculatory unit. Though the filters are quite expensive.

This selection allows for those of us working in a room without a nearby window to spray until our heart’s content.

Oh, and these units also work with solvents too, so you can even prime with rattle cans indoors.

Bench Vent - BV300S-D – A3 Ducted Extraction Unit

The BV300S-D A3 Ducted Extraction Unit we’ve showcased here is their most popular option as it fits within the realms of affordability. Though this is easily 3 times the cost of the common portable units above. there are larger units in this category, like the A1 size unit, which costs thrice what this costs.

Whilst there is no base, you can easily stick a mat beneath it, and considering how covered in paint these things become, it’s probably better doing it that way anyway.

Best Airbrush Extractor / Spray Booth for Miniature Painters – Final Thoughts

An airbrush extractor is one of the least considered items amongst hobbyists. It comes at the bottom after Airbrush, Compressor. thinning agents, airbrush stands, in-line moisture traps, masks, needle lubricant, a reamer, gloves and all the other rubbish I’ve collected over the last 4 years before I actually sat down and thought hmmm, maybe not breathing this in crud.

Let, for my own health it probably should have been top of the list. ooops!

Like I said at the top of an article, definitely use a mask whilst airbrushing. just to keep yourself in the clear, and be sure to swap out the filters regularly.

When it comes to getting a booth, there’s really nothing wrong with the many portable options out there, just consider the various configurations to choose what is right for you. But if you are a regular airbrusher, yeah, you’ll be paying twice as much. but your health will thank you in the long run by stepping up to a more professional extractor.

Please Note: This site uses affiliate links. Our Affiliate Partners are shown below
(Affiliate links will result in compensation to the site on qualifying purchases)

Click this link & buy your hobby stuff from Element Games for the UK & Europe to support FauxHammer.com – Use Code “FAUX2768” at the checkout for double reward points.

Artus-Opus-FauxHammer-Starter-Set-Banner-3
TAG TTC Kickstarter Advert 1

Our Affiliates / Hobby Stores

FauxHammer – Latest Video on YouTube

What did you think of this article? Please let us know in the comments.

If you like what we’re doing here you could really help encourage more content with a share on any social media platform.

Click the share links at the bottom of this screen (or on the left for computers and tablets).

Want to keep updated with the blog? You can subscribe in the sidebar for RSS or by email below

(Sidebar is below the article on Mobile Devices)

FauxHammer

Self-appointed Editor in chief of FauxHammer.com - But I need to thank the team for existing and therefore enabling me to give myself role - without them, I'm just a nerd with a computer and a plastic addiction.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

en_GBEnglish (UK)