Disclosure: This product was sent to us free of charge for the purpose of this review. However, as per my PR Info page, this review represents our honest opinion of the product. This post may contain affiliate links.
Product: Airbrush Art Activity Case
Price: £17.99
Age Range: 6+
Manufacturer’s Description: Create amazing designs with the Airbrush Art Activity Set! It contains everything you need to create unique airbrush designs: a battery- operated airbrush gun, 8 paint markers, 10 stencils, 10 drawing sheets and an instruction manual with helpful tips. The practical case serves as a base for storing and transporting your works of art!
Rating: (5/5 stars) Review: Lydia enjoys art almost as much as her big sister, so she was delighted to have the chance to review the Airbrush Art Activity Set from Canal Toys. The kit comes with everything you need to make your own airbrushed ink artworks, all in a storage case complete with a handle. We’ve tried a few blow pen type airbrush kits in the past but they always have downsides – they involve way too much spit, the spray of the ink is inconsistent, and generally they are fairly frustrating to use and somehow leave you with the aftertaste of ink in your mouth. A battery powered airbrush seemed like a great idea in comparison! The airbrush kit includes the airbrush gun, 8 markers, 10 stencil sheets and 10 sheets of paper, along with a decent set of instructions and the case itself with serves both as a storage box and an easel. For some reason you get two pinks amongst the markers but as it is Lydia’s favourite colour she wasn’t too put out by that, just a little confused. The case has a shaped lid that doubles as an easel, with eight pen holders so you can quickly swap out which pen you are using in the airbrush gun. The slanted section of the lid is shaped so that you can fit the included paper & stencil sheets in either landscape or portrait orientation. Once we had fitted a battery into the airbrush gun it was very easy to use; you simply insert one of the pens as far as it will go into the slot, and then turn it on and press the trigger. The gun is like an electric screwdriver with a on/off switch on the handle that you push with your thumb. This gives it an easy to use ‘safety’ so that when you are handling the gun to change the pen you can’t accidentally squeeze the trigger before you are ready. Once you have the pen loaded and the gun switched on, you simply hold it a short distance from your paper and squeeze the trigger. It sprays a steady amount of ink onto the paper, and this allows you to fairly easily spray pretty much where you want exactly, and you can build up the amount of ink to intensify the coverage – or overlay several colours to create gradients and so on. The stencils included have a nice mix of backgrounds, animals, and symbols or patterns that can be layered or used together to make your final picture. You do have to spend a little time popping out some of the cardboard of them – this is mentioned in the instructions before you start. We used a bit of washi tape to hold down the paper and stencils while using them, as recommended – you could also use masking tape for this. You can wipe the stencils clean with a bit of damp paper towel and use them again & again, too. Lydia really enjoyed using the Airbush Art Activity Case and was excited to hear that they also do an Airbrush Plush range where you can decorate a variety of soft toys. She had a great time layering different colours & stencils on top of one another to create her final artwork. This set was easy to use and the selection of colours and stencils lets you create all sorts of pieces of art, especially as layering the colours and stencils both work so well. It would be good if there was a way to buy a refill set with more pens and stencils in case your ink began to run out – they sell one of these for the Plush range so hopefully they will also release one for this kit too. We give this set 5 stars, and it would make an ideal gift for any primary school age artist. The age range suggests 6 plus but I think it could be used – albeit with help & supervision – from reception age upwards. Although Georgie enjoyed giving it a go too, at 13 years old, with her beginning GCSE Art in September she has started to use more ‘adult’ art supplies. Lydia says: It is very fun to play with and you can be very creative with the selection of colours and stencils, which have very cute designs. I was quite upset when I had to put it away after making multiple pieces of artwork. You can buy the Airbrush Art Activity case on Amazon or Smyths Toys.
