Hi all,

I've decided I quite fancy a Devilbiss as my first paint gun. I'll be painting small items mainly such as wheels, motorcycle tanks and possibly some small panels.
From the information I've found online I'm still unsure which one will suit me best. My compressor is capable of running enough Cfm for both, can someone advise me which one will suit me best as I'm new to spray painting also bare in mind I'll be painting small items mostly.

Thanks

Sri. Up to 9" fan is plenty for those smaller jobs and you'll save a fortune in paint as well. More than capable of doing a single panel, especially things like bars where there aren't wide areas.

I have a very similar gun which I love for smaller jobs. Go for the 1.2mm HE version which will probably handle thicker clears a little better and is more efficient than the HVLP, using less CFM as well.

Leave the GTi, with its 12" fan, 1 litre pot and high air consumption to big jobs.

I did read that the Gti has high waste due to the high fan and the Sri was better for smaller jobs, but also read that it's easier to paint with a Gti which threw my decision a little.

With regards to the tips and air caps etc, am I able to use the 1.2mm HE for primer, base and lacquer? I'm hoping to get another gun or 2 in the future if I enjoy painting and pick it up well etc

You could ...........but it's doing it the hard way, given that primers would need to be over-thinned and therefore require extra coats to get the necessary thickness. HS clears would also be a bit difficult.

I'm also not a big fan of using the one gun for primer as well as base and clear - the potential for contamination increases substantially. There are smaller guns which come with bigger tips as options and aren't at the same price point as the SRi. For example, I have a Star S1000 with 1.8mm tip that is perfect for primer on small jobs with a 150mm fan. Current price around $180AUD / $140USD which is not bad for serious quality (mine's around 15 years old and never given a moments' trouble). Their Pro series are seriously good guns for topcoats on smaller jobs.