Airbrush recommendations

As stated in my P-8 build thread, I’m in need of a new airbrush. Used a Paasche VL for the last 25 years (finally died on me), but I’m looking for a gravity feed for my next one. I’m looking at either the Iwata HP-CS or the Paasche Talon. Not sure which one. I do like that the Talon offers a wide (spray gun) tip. However I’m really interested in making the switch to Iwata. Any inputs would be appreciated.

 

I'll be following this! I'm interested in the HP-CS too, but I'm a complete newby.

Interesting fan-tip option for the Talon... I wonder if it needs more air than a regular tip does?

I've read that the HP-CS may need a little more air, or perhaps a bit more minimum pressure, than some other airbrushes, but the reviews seem to be very good.

 

What do you usually paint and what types of paint do you use (enamel/acrylic/lacquer)?

 

I use it mostly for modeling and I use all three types of paint. Prefer acrylics for railroading though just for availability and ease of use.

 

I got an Iwata NEO last year after tolerating a Badger 350 siphon feed since the '90s.

The Iwatas are great, just make sure to also buy the larger .5mm needle, nozzle and nozzle cap so acrylics can flow better.
This site has two of the three sold out, but these are the parts you need: https://merriartist.com/collections...clipse-cs-bs-or-sbs-to-a-larger-0-5-mm-nozzle

 

I plan to use acrylics, at least to start with.

 

I have a neo, I dislike it because the front cap is sealed with beeswax instead of an o-ring. Eventually sticky leaky mess. I use it for priming mostly. My other is a Harder and Steenbeck infinity cr plus. It came with both .2 and a .4 needles, can be switched. I went with this German brand because Iwata parts were super expensive and difficult to find in Canada. The H&S also has both crown and full cap, plus small and large cup. I really like it!

 

I also have an Iwata bottle feed... Eclipse I think. I barely ever use it because I rarely need that much paint, the gravity feed cup is best for me.

 

The Neo has a smaller internal pathway for the paint than the Eclipse, reducing their ability to handle thicker paint.

Neo's are made in China for Iwata (note "Neo for Iwata" on the box), and are a slightly different design than the Eclipse.

Eclipse is made in Japan by Iwata.

 

I was originally thinking I'd like a siphon-fed airbrush, but after reading and watching videos, I decided that for the size of things I'm likely to paint, the gravity-fed version would work better and be easier to clean. Thanks for the confirmation!.

 

The only time I need the volume of a siphon feed is painting the base coat/primer on a 1/24 car or equivalent area.

I use the badger sotor for my smaller paint jobs. I originally got it for doing camo on planes but use it a lot for just about everything else but the big projects where I need a lot of paint.

My buddy who airbrushed for a living really loves the Iwata brand. The HP-CS seems like a good general purpose modeling brush. I don't think you can go wrong with it unless you are wanting to do very fine detail too but then you'd likely want an airbrush specifically for that purpose. My only knock would be having to unscrew the handle to remove the needle. If you are doing a session with a lot of different colors that can be an issue or just shot without the handle.

 

Okay, probably a silly question, but can't you just dump out any paint still in the cup, put fresh thinner in the cup, swish/brush it around and spray that out? Then put more thinner in the cup and spray that until it is colorless on white paper?

I'm not talking about when your done for a while, but just when changing colors.

Or does that go through a lot more thinner, thus costing significantly more?

I'm here for an education, so don't hesitate to correct me if I'm all out to lunch...

 

Sure, you don't need to tear it down for a colour change. I paint in the garage work desk, and I've got a laundry sink nearby, I just run it under the tap and spray into the sink to change colours and do all the airbrush cleaning, don't even use those special airbrush pots

 

Definitely conservation where enamels are concerned but I do like to stay as clean as possible.

What I do when changing colors or paint type is run a cup of thinner/cleaner, extract the needle, wipe it down then replace and run another cup then repeat the entire thing till clear and the needle comes out clean too. I've learned through experience when I start running into flow problems it's because I skipped some of those cleaning steps. This becomes even more of an issue when I am switching the type of paint. If you are only doing a couple of colors per session then I wouldn't worry about it as long as you make sure everything is nice and clean when you put the brush away. It's not unusual for me to shoot four or five different colors or type of paints in a single session and if I don't clean like that between each I inevitably run into problems despite shooting clear on the cleanings.

 

As far as thinners, I use isopropyl alcohol to thin acrylic and it seems to do well for that. For cleaning acrylics, windex works great and is relatively cheap.

 

I started airbrushing with a Paache VL, and I liked it. When I was an auto body painter my guns were all Iwata, and I loved how they laid down the paint. They were well constructed and simply a fine piece of art. When I was stationed in Norfolk I needed a new airbrush as my VL was packed away were my mom couldn't find it to send to me, so I needed something new. My search found an Iwata Siphon feed (my preferred style). It did cost more than the VL at he same store but it was worth every penny. It has much easier control, a finer pattern and the adjustments actually make a big difference. The version of the Iwata I have is the same basic brush you are looking at only mine is a bottom feeder and yours has a little bowl on the top. Everything else is the same.

 

I too, have an ancient Paasche that is still running. I also a couple of years ago bought a Badger Sotar on their annual sale and love it. The Paasche does my larger areas and the Sotar gets the call for detail work and striping. Clean up with the Windex method of first running that through the brush [or changing color], then water & alcohol when torn down and finished.

 

I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with the Iwata HP-CS. 90% of what I paint with my VL, I use the siphon cup, so paint volume isn’t an issue.

 

I love the sotor except for two primary issues: The exposed needle is prone to damage since there is no guard on the regulator to protect it from accidental drops etc. I've had to straighten the tip of the needle a couple of times already but with no discernable reduction in performance... I thought for sure the tip was damaged as a result but so far it's operating flawlessly. They do sell a regulator with a guard so I have one of those on order. The other gripe is the tip is easy to lose during disassembly. I've yet to actually write mine off but I've had several close calls. The good eyes of my son came to the rescue on one of those occasions.

Not sure why the sotor is significant improvement over the badger 150 and 200 (both of which I have and started out with). Maybe it's a combination of both being gravity fed as opposed to siphon feed and/or that there is no fan built into the regulator/tip of the sotor but the smooth and consistent spray is a considerable improvement IMO. I do notice on the regulator fan of the 150 and 200 that over a session they tend to collect a lot of paint which requires constant cleaning.

All this talk though got me thinking and one last minor gripe of the sotor is the miniscule 2ml paint cup. Badger makes a V version of the sotor with a much larger 4.25 ml cup although still not on par with the Iwata HP-CS so I've ordered one of those and hope to have that in hand in a short bit. Also picked up some regulators with guards.

I'd still like to try an Iwata gravity feed brush to replace my 150 but not sure how much if any improvement I'd see.