Iwata TR-1

[Mike]

Iwata TR-1 Airbrush

Long Term Test

I’ve had this brush since before Christmas, and on the basis that you can't review a product of this type without using it in anger, I've been using it as my primary airbrush since then. My normal brush, a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity 2-in-1 has been languishing on its stand a lot as a result, and I've had to learn a new paradigm of finger movements.

The TR-1 is one of Iwata's new trigger operated airbrushes, which makes some traditionalists cringe a little at the thought of pulling a trigger like a gun, rather than the usual over-the-top press and pull backwards of most airbrushes until now. Interestingly, it didn’t take me long to make the transition, but occasionally I'd still get my grip wrong on whichever brush I was using. Fortunately, no-one saw, so I think I got away with it.

The feel of the airbrush is akin to a small scale spray gun, but without the weight of course. The brush sits nicely in your palm, although the additional grip that you can purchase separately improves the stability and ease of holding immensely, and is well worth the extra expense, as for someone like myself with largish hands, the built in moisture trap and hose doesn't make for the best grip, and the brush can feel unstable in your hand if you don't get set up right initially.

The color cup is 7ml, and can be attached to the brush on either side, the change accomplished simply by removing the plug on the opposite side and swapping the two parts over. This makes the brush ideal for left or right handed modellers, and assists with cleaning, although the plug does seem to get a good grip at times, resisting my feeble attempts to remove it with my weakened fingers. The surface of the plug is knurled though, and shouldn't present much of a problem to anyone with standard strength muscles!

Initially I thought the color cup looked a little large, but I soon changed my mind when I was spraying large areas, or using my favourite Alclad primer, as it allowed me to stop far fewer times during the process. The provided lid is also a bonus, and a must for anyone that is prone to jiggling and other flamboyant gestures with their airbrushes. I seldom spray without one these days, for fear of drowning my latest creation in paint.

I won't bore you with squiggly patterns and examples of the fine lines that the brush is capable, as this is an Iwata brush, and we've all seen them before. Suffice to say that the brush is excellent, and performs well once you get used to the new trigger movement. The initial pull on the trigger starts the air supply, and thereafter the needle is drawn further back, increasing the paint flow through the nozzle. It's an excellent system, and works well in practice. I also felt that I had more control over the brush with the more stable grip on it, which was borne out by the results I achieved. Don't get me wrong - I still love my Infinity, but this brush is a little cracker.

The spray pattern is predictable, and control of the paint flow is easy, with your trigger finger adapting well to alter or maintain the flow at the same point. Paint throughput is also quite high at the wider settings, allowing you to cover areas quite quickly. During the time I've had the brush, I've used Lifecolor acrylics (watch out for a review of these later), Tamiya acrylics, Xtracrylix, Vallejo Model acrylics and Alclad2 lacquers. Every one of them fed flawlessly, with hardly a single stoppage due to a dry tip or paint debris.

Coverage is good when you pull back the trigger, so be careful to keep your hand moving with the nozzle wide open, but at finer setting, it is more than capable of producing fine mottle patterns like I achieved with the 1:32 Komet (pictured) - my first attempt at mottled camouflage.

An important part of the airbrush experience is the strip down process to clean all the paint out of the brush once you've finished spraying. Removing the air cap with the needle protector is simply a case of unscrewing the 2-part assembly and putting it to one side. Inside you'll see a small paint nozzle, which unscrews with the provided spanner. This is my only qualm with this brush, and it's because the nozzle is so small! I'm a fairly clumsy modeller, with large fingers and a busy (messy) workbench. I think I would eventually lose it, so a safe place to put it while you clean the rest of the brush is essential.

The rear of the brush removes to expose the blunt end of the needle, which is simple to remove in the "ordinary" way. I prefer to pull it out via the front, to avoid drawing paint into the back of the brush, but it's your choice.

You are then left with approximately 1" of brush to clean, and it's a simple job with a thin brush, or one of those inter-dental probes glued to some metal tubing. Removing the plug opposite the paint cup allows you to flush that area through, and the same sized cleaner can be used to ream out the color cup tube. The tiny nozzle is tricky to clean, and my metal H&S reamer didn't fit, so I had to blow thinner through it to ensure it didn't stay clogged.

Reassembly is as easy, and under normal circumstances you won't have to disassemble the rear of the brush. If you decide to for whatever reason, make sure you remove the little grub screw under the back of the barrel near the air input. That holds the rear parts in place, and you'll have no chance of getting them out without first removing the screw. The innards of mine were very well lubed, but I removed a little of the excess in case it got into the airflow at some point. There is a small hole in the top of the airbrush body to facilitate adding more lube, and a drop every now and then should suffice.

Removing the trigger requires the use of a small watch-maker's flat-bladed screwdriver, and the interior spring-stop barrel can be removed by using the head of the supplied spanner as a screwdriver, or a suitably broad bladed screwdriver - again taking care to remove the grub-screw before attempting disassembly, which you can do with the same watch-maker's screwdriver mentioned above.

It is possible to get paint through into the trigger area of the brush while cleaning it, and a thorough clean of this area requires removal of the trigger and ideally the rear of the brush as detailed above. Whilst not tricky once you've done it a few times, it requires removal of several small parts, and exposes you to the likelihood of losing something to the carpet monster of modelling lore. Replacement parts won't break the bank, but losing anything is annoying and should be avoided where possible.

Conclusion

It's a great airbrush, as you'd expect from Iwata. The inclusion of a reasonably large color cup is good news, although I'd like to see the accessory pistol grip become a standard component of the kit, as it transforms the ease of handling for people like myself with larger hands.

I wish the paint nozzle was a bit larger to stop me losing it, and I wish that the color cup had a less severe angle to the paint path, as it sometimes gets a little blocked up if you've been doing a lot of painting or forget to clean it out overnight (as I have done on a number of occasions).

Those minor quibbles aside, it will serve you well if you look after it, and the quality of the brush will flatter your airbrushing skills at every opportunity. Give one a try at a show or at a helpful dealer if you can, as I can imagine a few people might not like the trigger, but I love it, and found it an easy transition from traditional top-mounted triggers to this more natural pistol trigger method. I can see it becoming a de facto standard before too long, as the benefits are clear, although that does also bring a little complexity to the trigger assembly.

Review sample courtesy of:

[denstore]

Nice review!

[Dads203]

Good summary Mike, I have one of these brushes

and it's the dog's, Fantastic bit of kit indeed.

[John Laidlaw]

Very nice and helpful review, Mike. Thank you!

[richellis]

Very nice review there Mike!

[Mike]

Thanks guys - nice of you to say so

[Guest snipersmudge]

nice review Mike, I have a TR-2 which I have had for 3 years now and it is a superb airbrush

Pete

[Skii]

Ah so thats what it looks like

Nice review mate, having the pleasure of a H&S brush I don't miss the tiny screw-on paint tips on the Iwata design, but it looks like a quality piece of kit, and the results obviously speak for themselves - plus the pistol grip is ace, after holding a spray pattern for too long with a conventional double action brush I had very painful finger joints for a while, big points for that

[Mike]

after holding a spray pattern for too long with a conventional double action brush I had very painful finger joints for a while, big points for that

Old age matey

[gcn]

I think an interesting comparison to have would have been how you feel it compares to your H&S

[Barry Murray]

Nice review.

And the mottled pattern on the plane is very good.

How much is the airbrush?

[Mike]

Nice review.

And the mottled pattern on the plane is very good.

How much is the airbrush?

Thanks Barry - nice of you to say so. The airbrush is £186 here at Airbrushes.com, the nice people that sent us the review item

[Barry Murray]

Thanks Barry - nice of you to say so. The airbrush is £186 here at Airbrushes.com, the nice people that sent us the review item

Thanks.

I have had an Aztek A470 for years, but it's a strange one to get cleaned...(They CLAIM all you need to clean are the nozzles, but that's simply not the case).

I have been on the lookout for a better one for a while.

And the SSM guys always rave about Iwata.

I'll have to think about this one!

[Bennet]

Thanks for the review Mike.

It made me go out and by this airbrush, which has quickly become my main airbrush.

My only problem is that I cannot find a good airbrush holder for the TR-1 (fitted with the pistol grip)... any suggestions?

regards

Bennet