Floating nozzle airbrushes

[sardaukar]

Does anyone know what airbrush brands come with floating nozzles? I already have experience of ripping off a screw in nozzle on thankfully a cheapie fengda that I got as part of a set.

 

I want to upgrade my H&S Ultra for a higher end brush however I want to go with a different brand than H&S and would like to stick with something that has a floating nozzle. I don't want to be ripping a threaded nozzle off an expensive brush.

 

Cheers

[colin]

Iwata Eclipse HP-CS Gravity Feed Dual Action Airbrush

[little-cars]

Personaly I would stick with H&S.  0.15, 0.2, 0.4 & 0.6mm nozzles covers a wide range.   But I would go to the Evolution Silverline 2in1  or the Infinity cr+ 2in1 . 

 

 

[sardaukar]

2 hours ago, little-cars said:

Personaly I would stick with H&S.  0.15, 0.2, 0.4 & 0.6mm nozzles covers a wide range.   But I would go to the Evolution Silverline 2in1  or the Infinity cr+ 2in1 . 

 

 

 I had thought about getting an infinity cr+, however I mainly use Vallejo model air paints and the ultra really doesn't seem to like them. I actually prefer using my fengda FE-183k as it is less fussy and it is a 25quid airbrush. so I thought I'd try something else for comparison.

[sardaukar]

17 hours ago, colin said:

Iwata Eclipse HP-CS Gravity Feed Dual Action Airbrush

this gets good feedback although not the range of needle sizes etc.

[colin]

On 9/8/2022 at 2:29 PM, sardaukar said:

this gets good feedback although not the range of needle sizes etc.

You will be surprised on how fine these airbrushed can spray even with a .35 needle, for our needs I personally don't think you will ever need to go below a .2 needle.

[sardaukar]

I bit the bullet and went for an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS, I've seen so many YouTube comparisons where they come out on top. let's see how it goes once it arrives.

[Ray_W]

On 9/11/2022 at 12:45 AM, sardaukar said:

let's see how it goes once it arrives.

 

Please let us know how it performs. I have had my HP-CS (standard 0.35 mm nozzle) for many years and still love it. I have not sprayed Vallejo Model Air but have sprayed Lifecolor regularly and found it suited it very well. I also found it performs for Luftwaffe mottle (1/48) with correct thinning and practiced trigger control (true of any quality airbrush). It does have the self-centring nozzle although I have to admit I have probably only removed the nozzle a couple of times in 10 years of use and never actually had to screw the nozzle out of its holder. Maybe I have been lucky.

 

I later bought the HP-B Plus for the small cup (less paint and good to get into tight spaces) and with the smaller 0.2 mm nozzle (correct thinning ratio is more critical, provides a finer line). The 0.35 HP-CS is not obsolete. It still gets the lion's share of the work. Very adaptable. Good choice.

 

I grabbed a new H&S Infinity CR plus Two in One that was offered to me at a very good price. Another exceptional and might I say beautiful looking airbrush. I keep it set-up with its 0.15 nozzle for use when I am after super fine lines. As an aside, I find the nozzle seal in the 2 in 1 a pain and now recommend always buy a single size airbrush for greater happiness. 

 

I do prefer the Iwatas for their robust simplicity. 

 

[sardaukar]

I got my HP-CS about a week ago and have been learning to love it so far. To be fair I am comparing it to a H&S ultra and a couple of fengda airbrushes and not an Infinity.

 

The ultra came with a .2mm needle which is a bit challenging to work with Model Air paints in their unthinned form. I found this a bit weird as I actually got the Ultra as part of a starter set with a load of Model Air paints, model air are supposedly formulated to work straight out of the bottle. In the end I got a .4mm needle and nozzle for the Ultra but still found myself preferring to work with the fengda, but this was not for detail work, just chucking paint. Tip drying is a big problem although I've learned to mitigate it using a small amount of retarder.

 

Anyway the HP-CS doesn't seem to have the same issues with tip drying so far, and I felt a bit more confident with it to try some freehand camo schemes. Much less splatter too. The trigger is way better than any of the fengdas and also the ultra. While initially I frowned upon the inbuilt cup however the way it is designed on the HP-CS makes cleaning a breeze.

 

My fengda has been relegated to undercoating and clear coating for which it works great. For everything else I can see me using the HP-CS, where it just works no matter what paint I put in it so far. The Ultra is likely to get dusty now on the bench although I did get a pinch tip for it.

 

Ive also ordered some Tamiya paints, lets see what the fuss is about, although I have a good load of Vallejo model Air paints, so they won't be going away any time soon.

[colin]

Was never keen on H&S triggers for some reason, just couldn't get a feel for them when spraying

[Pin]

I think if you have problems spraying with H&S you would have problems spraying with any other airbrush in the same class. H&S Ultra is quite versatile, something must be wrong with your setup - thinner, pressure, nozzle size etc. I had problems with Vallejo, Hataka, AK and alike until I found the right settings (increased pressure) 

I don't really understand how is it possible to have problems with nozzle thread - do you keep your airbrush clean? How often do you disassemble it to do deep cleaning? 

[sardaukar]

2 hours ago, Pin said:

I think if you have problems spraying with H&S you would have problems spraying with any other airbrush in the same class. H&S Ultra is quite versatile, something must be wrong with your setup - thinner, pressure, nozzle size etc. I had problems with Vallejo, Hataka, AK and alike until I found the right settings (increased pressure) 

I don't really understand how is it possible to have problems with nozzle thread - do you keep your airbrush clean? How often do you disassemble it to do deep cleaning? 

 

The Ultra gets the job done but it is fussy although maybe I need an airbrush which is more forgiving of a lack of patience the Iwata seems to be that. Ripping a nozzles thread off is something id like to avoid, which I've done in the past, while deep cleaning, if there is no thread then nothing to rip off.