I love my Iwata airbrush but……I want a little more!

[DrumBum]

Hi all, 

 

For 2 years I have enjoyed using my Iwata Eclipse double action airbrush. 
 

Great finish and capable of impressively fine spray patterns. 
 

But, I do find it difficult to gently introduce paint into the airflow on small detail jobs.

 

Maybe the airbrush is too small for my big hands but i find my trigger finger is bent so much I have very little feel for when the trigger slides back.

 

 Often I go from no paint to too much paint!

 

I am wondering if a trigger style airbrush like the Iwata HP-TH would solve this lack of finesse?

 

I would be interested to hear if anybody else has this experience?

 

cheers and thanks

Edited September 27, 2024 by DrumBum
Adding extra stuff

[dnl42]

I have an HP-TH and HP-CH.

 

On the TH, pulling back a little starts air; pulling back more admits paint.

Would that be easier or better for you?

Compare that to your Eclipse (or my HP-CH), where air is up-down while paint is pulling back, two distinct movements.

I've seen some examples of people putting a larger trigger pad on the Iwata, something like the pad available for some Badger airbrushes.

 

I wonder if your paint is too thick or the combination of paint thickness and air-pressure don't enable a gradual increase in paint flow. Also, sometimes paint build-up in the nozzle can impact flow. I always test liquid flow with plain thinner to make sure it atomizes well (density and shape) before I put paint into the bowl. If water or thinner don't atomize well, paint will be worse.

 

The paint formulation (solvent) is important to define 'proper' paint thinning.

I use Mr.Color and thin it at least 1:1 if not more thinner (Mr.Leveling Thinner). I don't actually thin to ratios, but to paint consistency, like 1% milk. I spray, close in, at ~15 PSI. Sometimes up to 20 PSI if I didn't thin the paint quite as much as I normally do.

Somebody else will need to make recommendations of water-soluble acrylics.

 

HTH

-- 

dnl

[flyboy2610]

I have both traditional style airbrush's and trigger action airbrush's (not Iwata's, however). I find myself using the trigger action brush's more and more. They are just more comfortable for me to use.

[flyboy2610]

This airbrush was produced in collaboration with the Studio G YouTube guy to help provide a comfortable airbrush experience for those with hand or finger issues.

https://www.gaahleri.com/products/gaahleri-airbrush-ghac-swallowtail-studiog

 

 

Hope this helps!

[Jamiec360]

Get the longer trigger, I’ve got the eclipse and the extra couple of mm length makes it much more comfortable for me. I got it from airbrushes.com

[DrumBum]

 

Thanks all for the feedback and I think I see a solution as a result.

The trigger on the Eclipse is very short and I suspect the cause of my problems.

As suggested, a longer after market trigger or a pad to extend the trigger to provide a little more dexterity is probably a good solution and definitely worth a try.

I will try and track down a longer trigger on airbrushes.com

 

Cheers and thanks again

[PatG]

I have the Eclipse HP-CS and also have finger control problems at the fine end of the scale when doing detail work in 72nd scale.

 

My bodged solution is that I retract the needle very slightly then lock in place to see how fine the line is and then move further out or slightly more in to achieve the line I'm after. This means that the airbrush effectively becomes single action but I know exactly how wide the spray pattern/line will be when I press the trigger for the air flow.

 

Not ideal perhaps, and a bit fiddly for sure, but it works well and allows me to spray fine lines consistently with some measure of confidence.

 

HTH.

 

Pat.

[cmatthewbacon]

You could buy a “preset handle,” which lets you adjust how far the trigger can come back. Set it for the line width you want to hit reliably and off you go… It doesn’t make the brush “single action”… you still pull the trigger back to get paint flow. The one on my HP-C makes mottle a doddle…

best,

M.

[ckw]

On my H&S Evolution I recently discovered you can adjust the trigger for releasing air. The spring that closes the air valve (at the bottom of the brush) is held in by a screw. By slacking that screw off a bit, the trigger becomes 'softer' so you are less likely to get a sudden burst of air and it gives you a little more finesse over airflow control. I would imagine other brushes have a similar set up.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

 

[Steve McArthur]

I treat the air as an on/off switch and just replace the springs with softer ones from Dru Blair. It takes no effort to hold the air down. I've also replaced triggers with the squarish triggers from Microns on my HP-A/B/C/SB. I find I have more control and it's more comfortable.

 

On the pistol grip vs traditional style, I have both and get better control with the traditional style, but I have much more practice with the traditional style If detail is a problem you can always try a 0.2mn brush or a 0.18mm, but these do take a little more finesse with the paint to keep it flowing.

[Chaotic Mike]

I got a Gaahleri trigger airbrush after some physical problems with my hand. It replaced an H&S, and is (to me) far easier to control, and more comfortable.