Detail airbrush

[Brick Steel]

Any suggestions on an Iwata airbrush for fine detail? I’ve been using an Iwata Eclipse HP CS, which I really like but I feel like I need something for finer detail. I’d like to stick with Iwata since I’m pretty comfortable with what I’ve got.

[azsouth]

7 hours ago, Brick Steel said:

Any suggestions on an Iwata airbrush for fine detail? I’ve been using an Iwata Eclipse HP CS, which I really like but I feel like I need something for finer detail. I’d like to stick with Iwata since I’m pretty comfortable with what I’ve got.

same brush equipped with smaller needle, IMO

[BobP]

When you get down to fine lines, you may want an Iwata with a .02 mm tip.  I have a HP+ .02mm and it can shoot a line as fine as frog hair in the hand of an expert painter, which I am certainly not.  For fine details, the viscosity of the paint is as important as the airbrush.  And acrylic paint is harder to thin properly than lacquer or dye.  Iwata makes airbrushes with even finer tips than .02 mm.  They get expensive as all get out.  And if you go in that direction, be darned careful to handle and clean it with gentle loving care.  You don’t even want to know what it costs to replace the microscopic paint nozzle on one of those babies, and a bent needle has to be replaced by an expert airbrush tuner.  For myself, I gave up trying to shoot fine detail long ago and get by with paint templates.  It was the only way to stay sane.

[Brick Steel]

I asked Iwata the same question and got a very helpful response:

”The Eclipse CS is typically capable of a hairline spray pattern if the paint is sufficiently thinned. There are other things that will help you spray details, including a lower air pressure and removing the nozzle cap (although be very careful with this). 

If this are techniques  you are already familiar with and the CS still isn't meeting your needs for fine detail then I would recommend the High Performance series. The High Performance B Plus, for example,  not only excels at fine detail but gives you a lot of control due to the extremely gradual taper of the needle. 
The trade off for using an airbrush designed for finer details is that it becomes more difficult to spray viscous paints (like Createx for instance).”

 

Based on this, I will probably get a second Eclipse HP CS. I have been having good success operating at lower pressures and would like to be able to paint with two.

[mark poulson]

I gave up trying to do fine detail with an air brush, and just add fine lines and accents with a solvent-based sharpie now.  I heat set the sharpie, and then shoot a coat of Createx clear over it, also heat set, before I add my top coat, so the sharpie doesn't run.