O.k., I’ve already commented on another thread, but I’ll do this again. Like I’ve said before, there’s very few practical/effective reviews out there on these airbrushes from a modeller’s perspective, and this can be VERY frustrating.
Anyway, I have multiple Iwata brushes (CH, CS, BH, SB,CMB), multiple badgers (100lg, 175 I still have) and a paasche H (which still is a fav on mine for what it does.). Use the silentaire-20 and tend to airbrush even when I don’t have to. I spray mainly acryllics, inks and other water based medias, but have experience with enamels and laquer based media.
Interesting note on peaks, tamiya: they are reportedly made in the same factory (per coast AB), but will have some slightly different parts- a more tapered nozzle, etc.- just enough to make them a bit different. However, a lot of the stuff is interchangeble. Probably too much so: bearair lost their connections with iwata a while back, and it was thought to be because they wouldn’t bow to pressure to stop carrying the peak AB. No experience with them, but they likely perform about the same.
Now, to the brushes:
The CS vs. C/C+/CH comparison. The CS has a grosser spray pattern than the others. I believe the barrel is slightly longer, which, IIRC tends to have greater atomization of your paint. They use a needle that is thinner and longer, allowing you to have more control over how much paint you are putting out at a given time. They just spray finer than the CS.
But, the CS is a great all around work brush. If you are using it to spray basecoats with thicker media, this is the one you want. If you are looking for a brush that can do some tighter work, then the C series is better. You can change the CS nozzle to 0.5mm, to spray thicker stuff or more of whatever you are spraying. I swapped mine out awhile ago to do this.
I’d get the C+/CH for the reasons you noted. I think the CH is one of the best workhorse brushes you can get.
I also have a BH and SB currently. The SB is one of my fav brushes, and very underrated by modellers. Good for detail work primarily, but the SBS could work for general work. It can take side feed bottles and crank out the paint. The BH/SB perform about like the CH, but you can notice the difference. The SB has such fine atomization, that it is very similar to my CMB, and lets you have a lot of control over your paints. The CMB is not much different than the SB on the size of lines that it produces, but it atomizes the paint much better, so you get VERY fine lines overall. These are not so good for large work, but for small jobs. I like the SB for being able to see over the barrel, but the Bs are about the same as the well is pretty small.
How the iwatas work: the CS is like other brushes- it will have a ‘floating’ nozzel, held in place by the cap. However, the B/C nozzles actually ‘screw’ into the body and don’t move.
Oh, one comment on the badger vs. Iwata: I’ve used the 100 series, and while they are good generalized brushes, the iwata brushes just perform better. But they are different brushes. I do like the screw mechanism that the badger 100 has in front of the trigger, which effectively can turn the brush into a ‘single action brush’ unlike the present handle, which simply limits how far back you can pull the handle.
Now, before anyone gets their shorts all wound up- I like the 100. It’s a good starter brush, and you can do a lot with it. BUT (and this is the kicker), for tight detailed work, the Iwata’s (other comparable brushes) are better IMO.
I should say though that the iwata brushes are tough… they are made to be used (not abused). My 100’s airstem started rotating and eventually twisted off (right through the chrome plating…). The Iwatas are just… tough. Solidly built. Bottom line: you get what you pay for in this respect. 100LG- on sale ~$70. HPCH ~ $150 on ebay. Worth every penny in my book.
Too, the iwatas have little tricks that let them spray reeeeeeeaaaaaaallllly close to the work, like removing the crown cap, so you expose the needle- you can spray ~ 1/4" or less away from your work, and do very fine lines. Of course, you’ll have to have really thin paints and spray >10psi most of the time. If you are doing weathering, toning the underlying colors of paints, softening highlights or adding more tone to shades, it works very well.
- The evolution sounds cool- I’ve often wanted to be able to pull my needles from the front, but with the iwata’s, you’ll have to remove the nozzle.
Well, hope that helps. Disclaimers: I used acyllics primarily though, and this biases my opinions.
Don’t know if this helps. I’ve thought about starting an airbrush review site, or something, because you can never find the info you are looking for as a modeller on these things…
