Has anybody bought the Iwata CM-B? I’m looking through the Iwata catologue right now and I’m likin what I’m seeing! The booklet has a small sample of the spary lines and it is literally a hair!( .18mm needle performance!!!) I want to get it some day, but I’m just happy with my hp-cs! I’ll have 4 AB’s if I get it and I might just end up like Mike, well we all know Mike…[:D]
Ryan,
Good luck getting fine lines with Modeling paints through a Micron.
I wouldn’t waste your money.
Those fine lines you are seeing are probably done with inks as the media has to be REAL thin to flow reliably through a .18mm tip.
Using a Micron for modeling is like using a Barrett light .50 for deer hunting…total overkill [:D] [;)]
Mike
It says that it is for illustration, watercolor, and acrylics and that it is a good matchup for model builders and is an excellent matchup for figure/miniature painters. Just what I need![:D]
Hey, it’s your money my friend. [(-D]
Mike
I want a custom micron for illustration, but can’t yet afford it. I’ve got a picture all ready to go, I just need an illustration airbrush to work on it with. The Revolution just won’t do what I can do with a pencil, and that’s what I need.
Josh,
Why not try a Sotar 20/20 for half the cost?
Mike
armormaster, i’m with mike on this one my friend. when i first got my hp-c i had lots of trouble getting a fine line with tamiya acrylics and mm enamels with the .3mm n/n. i even thinned at 90% thinner to 10%paint ratio and droped the pressure below 8 psi as this was the starting # on my pressure gauge. i cant imagine trying to squeeze mm enamels through a .18mm n/n combo!! the chart on the iwata homepage returns “excellent” for using the hp-c for enamels, acrylics, and hobbiest. i had a fellow at my LHS tell me that with a sotar he could dot the eye on a 120mm figurine. who knows my friend? i would continue to read up on that jewel before i spent that kind of money on it. later.
Hey MikeV its more like using an m72 law for taking out a log.
or a BAR for shooting a rabbit’
oh mikeV how big is the smallest needle for the 150? the needle fits the 100 too, and its the fine one so…
I am not sure of the size of the needle and tip as Badger does not advertise the sizes as they are not that important. I think advertising the tip size is a marketing ploy as needle taper is what’s important, not diameter.
I can find out for you if you really need to know.
Mike
How does the Sotar compare? I’ve heard a bad thing or two about the sturdiness of the body or something similar. I don’t remember exactly what now as it was a while back. I kind of got the micron bug after reading Dru Blair’s site. If it’s as quality a brush, I’d be open to the Sotar, I’m not an airbrush elitest.
My HP-CS sprays just as fine lines as my Sotar and atomizes better using inks.
Yeah, I think I’m happy with the hp-cs, but it would be cool to save up and get an AB like that someday… I wouldn’t get it for modeling though, so I’m trusting the experience in the forums, so I’d probably only get it for illustration… But gotta admit, the idea sounds cool!
I found this on the Badger web site email:
To whom it may concern,
I received my Sotar 20/20 airbrush back in the mail yesterday and wanted to thank everyone at Badger for fixing it for me - I was so glad to get it back that I had to try it out last night! Happily, it’s back to working as beautifully as it did before I soaked it in lacquer thinner and ruined the O-ring in the air plunger!
I really appreciate the quick turnaround on this, especially considering I sent it to you just before the holidays.
Thanks again,
(name not included)
This is a jaded compliment to Badger. Badger fixed it (I wonder how much it cost to fix) but it seems the Sotar doesn’t like lacquer thinner. I use enamel paints and lacquer thinner. My 1983 Iwata has lived with the thinner all these years and never given up its O-ring to any liquid. I don’t want to be picky with what liquid I have to use when spraying.
Dissolving O-rings might be a good reason to not get that Badger airbrush.
and why you should buy the micron over the sotar…
Well the new microns are supposed to have teflon rings. I don’t think that will really be an issue for me though, as anything I’d be doing with that brush would be using inks and watercolors, not real paints. I really do want one for illustration, as I like to draw.
Just for the record, Chris, aka Saltydog draws mighty well, maybe if we pester him he’ll post a couple of the pics he has.
Which needle do you have in the Sotar?
Mike
Badger airbrushes have a lifetime guarantee on labor so all this person probably had to buy was a new O ring.
You need to re-read that letter. The guy soaked his airbrush in lacquer thinner and ruined the O ring in the air valve. No airbrush has solvent-proof O rings in the air valve that I am aware of. All experts will tell you to not soak the entire airbrush in lacquer unless you remove the air valve assembly first.
Mike
According to my friend who has been in the airbrush industry for 40 years, the Sotar is better than the Micron and has a tougher needle.
I think that was Plum1030 who commented on that.
Is Dru sponsored by Iwata? Many artists are and you are not going to hear them endorse other brands. [;)]
Mike
I know you are protecting the Badger company and reputation, Mike, but I didn’t write the testimony so you will have to take Badger and the testimony writer to task this time, not me. I just posted what is on the official Badger web site.
The writer wrote that his Sotar broke down. He soaked the O-ring in lacquer thinner. The soaking could have been one day or one minute but he didn’t say how long. But he did say that lacquer thinner ruined the O-ring. I didn’t see Badger deny the thinner dissolving the O-ring problem on their web site so it must have happened.
Badger didn’t say they fixed the brush for free or parts only so we don’t know. Probably mean that it could be paid for by Badger but not necessarily.
None of my Iwata airbrushes O-rings have dissolved? Has anyone else’s Iwata airbrush got dissolved O-rings?
Um, that would be a negitive, but I’ve been a happy Iwata owner for a month now, plus I only use acrylics in mine. Of course, judging on the quality of everything else, it’s not showing me anythings going to crap out on me soon or at all.[:D][:D][:D][bow]