I was wondering if there was anyway of making an Iwata eclipse BCS, into a gravity or side feed brush. The BCS was my first “real” AB purchase and at the time, a bottom feed was exactly what I needed.
But over the years, I’ve become more of a gravity feed kinda guy and was wondering if there was a way to convert.
I also have an Iwata Revolution BR for all my gravitational needs, but I really miss the finesse of the Eclipse.
Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
From what I can glean from the Iwata Eclipse parts catalogue the BCS (siphon), SBS (side feed), BS (small cup) and CS (large cup) could share the same head assembly, air valve and needle assembly. To convert the BCS to a gravity fed you would need only the 6-CS Body. That would continue to use the .5mm needle and head assembly. It’s probably a good idea to replace the washer, o-rings and teflon needle packing set.
However, in order to convert it entirely to a CS you would need to add the .35mm needle, nozzle cap, nozzle, lid, air valve spring, needle spring, and spring guide, as well as replace the packing head washer and o-ring and teflon needle packing set. All of which would probably cost more than a new CS. New, fully assembled airbrushes typically being less expensive than the sum of all their parts!
With a Badger 100/150 series AB it’s much simpler as all the parts except for the body are the same. I could buy a 100G body and convert my 150 quite easily. Not much point, though. [:D]
FYI, for what is worth… I ordered a CS from Air Brush Depot… was sent the BCS instead…spoke in the phone with the tech guy, asked him if there was a way to convert the BCS to CS and avoid mailing everything back… he said no, and mailed me the CS kit. (I had to return the BCS )
I’m sure he was giving you the simple answer. It is certainly far more trouble than it’s worth. I’ve looked at the parts catalogue and there is no reason, other than taking time and money, it couldn’t be done. Iwata even offers the .35mm Head/tip/needle combination to turn the BCS into a fine line AB.
In your case, they would have needed to mail you the parts for the CS, and they would have required you to mail back the parts left over from the BCS, and it was both easier and quicker to swap the airbrush.
Put another way, it’s like buying the base model Mustang, and then buying the parts to upgrade to the GT California Special. It’s faster, cheaper and easier to buy the correct version in the first place.
FWIW, I don’t think Iwata sells the CS body seperately. I looked at the Iwata-Medea site, and there was no parts number for the body to the CS. I also went to the Dixie Art site, and they sell everything but the body. Iwata has a sly marketing department.
This is possible on Badger airbrushes as the parts are exactally the same (with the obvious exception of the body. For example, if I wanted a gravity feed and had a Badger 150, I could take the airbrush and completely dissassemble it, then put it back togather using a 100LG body (assuming that it has a needle baring press fitted in). This is not always true on Iwata airbrushes. Take for example the Iwata HP series. The HP-C has a .3 diameter nozzle. There is can be replaced with a smaller .2 diameter nozzle made specifically for the HP-C. The HP-B has a .2 diameter nozzle. The nozzle in the HP-B will not fit in an HP-C, although they are the same diameter same the same airbrush series. Therefore, the HP-B body cannot simply be replaced with an HP-C body without replacing quite a few other parts, and Iwata parts are not cheap. I don’t think the Eclipse series has as many different parts, but regardless, I have not been able to find any site that sells the airbrush body. So like MikeV said, unless you have a mill and a lathe, it’s going to be simple.
The part # is 6- + the body name: 6-CS, 6-SBS, 6-BCS & 6-BS, according to the Parts Guide I downloaded. Dixie Art (and Bear Air for that matter) don’t bother selling the bodies for Badger, either. They’re in the business of selling the airbrush and the replacement parts only. Once you have to replace the body, you’re better off buying a new airbrush. Badger will sell you the bodies separately, and I would presume Iwata will as well. No marketing department is so sly they wouldn’t capitalize on a sale! [;)]
That’s basically what I said. BTW Badger sells the bodies with the needle bearing already pressed in. NO online airbrush retailer stocks the bodies, as I can’t imagine how normal use would wear out a brass tube.
The big difference between the 100 series and any similar series from Iwata, is that with Badger the needle spring and chuck is the same for all needle sizes, where Iwata changes them.
Iwata markets a B body with the C needle as the BC Plus. Badger sells the 100SG, G, SF & LG with either the fine or medium needles, and the 150 adds in the coarse as an option for textile painters. It’s merely a difference in marketing. Badger offers it’s users greater flexibility, is all.
You’re exactly right that it’s part #6. But look carefully at the parts guide. The number’s correspond to the schematic. The actual parts numbers are beside the schematic numbers on the chart. It’s more advantageous to force you to buy the whole brush than just the part. Even converting the BCS to .35mm or the CS to .5mm is no cheap task. Iwata has a completely different marketing approach than their competitors. The proof in this is that you just can’t find them all over the place like Badger or Paasche. By the way, Dixie will special order any Badger part that you like. The bodies for the 100/150 series run for just under $40 IIRC.
Hmmm, I read that as the 6 prefix plus the model name was the part number. I’ve just sent Adam Rice (Iwata Tech Guru) an email, so we should soon find out!
I much prefer the Badger way, much simpler to move to a fine head/needle. You’re mostly right about the pricing. The 100G & SG & SF lists for $33.50, the 150 for $38.50 and the 100LG for $43.50 (it has the extra cap!).
It is fairly easy to switch to a finer head assembly on an Iwata, you just have to know what you’re doing and what part you are ordering. As posted above, it isn’t cheap. Badger makes it simple. Thanks for the info on getting badger bodies.
I just got back the answer direct from Iwata, and it’s NO, they don’t sell replacement bodies. So, NO you can’t convert your BCS to a CS model. Their excuse is that the body is almost the same price as the airbrush (yeah, right![|(]).
You can buy the fine .35mm bits to spray a slightly finer line, but if I understand this correctly it’s $36.50 + Shipping, and if you have to buy the needle and air valve springs add on another $11.65. You can buy a Badger 100LG for $69.95 delivered from Dixie Art.
Well, at least we all know now! [:)] Really wasn’t that much effort. I have the Iwata site bookmarked, a quick download of their parts catalogue for the Eclipse series and a two sentence email to their tech guru.
Though now that I’ve done the research I might actually consider buying the 100G body and using the parts off my 150. I’ve been using the 100LG more, and the smaller cup would fit certain jobs better. It’s about half the price of a new airbrush, and not that difficult to swap the parts around. I already have the 200-20, so if I need to paint my 1/48 B-17 I can hook the big bottle up to that as NMF or OD doesn’t require a dual action.
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