New Airbrush: Iwata HP-B Plus!

[Thunnus]

I just replaced my SOTAR 2020 with an Iwata HP-B Plus for detail painting. 

 

I didn't use the SOTAR much but in situations where I absolutely needed a finer spray pattern than my workhorse Iwata HP-C Plus (3mm needle/tip), I would bust out the SOTAR (2mm needle/tip).  It worked ok but it felt different in my hand than the Iwata in terms of ergonomics and balance and I had to get used to it each time.  The last time I used it, something got stuck in the tip. I was able to remove the offending particle but the brush was never the same and I couldn't get it to stop chattering.  So instead of trying to resolve the issue, I decided to replace it.

 

 

The HP-B Plus is now my detail gun to augment my HP-C main brush.  The SOTAR gets relegated to the storage bin, along with my Paasche H and V.

[TankBuster]

Good choice, I have the C plus and brought the B plus for fine detail as well, and it does a lovely job of it. I also have 2 revolutions one is a .5 needle for big jobs and the other a .3 which I use for metalics, I also recently purchased crown cap and love it. Cheers.

[DrDave]

The trouble with a crown cap is you can’t use the blowback method for cleaning as you cant block the crown.

[Juggernut]

Ugh, I just decided I needed to have one of these too.  Damn you John!  

 

I figured since I'm going to be doing fine Luftwaffe mottle camouflage as well as the fine reverse mottle on the He219 and Ju88's (night fighters) in 1/48 scale, I could probably get better results from this rather than my HP-CS with the .3 needle.  I also have a 1/48 ICM Ki-21-1 Sally that has a very tight green over grey mottle camouflage that was taxing my brain on how to get it down without overspray.  This also appears to have a MAC valve (excuse me if I'm using an incorrect term here).  The little knurled knob at the end that limits needle travel so you get sonsistent lines which is a MUST for the reverse camouflage on the He219 and Ju88 night fighters.

 

The best deal I found was The Merri Artist.  Free shipping and no sales tax!

Edited February 24 by Juggernut

[Thunnus]

14 hours ago, TankBuster said:

Good choice, I have the C plus and brought the B plus for fine detail as well, and it does a lovely job of it. I also have 2 revolutions one is a .5 needle for big jobs and the other a .3 which I use for metalics, I also recently purchased crown cap and love it. Cheers.

The crown cap was purchased for the C+ to try and squeeze more detail out of it.  Now that I have the B+, I transferred the crown cap to the new brush and put the original cap back onto the C+.

 

 

10 hours ago, DrDave said:

The trouble with a crown cap is you can’t use the blowback method for cleaning as you cant block the crown.

True but I've found blowback to have some disadvantages so I stopped doing it anyway.

 

 

5 hours ago, Juggernut said:

Ugh, I just decided I needed to have one of these too.  Damn you John!  

 

I figured since I'm going to be doing fine Luftwaffe mottle camouflage as well as the fine reverse mottle on the He219 and Ju88's (night fighters) in 1/48 scale, I could probably get better results from this rather than my HP-CS with the .3 needle.  I also have a 1/48 ICN Ki-21-1 Sally that has a very tight green over grey mottle camouflage that was taxing my brain on how to get it down without overspray.  This also appears to have a MAC valve (excuse me if I'm using an incorrect term here).  The little knurled knob at the end that limits needle travel so you get sonsistent lines which is a MUST for the reverse camouflage on the He219 and Ju88 night fighters.

 

The best deal I found was The Merri Artist.  Free shipping and no sales tax!

Yup... I'm thinking about the Macchi 202 smoke-ring camo that I will be doing at some future point!

[denders]

Juggernut the MAC valve is usually located in the area under the paint cup and limits air flow/pressure (depends how you view it). The knob at the back is a needle limiter. MAC valves can also be attached to the end of the air hose just before the airbrush too.

 

 

Edit: added photo. The airbrush is a Gsi Creos 771 with a MAC valve and there is a MAC valve on the end of the hose just before the quick connect. Neither of which I've really used. I have a regulator and a gauge right at the edge of the table, next to the booth, and I usually just adjust the pressure there.

Edited February 24 by denders
Added photo

[denders]

BTW, I like this one because it has markings on the needle stop knob. Thinking repeatability here. It is a 0.18mm needle.

 

[TankBuster]

17 hours ago, DrDave said:

The trouble with a crown cap is you can’t use the blowback method for cleaning as you cant block the crown.

You can still use blowback, I just undo the bit behind the crown cap a small amount. Thats how I have done it since using that method. Cheers.

[SwissFighters]

23 hours ago, TankBuster said:

Good choice, I have the C plus and brought the B plus for fine detail as well, and it does a lovely job of it. I also have 2 revolutions one is a .5 needle for big jobs and the other a .3 which I use for metalics, I also recently purchased crown cap and love it. Cheers.

I'm curious - what does the crown cap achieve?
Tony

[TankBuster]

It allows the air to escape out the grooves so the paint lays down a lot smoother like when doing fine work up close and when painting in corners and hard to reach areas. I use mine all the time for all my work as I find the paint just goes on better when I use it. I am sure someone with more experience will be able to explain it better than me. Cheers.

Edited February 25 by TankBuster

[Juggernut]

Mine showed up today. 

 

 

Now all i have to do is determine whether I want to add a manifold to my air compressor outlet, unscrew the hose every time I want to use this airbrush rather than the HP-CS or get the Iwata quick disconnect but not sure how well those work after being used awhile (I'm thinking they may leak air but I have no real experience with these).

[Thunnus]

1 hour ago, Juggernut said:

Mine showed up today. 

 

Now all i have to do is determine whether I want to add a manifold to my air compressor outlet, unscrew the hose every time I want to use this airbrush rather than the HP-CS or get the Iwata quick disconnect but not sure how well those work after being used awhile (I'm thinking they may leak air but I have no real experience with these).

 

Nice!  My compressor (California Air Tools 4610) has two quick connectors to allow connection of two hoses but I find it more convenient just to swap airbrushes on the one hose rather than having two hoses connected at once.

[MikeC]

2 hours ago, Juggernut said:

or get the Iwata quick disconnect but not sure how well those work after being used awhile (I'm thinking they may leak air but I have no real experience with these).

Mine has lasted almost as long as I've had my airbrush (HP-CS Eclipse), which is 19 years this August,  with no leakage I've noticed.

 

[Juggernut]

That's something positive to consider, thanks.  Now I have to find a place that has both the QD assembly and an extra attachment for the QD.  So far, everywhere I've looked has either one or the other but not both (unless I order it right from IWATA which costs a small fortune in shipping).

Edited March 5 by Juggernut

[LSP_Kevin]

The quick release adaptors work really well, but be sure to get a genuine Iwata one. I made the mistake of buying a cheap knock-off from somewhere, and it leaked constantly. Once I replaced it with the genuine article, all was fine.

 

Kev