Smaller Needle

  • Thread starter Steve McCracken
  • Start date
S

Steve McCracken

Guest
I currently love my Iwata Eclipse. It has a .35 needle. I would like a smaller needle in my next acquisition. The Iwata Kustom also is equipped with a .35 needle.
Is this an easy upgrade or what????
 
The Eclipse comes with a larger needle but not smaller one... I wouldn't advise trying to mix brushes. Check out some of the micro airbrushing on youtube... the detail you can get to with an eclipse (obviously with practice) is stunning. I did an eagle on a business card with mine...
 
Ooooh... that looks good.. new thing learnt for the day.
 
The Eclipse with the .35 setup is capable of very fine work. I have other more expressly detail oriented brushes with smaller needles, and I find the difference is one of atomization and trigger response curve rather than line width.

Basically, with a smaller needle you'll get crisper fine lines and a wider area of trigger travel (making small line variation easier: sort of like the effect of having a taller trigger, but without it being physically taller). You can do lines just as small with the .35 or even the .5 needles/nozzles, they'll just be a little fuzzier-edged and require more precise trigger control is all.

I do wholeheartedly recommend getting the KCS trigger as an upgrade. It's really surprising how much of a difference it makes. Basically only 2mm taller, but it changes the distribution of force in a way that makes the trigger action noticeably smoother. I've tried several different upgrades to my Eclipse (KCS trigger and handle, Zsolt soft spring, and a home-made prong air cap), and the KCS trigger is the only one that I'd categorically recommend to any Eclipse owner, to the point where I feel like it really should be the stock Eclipse trigger.
 
I do wholeheartedly recommend getting the KCS trigger as an upgrade. It's really surprising how much of a difference it makes. Basically only 2mm taller, but it changes the distribution of force in a way that makes the trigger action noticeably smoother. I've tried several different upgrades to my Eclipse (KCS trigger and handle, Zsolt soft spring, and a home-made prong air cap), and the KCS trigger is the only one that I'd categorically recommend to any Eclipse owner, to the point where I feel like it really should be the stock Eclipse trigger.

But I like shorter triggers. I've tried taller triggers and don't like them anymore. Even Dru Blair has changed to custom shorter than stock trigger.
 
The KCS trigger is different in an odd way. I've tried tall triggers via adding extension pads, but like you found I didn't like it. It didn't seem to add that much control IMO, but it did made my finger feel more extended in a much more awkward way. The KCS trigger though feels almost the same as the stock trigger in terms of height, it just depresses and moves smoother.

With the stock trigger, I often experience a little bit of sticking when depressing the trigger, which feels like finger pressure being momentarily transferred backward or forward at the pivot instead of downward, causing the stem to bind against the sidewall of the valve. The KCS trigger changes the distribution of force just enough to eliminate that, resulting in perfectly fluid trigger action.
 
Back
Top