First Detail Brush - Choices

naveedgt

Young Tutorling
Hi Everyone,

New member here who's a scale modeller and not an artist like most members on this forum.

I currently have an Olympos HP-100c, a nice airbrush for general work but now I'm looking for a finer brush to really get into small details. My natural choice would have been an Olympos MP-200B (or C), but after doing some background reading on this site there seems to be some confusion on the quality of the current supply coming from Japan.

Never the less my choices are the following:

MP-200B:
- Ideal Choice, but expensive at £255 + Import fees
MP-200C:
- Second Choice, cheaper (£150 + Import fees) but not as fine detailing and has a larger colour cup that I'm not fond of.
SP-B
- (£190 + Import fees) I have heard this sprays just as good or better as the 200B.

Iwata CM-B V2
- Expensive, £350 in the UK but supposedly better finished with harder needles.

GSI Creos/Mr Hobby PS770
- £250 in the UK, similar quality to the Iwatas

So my question is, even with the import fees the Olympos brushes appear to be better value bar the PS770. Is the supposed lack of quality actually an issue?

As an aside, I was also thinking of replacing my HP-100C with an Olympos CR45 model with the tilted paint cup. Does anyone have experience with any of these? Or can anyone recommend better atomising brush with a .3 nozzle diameter?

Many thanks
 
.3 is not really a super fine detail brush, To my understanding Olympus is only sold as NOS,(New old stock) But I may be wrong.
But that being said any airbrush in the right hands can make great work.
You might want to check into H&S Infinity 2 in 1 that way you can install the .15 set up and pull some super fine lines.
But @DaveG can offer a lot better insight then I can on Olympus airbrushs.
 
first thing you need to check out if you can get parts for your airbrush of choice Iwata and H&S parts are easy to come by in the UK
the Iwata eclips with a 0.35 nozzle would be my choice for model work as the paints used for modeling will most likely give you trouble if you go for a smaller nozzle
 
Where to start... I will first mention that in Japan that the Creos PS770 is wildly popular in modeling circles. It has definitely taken on a firm foothold in that market. Here in the US there are a few people that swear by them regularly, but I have yet to find a place to buy replacement parts from - although I did just hear a vendor in Florida will now be carrying them... I have heard nothing but good things about this brush.

The Olympos brushes are sold as is, no warranty, and no factory support beyond shipping parts if you know what you need. They do work very well; the needles do tend to be very delicate though. Having a good many of them, I read the "works as good as" conversations as a way to sell product they want to sell. My favorite is still my mid 80's vintage MP200B. The SP series is good, but for me, not as good as the MP.

The Iwata Micron is a better built brush, with more precise tolerances throughout. From brush to brush, and adding replacement parts, the performance is more consistent.

If you are indeed looking to get more in detail, I would suggest looking at brushes with either a smaller color cup, or side feed, such as the Iwata Micron SB. The Creos has a huge "C" sized cup that is great for obscuring your line of sight. Even an Iwata HP SP+ or B+ would be fantastic choices.

I have the H&S brushes, but find them more finicky for me to get good consistent detail from when compared to a good working Iwata HP+.
 
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I have only ever owned and used two airbrush, started of with a krome which came with 0.2 and 0.3 needles and is capable of very fine lines, I eventually also bought a micron as my skills improved.

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for the replies, its much appreciated.

Hi @naveedgt - these guys have got some good input, if you can afford H&S or Iwata get them, reliable parts! Can i get you to go along to the intro section and say Hi as well? Here is the link. http://www.airbrushforum.org/introductions/

I'll get right on it Mark.

.3 is not really a super fine detail brush, To my understanding Olympus is only sold as NOS,(New old stock) But I may be wrong.
But that being said any airbrush in the right hands can make great work.
You might want to check into H&S Infinity 2 in 1 that way you can install the .15 set up and pull some super fine lines.
But @DaveG can offer a lot better insight then I can on Olympus airbrushs.
first thing you need to check out if you can get parts for your airbrush of choice Iwata and H&S parts are easy to come by in the UK
the Iwata eclips with a 0.35 nozzle would be my choice for model work as the paints used for modeling will most likely give you trouble if you go for a smaller nozzle

Thanks for the info guys, I will say I will use whatever detail brush I get in conjunction with my 100C which will do the bulk of the work. Using the detailed brush with thinned paint to get into some of the smaller details.
Where to start... I will first mention that in Japan that the Creos PS770 is wildly popular in modeling circles. It has definitely taken on a firm foothold in that market. Here in the US there are a few people that swear by them regularly, but I have yet to find a place to buy replacement parts from - although I did just hear a vendor in Florida will now be carrying them... I have heard nothing but good things about this brush.

The Olympos brushes are sold as is, no warranty, and no factory support beyond shipping parts if you know what you need. They do work very well; the needles do tend to be very delicate though. Having a good many of them, I read the "works as good as" conversations as a way to sell product they want to sell. My favorite is still my mid 80's vintage MP200B. The SP series is good, but for me, not as good as the MP.

The Iwata Micron is a better built brush, with more precise tolerances throughout. From brush to brush, and adding replacement parts, the performance is more consistent.

If you are indeed looking to get more in detail, I would suggest looking at brushes with either a smaller color cup, or side feed, such as the Iwata Micron SB. The Creos has a huge "C" sized cup that is great for obscuring your line of sight. Even an Iwata HP SP+ or B+ would be fantastic choices.

I have the H&S brushes, but find them more finicky for me to get good consistent detail from when compared to a good working Iwata HP+.

Thanks Dave for the detailed info. I will agree the Creos looks like a very good deal, especially with the price being £100 less than the Iwata option. Parts are quite easy to come by in the UK, as are parts for Iwata and H&S.

The reason for wanting an Olympos is partly because of my experience with the 100C, partly because of the legendary status and partly because of the price even after the import fees. If I come across a decent MP200B I'll pick it up.

I'm leaning towards the Creos but as you point out the C sized cup is a bit of a bummer. But as it stands with availability of spare parts and cost, it appears to be the best value.
 
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