So I finally managed to swing myself a Micron (a CM-SB2). Ordered on monday from Merri Artist, arrived friday. I've been using a Badger SOTAR for detail work, and although I really liked my SF SOTAR, this is definitely better in pretty nearly every way.
Just taking it out of the box for the first time... the build quality is really really beautiful. I've compared my SOTAR to a Kalashnikov rifle in the past, in that it's precise where it has to be, rough everywhere it can afford to be. The Micron by contrast is like a classy watch: precision practical engineering finished to jeweler's standards.
The red metal case it comes with is REALLY nice. In pics online it looks like sheet metal, but it's actually two big custom profile extrusions. Feels like it could take a proper beating. The foam inside is high density EVO, and the cutouts' fit is VERY tight. Takes an uncomfortable amount of force to get the brush in and out, but on the plus side, you could toss the case loose in a truck bed and go off-roading, and the brush would never get bounced out of the cutout. Not that I'm saying that's a thing to be done, just that you could as an illustration.
Ergonomically it's nicely balanced. Longer in front than the SF SOTAR, but much lighter and more pen like than the Eclipse. I still feel like the swedge in front of the air valve is an ergonomic flaw, but as I understand it that's actually an airflow passage that helps air go more directly from the valve to the head, so probably worth it (Badger uses a plastic part to cosmetically mimic this, and IMO that's always seemed like an example of cargo cult design, and the brush felt better with it off).
The knurled rings on the valve stem help the grip stability a lot. Seems odd to mention such a minor detail, but its kind of a case of just the right touch in just the right place making a surprisingly large difference.
I've read a lot of hit and miss opinions on the v2 square trigger pad, and now that I've held it I think I understand why. The design is good, and easier to control than a round trigger, but it feels weird in a way that's distracting. The problem is it's too squared off with the brush body, while your finger is not. The rear corner kinda pokes the pad of your finger, and the horizontal grooves being offset from your finger angle create a tactile illusion of it wanting to move back diagonally instead of straight. I think if the back was round instead of square, and the knurling was concentric instead of horizontal lines, it'd feel better than a round button trigger the way it's intended to, without compromising it ambidexterity.
Performance wise it is fantastic. Soooooooo easy to control, doing detail is very intuitive, and the atomization cone has a tight border up close that makes for very crisp fine lines. Can do lines with this that, no exaggeration, look like they were done with a freshly sharpened pencil or ultra-fine gel pen. Definitely better than the SOTAR both in control and spray quality. And that's not a knock on the SOTAR: the Micron really is that good. I did end up cranking the trigger tension spring up quite a bit higher than I like on any of my other brushes, which seemed odd, but surprisingly not uncomfortable. I'm usually not overly picky about trigger tension , but with the Micron a heavier tension helped me control it in much finer increments. My other brushes get a bit hitchy or ratchet-y with a heavy needle tension, but the Micron stays smooth.
What people say about the valve spring being too stiff is definitely true though. A spring mod is an essential fix here, and IMO it's weird that the spring is actually intentionally this heavy by default. It's the one thing that just feels like an unambiguously dropped ball about the brush, and it's such a simple and cheap thing to change that I don't understand why they still come out of the factory like that. It's a half a grand worth of brush: they could put an extra optional spring in the box and it wouldn't noticeably effect the MSRP.
Cleanup was the kind of easy I was hoping for based on my other Iwatas. This was kind of the SOTAR's weak area: the rough build quality can make it a bit fussy. Especially the color cup: the design is essentially the same, but Iwata's cleaner machining and thicker plating makes a HUGE difference. Plus the Iwata cup has a teflon disk in the bottom that gives the base a better seal and keeps paint away from the threads. The side cup stem also sockets to the body much more securely (another weakness of the SF SOTAR/Badger 100).
The Micron also feels more tanky. Not quite as tanky as my Eclipse or TH, but it feels much more solid than the SOTAR. Not that I'm planning on field testing that impression: I'm going to be treating this one VERY
nicely.
I like my SOTAR, but I always wished it had the tanky feel and ease of cleaning of my Iwatas, and now I have that, plus even better fine spray characteristics, so I'm quite happy so far. In terms of how it sprays, this feels like what I always imagined and wanted from an airbrush since before I got my first brush back in the nineties.
Just taking it out of the box for the first time... the build quality is really really beautiful. I've compared my SOTAR to a Kalashnikov rifle in the past, in that it's precise where it has to be, rough everywhere it can afford to be. The Micron by contrast is like a classy watch: precision practical engineering finished to jeweler's standards.
The red metal case it comes with is REALLY nice. In pics online it looks like sheet metal, but it's actually two big custom profile extrusions. Feels like it could take a proper beating. The foam inside is high density EVO, and the cutouts' fit is VERY tight. Takes an uncomfortable amount of force to get the brush in and out, but on the plus side, you could toss the case loose in a truck bed and go off-roading, and the brush would never get bounced out of the cutout. Not that I'm saying that's a thing to be done, just that you could as an illustration.
Ergonomically it's nicely balanced. Longer in front than the SF SOTAR, but much lighter and more pen like than the Eclipse. I still feel like the swedge in front of the air valve is an ergonomic flaw, but as I understand it that's actually an airflow passage that helps air go more directly from the valve to the head, so probably worth it (Badger uses a plastic part to cosmetically mimic this, and IMO that's always seemed like an example of cargo cult design, and the brush felt better with it off).
The knurled rings on the valve stem help the grip stability a lot. Seems odd to mention such a minor detail, but its kind of a case of just the right touch in just the right place making a surprisingly large difference.
I've read a lot of hit and miss opinions on the v2 square trigger pad, and now that I've held it I think I understand why. The design is good, and easier to control than a round trigger, but it feels weird in a way that's distracting. The problem is it's too squared off with the brush body, while your finger is not. The rear corner kinda pokes the pad of your finger, and the horizontal grooves being offset from your finger angle create a tactile illusion of it wanting to move back diagonally instead of straight. I think if the back was round instead of square, and the knurling was concentric instead of horizontal lines, it'd feel better than a round button trigger the way it's intended to, without compromising it ambidexterity.
Performance wise it is fantastic. Soooooooo easy to control, doing detail is very intuitive, and the atomization cone has a tight border up close that makes for very crisp fine lines. Can do lines with this that, no exaggeration, look like they were done with a freshly sharpened pencil or ultra-fine gel pen. Definitely better than the SOTAR both in control and spray quality. And that's not a knock on the SOTAR: the Micron really is that good. I did end up cranking the trigger tension spring up quite a bit higher than I like on any of my other brushes, which seemed odd, but surprisingly not uncomfortable. I'm usually not overly picky about trigger tension , but with the Micron a heavier tension helped me control it in much finer increments. My other brushes get a bit hitchy or ratchet-y with a heavy needle tension, but the Micron stays smooth.
What people say about the valve spring being too stiff is definitely true though. A spring mod is an essential fix here, and IMO it's weird that the spring is actually intentionally this heavy by default. It's the one thing that just feels like an unambiguously dropped ball about the brush, and it's such a simple and cheap thing to change that I don't understand why they still come out of the factory like that. It's a half a grand worth of brush: they could put an extra optional spring in the box and it wouldn't noticeably effect the MSRP.
Cleanup was the kind of easy I was hoping for based on my other Iwatas. This was kind of the SOTAR's weak area: the rough build quality can make it a bit fussy. Especially the color cup: the design is essentially the same, but Iwata's cleaner machining and thicker plating makes a HUGE difference. Plus the Iwata cup has a teflon disk in the bottom that gives the base a better seal and keeps paint away from the threads. The side cup stem also sockets to the body much more securely (another weakness of the SF SOTAR/Badger 100).
The Micron also feels more tanky. Not quite as tanky as my Eclipse or TH, but it feels much more solid than the SOTAR. Not that I'm planning on field testing that impression: I'm going to be treating this one VERY
nicely.
I like my SOTAR, but I always wished it had the tanky feel and ease of cleaning of my Iwatas, and now I have that, plus even better fine spray characteristics, so I'm quite happy so far. In terms of how it sprays, this feels like what I always imagined and wanted from an airbrush since before I got my first brush back in the nineties.
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. It's 6AM and i've already checked the tracking, it showed up in my hometown at 519AM, the suspense is killing me. 
