Did some testing, who needs a micron???

[Scott]

I haven't had a lot of time lately to devote to working on actual project do customer orders for my "side business" but I didn't want my airbrush getting lonely so tonight I decided to take about 30 min or so and just do some playing around. I still have not found that perfect combination of air pressure and paint reduction for the best results, so thats what I messed with tonight.

I took a piece of watercolor paper and marked it out with 9 different squares and marked them with the reduction and air pressure. I went from 10 PSI to 15 PSI to 20 PSI, with reductions of 1:1, 2:1, and 4:1 at each pressure. I was actually surprised how fine of a dot and line I could get out of a .35 NEO, it wasn't the easiest to super fine lines and dots but it was possible, but it felt as though there was a little bit of a "slop" (for lack of a better word) in the trigger and it took a lot of focus and concentration to keep that fine line. I can see that over time working with this brush putting those very thin lines won't be an issue at all.

I still have a long way to go with trigger control as you can see but its so much better than I was even 2 weeks ago. My beginner advice to all the other beginners out there, it may be boring to make dots and lines over and over again but it really does help, and play with your reductions and your your pressure, I was really really surprised that it seems as thought 20PSI at a 2:1 reduction is a comfortable spot.

 

[JackEb]

Agreed, it is possible to do fine lines with any airbrush out there as long as you take the time to discover it’s sweet spot of right psi for the paint/reduction you are using.

 

[huskystafford]

 

[huskystafford]

I can't find those practise sheets from her

 

[Scott]

Agreed, it is possible to do fine lines with any airbrush out there as long as you take the time to discover it’s sweet spot of right psi for the paint/reduction you are using.

Ill admit when it first got my brush a few weeks ago I thought there was going to be no way I was going be able to get the lines I was wanting to get on the size of work I planned on working on. I was a little frustrated and disheartened thinking I was going to have to scrape my plans. That said the NEO is a great brush and you can do a lot with it but I can imagine stepping up to an Eclipse in the future (probably the near future).

 

[DaveG]

I have a lot of experience, and enough brushes to be able to choose what I want - and I will agree 100% that the NEO has all the capability in the world. Doing what you are doing for practice is also a fantastic way to build time with the brush, that will lead to muscle memory that will come into play when you need it later on.

The trigger on the NEO is maybe a little better than you might be thinking. At the very least, the action is very consistent with it's operation. I did choose a little softer air valve spring to suit my own personal tastes, but could live with stock.

Here's a little test sheet I did just fooling around with one of mine. The row of dots right under the brush is an exercise that I do to develop a feel for the trigger. I draw the needle back while releasing air until I get a dot. Then I let up pressure, without stopping air flow, until the dot stops, move, and repeat the dot, and let up - without moving the needle. Once you develop a feel for the trigger - it will be your friend .


The photo was for something else, but the arrows indicate where I was fooling with my air pressure. Too much pressure, and too little pressure both caused a dashed, or dotted line.

 

[Scott]

I have a lot of experience, and enough brushes to be able to choose what I want - and I will agree 100% that the NEO has all the capability in the world. Doing what you are doing for practice is also a fantastic way to build time with the brush, that will lead to muscle memory that will come into play when you need it later on.

The trigger on the NEO is maybe a little better than you might be thinking. At the very least, the action is very consistent with it's operation. I did choose a little softer air valve spring to suit my own personal tastes, but could live with stock.

Here's a little test sheet I did just fooling around with one of mine. The row of dots right under the brush is an exercise that I do to develop a feel for the trigger. I draw the needle back while releasing air until I get a dot. Then I let up pressure, without stopping air flow, until the dot stops, move, and repeat the dot, and let up - without moving the needle. Once you develop a feel for the trigger - it will be your friend .

View attachment 61982
The photo was for something else, but the arrows indicate where I was fooling with my air pressure. Too much pressure, and too little pressure both caused a dashed, or dotted line.

its probably my inexperience but when I say it feel like there is some slop, you can see a few spots where there is a big splatter and spiders, a couple of those spots it felt like the trigger "jumped" on me and ended up giving me a lot more paint than I wanted or expected to get. Again it could be my inexperience completely though.

 

[Mr.Micron]

I can't find those practise sheets from her

http://art-tehnika.ru/atlines here is her practice sheets and they are well worth the time to practice . I still hit them once in a while .

 

[JackEb]

I have no experience with the Neo, but if it’s the same as the other Iwata brushes then you can adjust the trigger spring tension to provide a softer/firmer pull back... if you release it to far though you won’t get the back handle back on

 

[huskystafford]

http://art-tehnika.ru/atlines here is her practice sheets and they are well worth the time to practice . I still hit them once in a while .

thank you. Gonna download them. I am sure Scott will join us.

 

[Scott]

I have no experience with the Neo, but if it’s the same as the other Iwata brushes then you can adjust the trigger spring tension to provide a softer/firmer pull back... if you release it to far though you won’t get the back handle back on

are you talking about the aft end of the brush or the spring under the trigger? I have yet to mess with either one of them, I don't know for certain what benefits I would get so I didn't want to mess with them just yet.

 

[Mr.Micron]

are you talking about the aft end of the brush or the spring under the trigger? I have yet to mess with either one of them, I don't know for certain what benefits I would get so I didn't want to mess with them just yet.

The aft end that controls needle pull back.

 

[huskystafford]

number 9

 

[Scott]

you guys (or gals if such is the case ). are freaking awesome! Thank you all very much!!!

 

[huskystafford]

you guys (or gals if such is the case ). are freaking awesome! Thank you all very much!!!

yea, this forum is the best
People here are the reason I got stuck on this forum. I still remember how I was ''afraid'' to ask anything, but not for long!

 

[Franc Kaiser]

I have no experience with the Neo, but if it’s the same as the other Iwata brushes then you can adjust the trigger spring tension to provide a softer/firmer pull back... if you release it to far though you won’t get the back handle back on

Wait a minute... are you guys doing that? I never fiddled with this feature (wasn't aware that you could), but regularly am annoyed about the results of my pull back (i.e., the brush not releasing paint as smoothly as i want it to appear).

 

[huskystafford]

Wait a minute... are you guys doing that? I never fiddled with this feature (wasn't aware that you could), but regularly am annoyed about the results of my pull back (i.e., the brush not releasing paint as smoothly as i want it to appear).

I have unscrewed it so much that I can put handle on, but I am on an edge to not be able to I like more softer fell. I would try without handle and all the way unscrewed, but I am afraid I would destroy needle by accident, so I unscrew how much I can and be able to sill put handle on.

to elaborate: I can make 2 turns with my handle when I try to screw it on. more or less 2 turns. So much that I know it holds on to airbrush.

 

[huskystafford]

I also wonder what would happen if I would be able to get part 8 with less tension. Hm...

 

[JackEb]

you guys (or gals if such is the case ). are freaking awesome! Thank you all very much!!!

‘Guys’ is generic, it covers all species

 

[JackEb]

are you talking about the aft end of the brush or the spring under the trigger? I have yet to mess with either one of them, I don't know for certain what benefits I would get so I didn't want to mess with them just yet.

As Mr.micron confirmed, I was referring to the aft of the brush. They do make a ‘soft’ spring for under the trigger but I don’t like it when spraying at super low pressure