Looking for an Olympos SP-B - where is the best place to buy a new one ?

[Dr. David Bowman]

A very good to Everyone !

I hope you are all doing Great !

I am Looking for an Olympos SP-B - where is the best place to buy a new one ?

I am a newbie and am not sure if I am allowed to post Names or Youtube Links ...

But there is a person on Youtube going by the name of - Frank who does reviews and comparisons of different airbrushes.

Frank did say that the Olympos SP-B is the Best Airbrush he had ever used and in his opinion, the only Airbrush you will ever need.

May I please kindly ask if this Frank person can be trusted if I would like to buy from him ?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you very much for your time and kind help.

Kind Regards as Always.

Dr. David Bowman

 

[markjthomson]

Hi there Dr Bowman... We know Frank, he is a member here. He really likes his Olympos and dollar for dollar he isn't far wrong but I would add a couple of caveats. 1. Supply of spare parts for Olympos are difficult to find and the factory isn't making any. 2. The needles are delicate (being a very fine angle). I have an Olympos and it sprays as well as my micron but I don't use it as I don't want to risk the damage. In terms of reliability, availability of parts, etc, get Iwata. The Iwata is the Olympos brush made better. They pray about the same and youcan get parts for them. As a general comment it is better to spend the extra dollars and get the Iwata. Now if you are tight on cash the Olympos is not a bad buy, just buy with fore knowledge!

Now, the next thing to do is pop along to the introduction section and say Hi for us... how did you get into airbrushing? What do you want to paint? Which part of the world do you live in... that sort of thing!

Oh and how is Hal...?

Cheers Mark

 

[Dr. David Bowman]

Thank you for the reply !!!

I understand what you are saying very clearly Sir ...

Now on with the Intro !!!



Dr. David Bowman

 

[Dr. David Bowman]

By the way

Which of the Iwata most resembles the - Olympos SP-B ?

Kind Regards as Always.

Dr. David Bowman

 

[Malky]

Thank you for the reply !!!

I understand what you are saying very clearly Sir ...

Now on with the Intro !!!



Dr. David Bowman

Welcome to the forum Dr. Bowman, I'm with Mark on the choice of brush, stick with Iwata because as Mark states, parts for olympos will be very very hard to find and I have no doubt that if you did buy an Olympos, within the first few months due to their fragility, you might need parts, iwata parts are easy to find all over the world and far less fragile.

 

[Malky]

By the way

Which of the Iwata most resembles the - Olympos SP-B ?

Kind Regards as Always.

Dr. David Bowman

Iwata hi-line HP-B I reckon would be your best choice, it's a mid range high performance tool with 0.2 needle/nozzle.

 

[Vladimir]

Which of the Iwata most resembles the - Olympos SP-B ?

That does CM-B, as it has the same (like any of Micron line) air nozzle and paint nozzle. Generally both 0.18mm of micron line setups - CM-B and CM-SB.

 

[Robbyrockett2]

Your intro post and interest in Olympos sounds like you are largely interested in the nostalgia aspect as well. 1980's airbrush jewelry.
I know next to nothing about olympos but you can order from them, I think they just have a ton of New Old Stock
Looks like they run $265 USD or so for sp-b
http://olympos-airbrush.ocnk.net/product-list?keyword=sp-b&Submit=Search
Lots of spare needles and parts listed on that page as well.

The custom sp-b looks like is already out of replacement parts and I don't know what the difference is.

If you're looking for functionality, long term use, yeah I'd go a whole different direction and there are a few top quality brushes out there, aside from Iwata.
You'll also be looking for a decent compressor so you don't get all that water spitting.
Common recommendation is California-air

 

[DaveG]

Hi Dr. David, another David here - I have a decent collection of brushes, and may be able to offer some answers here.

To answer the question as straight as possible, the best place to order an Olympos SP-B from is directly from Olympos Japan. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, Olympos actually stopped production many years ago, and what is being sold now is remaining inventory. The person that owns said inventory is maybe not the most helpful sort in the business, as he is just trying to sell what he has. He is nice enough, just really bad at answering questions with any sort of insight, and helpfulness.

I do own a good number of Olympos brushes. I generally do not recommend them to someone just starting out for a couple of reasons. The first would be lack of support in the event that new parts are needed. Newbies tend to be hard on parts, and new ones come in handy. Needles tend to be very delicate when compared to others, and I don;t find that the brushes offer anything so spectacular over other readily available choices to warrant the potential downside to using them.

There is not a direct Iwata comparison to the Olympos SP, because the SP uses the same air flow pattern generated within a Micron head - and Olympos and Iwata Microns are the ones that have the same pattern. There are a few odd ball alternatives, but none are readily available as a direct replacement for the Olympos SP-B. The Iwata HP and HP+, and HiLine brushes are very good choices for very nice brushes as an alternative. The HP-B+ is one of my favorite go-to brushes for a very long time now.

With that being said, if you think you could live with a "C" cup instead of a "B", I would highly recommend you looking at the Mr Hobby Procon Creos PS770 (a mouthful, I know) as this brush is right on par with the other two Micron series brushes - Olympos and Iwata. It uses a .18 nozzle, needle, and head set that is interchangeable with the ones from the other two brands, and is of equal quality and performance potential.

If you feel a little adventurous, I have also pieced together some equally performing hybrid brushes using available models that rival Micron performance, but that is another story altogether, perhaps best left for another day .

 

[Chris the Cabbie]

Hi Dr. David, another David here - I have a decent collection of brushes, and may be able to offer some answers here.

To answer the question as straight as possible, the best place to order an Olympos SP-B from is directly from Olympos Japan. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, Olympos actually stopped production many years ago, and what is being sold now is remaining inventory. The person that owns said inventory is maybe not the most helpful sort in the business, as he is just trying to sell what he has. He is nice enough, just really bad at answering questions with any sort of insight, and helpfulness.

I do own a good number of Olympos brushes. I generally do not recommend them to someone just starting out for a couple of reasons. The first would be lack of support in the event that new parts are needed. Newbies tend to be hard on parts, and new ones come in handy. Needles tend to be very delicate when compared to others, and I don;t find that the brushes offer anything so spectacular over other readily available choices to warrant the potential downside to using them.

There is not a direct Iwata comparison to the Olympos SP, because the SP uses the same air flow pattern generated within a Micron head - and Olympos and Iwata Microns are the ones that have the same pattern. There are a few odd ball alternatives, but none are readily available as a direct replacement for the Olympos SP-B. The Iwata HP and HP+, and HiLine brushes are very good choices for very nice brushes as an alternative. The HP-B+ is one of my favorite go-to brushes for a very long time now.

With that being said, if you think you could live with a "C" cup instead of a "B", I would highly recommend you looking at the Mr Hobby Procon Creos PS770 (a mouthful, I know) as this brush is right on par with the other two Micron series brushes - Olympos and Iwata. It uses a .18 nozzle, needle, and head set that is interchangeable with the ones from the other two brands, and is of equal quality and performance potential.

If you feel a little adventurous, I have also pieced together some equally performing hybrid brushes using available models that rival Micron performance, but that is another story altogether, perhaps best left for another day .

I own an Olympos SP-B and can say with authority that you can easily solve the needle issue. What I have done is use the GSI PS-770 fluid nozzle and .18 needle and replaced them from the stock Olympos items and never looked back. It also helps that I bought mine off an eBay seller for $136US in the original case.
I would not discount this brush as it can easily be a poor man's Micron with this modified with PS-770 parts as the fragility of Olympos needles is completely solved.
Regards,
Chris the cabbie

 

[DaveG]

I own an Olympos SP-B and can say with authority that you can easily solve the needle issue. What I have done is use the GSI PS-770 fluid nozzle and .18 needle and replaced them from the stock Olympos items and never looked back. It also helps that I bought mine off an eBay seller for $136US in the original case.
I would not discount this brush as it can easily be a poor man's Micron with this modified with PS-770 parts as the fragility of Olympos needles is completely solved.
Regards,
Chris the cabbie

you might even try the nozzle/air cap from the PS770 to go with the nozzle and needle - think it may tighten the pattern up even more. Will check that in the morning...

 

[Robbyrockett2]

I own an Olympos SP-B and can say with authority that you can easily solve the needle issue. What I have done is use the GSI PS-770 fluid nozzle and .18 needle and replaced them from the stock Olympos items and never looked back. It also helps that I bought mine off an eBay seller for $136US in the original case.
I would not discount this brush as it can easily be a poor man's Micron with this modified with PS-770 parts as the fragility of Olympos needles is completely solved.
Regards,
Chris the cabbie

For like 5-10 more dollars (assuming you got a crazy good deal as you did) you could just buy the 770
Assuming you paid a normal price for the sp-b you'd be spending like +$90 more than just buying a 770 to have an sp-b that was up to par.
But I mean if you just like the idea of having an olympos then it's cool that there are working parts to upgrade it with.
Good info.

 

[Chris the Cabbie]

you might even try the nozzle/air cap from the PS770 to go with the nozzle and needle - think it may tighten the pattern up even more. Will check that in the morning...

Let's count the number of times I mention Olympos and you go and start investigate/mod another airbrush?
-HP-100SB Frankenbrush
and now this one???

Kinda like Pacino in the Godfather 2 "every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in!"
Regards,
Chris the cabbie

 

[Chris the Cabbie]

For like 5-10 more dollars (assuming you got a crazy good deal as you did) you could just buy the 770
Assuming you paid a normal price for the sp-b you'd be spending like +$90 more than just buying a 770 to have an sp-b that was up to par.
But I mean if you just like the idea of having an olympos then it's cool that there are working parts to upgrade it with.
Good info.

Yo Rockett,

You forgot something in this, the SP-B has a B size color cup (IMHO the right size for a detail brush) and all the PS-770 airbrushes I can find all have HUMONGOUS C size color cups. Personally, I find these are much too large and get in the way of seeing your work properly. A smaller color cup can always have a touch more paint added but a large cup, the paint will skin over. What's the point in that? Sure they give you a lid and all but it still doesn't solve the problem with an obstructed view of the work in progress. That is why this new member probably likes the SP-B I'll wager. The brush has all Micron parts out the gate and is still substantially cheaper than an Iwata Micron that are now hitting up tp $800. Granted that is the high side but is likely to become more common as Iwata Micron prices have soared lately and will not come down anytime soon.
Regards,
Chris the cabbie

 

[Robbyrockett2]

Yo Rockett,

You forgot something in this, the SP-B has a B size color cup (IMHO the right size for a detail brush) and all the PS-770 airbrushes I can find all have HUMONGOUS C size color cups. Personally, I find these are much too large and get in the way of seeing your work properly. A smaller color cup can always have a touch more paint added but a large cup, the paint will skin over. What's the point in that? Sure they give you a lid and all but it still doesn't solve the problem with an obstructed view of the work in progress. That is why this new member probably likes the SP-B I'll wager. The brush has all Micron parts out the gate and is still substantially cheaper than an Iwata Micron that are now hitting up tp $800. Granted that is the high side but is likely to become more common as Iwata Micron prices have soared lately and will not come down anytime soon.
Regards,
Chris the cabbie

Yeah that's true, I never even think about the cup size. I personally don't aim down the barrel since i'm used to C's now and probably won't ever aim that way since i tended not to even when using bottom feed. I don't tend to fill several brushes to change colors either because the way I used them before it was never convenient to set one down and right now I've got only two brushes that are good enough for high detail so the paint color tends to get swapped way before it has a chance to skin over. Actually I've never had a waterbased paint skin over, will they?
Sounds like the sp-b with the 770 parts would make a good option if you wanted a b cup. Even paying full price for the sp-b you'd be at what $300-325 which aint bad for a b size micron option.

I got the impression from the OP's post in the introduction section that he was more looking for a HI-PO 1980s brush more or less just for the sake of nostalgia though. To see what kinda of work he could of been doing back then if he had the nice stuff.

 

[Dr. David Bowman]

Inspirational Airbrush Artists of the 80s

I would like to introduce everyone to a Airbrush Artist of the 80s by the name of Bob Wakelin.

He is the one who did all the Airbrush Art for the Commodore 64 Magazine for the company - OCEAN.

If you search ebay.co.uk for his art prints, they are still selling them.

I have always look at Bob as one of the most prolific Airbrush Artists of the 80s.

It is a pity Bob has fallen into ill health these days.

Thank you Bob for all the Great AirBrush Art memories from the 80s.