Sotar 20/20 Fine tip - information on this airbrush

M

Melbee

Guest
Hi Folks,
To help people with information on this airbrush I decided to start a new thread.

Although the $75 Amazon.com Sotars are sold out at the moment, they indicate that more will be available in 1 to 3 months.

They seem to post worldwide, the postal costs are fairly cheap but you do have to pay import fees for outside the US, you will see these before you place your order. So you can cancel if you change your mind. Mine took 1 week from US to Europe.

The Fine tip version has a 0.2mm needle and nozzle. It is a very lovely fine detail airbrush. I personally love mine.

If you buy one from Amazon.com in the future be aware there is NO Badger air line adapter included, you will have to buy one separate.
The Badger airbrush fitting is called M5. I bought my adapter from a different online shop in Europe so no import fees.

There is a spare needle and both the open and 2 pronged air regulators included. (this is presuming they don't change this in future)

Cheers Mel
 
I read on Don's Airbrush Tips in his Sotar review https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/ that the Renegade needle, nozzle and air regulators fit and work in the Sotar. He states that he doesn't how good they are to spray with.

Well I have just bought a Renegade Fine Conversion Kit RK-061 with the 0.3mm setup and I tried it in my Sotar today. It did fit.

Sadly it did not spray very well at all. I used Com-Art opaque black, straight from the bottle and then mixed with Golden Airbrush Medium and then with transparent violet straight. Perhaps this paint is too thin for this setup because the spray was not good at all, with very little control, lots of spidering and over spray. Perhaps with thicker paint it would work better.

I prefer my Iwata Eclipse HP-SBS with 0.3mm setup which I like a lot and has great control. So this Renegade Conversion Kit is going in a draw (until one day I get a Renegade :))

I would not recommend using the Renegade needles, nozzles or regulators with the Sotar. The Sotar parts are by far superior, hence the huge difference in price.

I have never used a Renegade airbrush so I can not compare it to the Sotar, or how the conversion kit works in the Sotar. I can only say that the Renegade parts do not work well when put in a Sotar.

If anyone else has tried this out, let us know what your experience has been.
Cheers Mel
 
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Thanks Mel - I am so looking forward to getting mine - so far amazon's estimation for importing and transport to South Africa was an extra $32 odd dollars. well worth it from your awesome write up :)

I actually have a feeling I have an old badger hose from an old single action - I am going to try it out but I will also get the adapter from Andreza (pm on the way andre :)
 
Hi flycatchr,
Well I hope you like your Sotar as much as I like mine. Just remember that it is fussy about paint so you will need to play around to get the right paint consistency and air pressure. Also check the needle tips before you start to paint as mine were very slightly bent and that would have effected the spray. Once I'd polished them which also straightened them, it worked sweet as a nut. Hopefully your needles will be "as straight as a die" from the box :)
Cheers Mel
 
thanks Mel
apparently it left Carlstad NJ this morning (not sure what that means ITO leaving the states)
I am sure I will like it very much - I will no doubt need to get my thinning/psi right. :)
I will look very carefully at the needles - thanks for the tip (HAHAHAHA - pun intended)
 
One of the needles that came with mine was bent as well, I was able to straighten it out though. Deffinately check for this when you get it. Im still waiting on my adapter so I have not been able to play around with the Sotar yet.
 
wow wow wow - those where mine and my daughters' remarks. The Sotar looks even better in my hand than in the pic on amazon.

unboxing - all looks good - nothing missing - one extra needle that doesn't look bent. just the box looked a little pressed on the area over the
paint cup - as if it was at the bottom of a pile of boxes - but the paint cup is metal and strong :)

feel - solid feel - a little heavy compared to my cheesies. the trigger also has a slightly smaller travel for 'air on' and decent resistance to 'paint on'

tips and covers - A little bit of a battle to change to the two pronged needle guard (spray regulator)- was a little tight. gentle small pliers did the trick. the nozzle head is on a little too tight and i have already damaged the gnurles a little. "DUH fly" - that's what the little supplied spanner is for!!!!!

general - I am impressed, it is pre-oiled, seems smooth and it is definitely well made. My only problem stemming from my big hands is the very fine threads.

WARNING -
1) if you unscrew the "paint tip hold down ring" (which exposes the paint tip/nozzle) be very careful because the paint tip can fall out and go missing. the instructions tell you to hold the AB vertical when dissasembling.
2) the threads are very fine- be very careful when putting the heads assembly back together
3) RTFI - read the ffffff....fancy instructions. BEFORE taking it apart and trying it.


Tonight I will be trying it out with some paint WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO

edit - and thanks to AndreZA for meeting me on the weekend - I bought a quick release fitting from him for it - so I am good to go :) :) :)
 
SOTAR Needle Bearing/Seal

Hi all. Well I'm sending my SOTAR 20/20 in to badger to have the needle seal/bearing replaced. The bearing in these is not user serviceable, it has to go to factory. I hope the next one lasts longer.I love the airbrush but it sure is a PITA. Very temperamental. I have only had this airbrush since this last Christmas and the only paints run though it have been Golden Acrylic Airbrush Paints. Cleaned buy flushing after every days use. For the extra money the Krome is hands down the best. It will do everything the SOTAR does and is not so temperamental. :disturbed:
 
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so I have done most of my collective piece in the last two hours - reducing black DALA acrylic with 4 parts reducer (25% - 7ml denatured alcohol, 75% 23ml tap water, one drop glycerin for 30ml)
It worked like a dream for the first 1/4 paint cup - THEN .....

I wanted to swop the spray regulator to the one with the prongs to protect the needle. and it took me 20 minutes to realize that it wasn't paint or any obstructions - if the spray regulator isn't on properly (tight) - it lets air back into the paint cup and bubbles your paint. THIS is my only complaint so far - that tip regulator is very tight and difficult to take off - something i wont do often, but its still something I don't really like.

for the next 80 min there was almost no tip dry, it performed fantastically well. my one concern is the feeling that there is a little bit of stick slip - IE you pull back for paint and then a little bit too much comes out before you get a decent line - maybe I am doing something wrong?

In terms of consistency of paint cone, spraying and overall, its very nice :)
 
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