Sotar 20/20 uk

Mike115

Mac-Valve Maestro!
Hey yall

Are there any UK suppliers who carry this?


I can only seem to see USA ones and the tax would be eye watering.
Also if I can get a "fine" one without cup, are they the same, ie, can I just add a cup myself?

Thank you
 
Thanks mate, for the price, a good buy?

I have quite a few Sotar brushes. My absolute favorite is an early 90's first gen model. Super nice brush, that works like a charm. I also received a Slim from Badger as a gift. It is a modern re-interpretation of the first gen, with all new machining. Maybe the best machine work I have seen on a Badger in some time. Love that the needle packing is adjustable and replaceable by the user. However, it does not work as nicely as my original. I also have several that I purchased chasing a dream, and they just don't work well enough to do anything for me. I have had nozzle alignment issues on a couple, etc...

I do have quite a few Sotar heads that I use on other brushes, as well as brushes like a Renegade Spirit, which is really a side feed Sotar with the head base soldered on - and they do work quite well.

So, my bottom line - I have had some terrible luck with Badger products. But, chalk that up to just that - my luck. There are a lot of people that really like them, and I will say when I get one that works well, they work well, and are certainly worth recommending.

3 sotars1.jpg
 
My Mrs wants to treat me due to a few things that's happened recently

It'd be for fine details on car body models mainly, I was advised that it's a good idea to have one for waterbased paint and one for solvent paints due to the issues of cross contamination etc, I'm sure it's not exactly essential like but....
 
I've never had any issues using both types through the same airbrush, obviously not at the same time. The only one I wouldn't use solvents through is the Micron SB as it doesn't have the ptfe seal.

I had a Sotar and used it a couple of times. Personally I didn't get on with it and went back to my Iwata.
It did pull a really nice fine line so can't fault it on that point however I did find it was very finicky with the paint, it had to be "just right" or I had loads of issues. After the few uses I put it back in the box as it was more work than it was worth to get it to spray perfectly and it sat in a drawer until one of my airbrush friends said they were after one. I gave it to her and said if you get on with it buy me a few beers.

Is it the size of the cup you bothered about? If not I would get a Mr Hobby PS270 which is a 0.2 setup and will pull a real nice fine line. Just as cheap but much less fussy about paint. I'm sure DaveG and a few others can tell you how good a line the 270 will pull.

Lee
 
Tbh I'd seen a couple of "pros" using the 20/20 so just assumed it's the best way to go, especially being a bugger name too

I've never heard of the Mr hobby brushes before so thanks for the heads up ill have a poke around
 
There really is no comparison to be made between the Badger, and the Procon GSI PS270. One negative for me, is the physical size of the Procon, as it is a large brush. Get past that, and it takes top honors across the board in comparison to the 20/20. Fit and finish, built in MAC valve, trigger is far superior, etc... Atomization is much finer with the PS270, although you can pull about the same size line work with both - it will just be much cleaner, particularly on the edges with the Procon.
 
"Mr. Hobby" is a product line within the GSI Creos company. They're a very reputable producer of hobby paint and tools in Japan. Maybe not as well known in the west, outside of the sci-fi modeling community (who know them as a result of Japan being a cultural center for mecha and sci-fi figure modeling). They've been around for decades, but have only recently started offering airbrushes.

I've no experience with them myself (their airbrushes, I mean; I've used their primers and some of their other tools), but from word of mouth in the community here, indicators seem to be that their airbrushes are manufactured for them by Iwata. Sort of like how SATA (and a few others') brushes are manufactured by Badger. Their designs appear to be directly based on Iwata brushes, but with some tweaks/improvements. Not copycats, but more like GSI is submitting changes to Iwata as part of their manufacturing specs.

Looking at pics of the parts, the 270/289 looks to be a hybrid: Eclipse/Revolution-style "guts", with a Micron-style (in terms of design; I can't speak to precision) head system. If that's anywhere close to true, and it is being made in the Iwata factory, then it should be an extremely good brush for the money.

I'd love to see how it sprays compared to the Eclipse. The design implies it might spray nicer fine lines at lower pressure (provided the general quality comparison the Iwata holds true), and the head being removable would make cleaning the tiny nozzle as easy as the Eclipse's large floating nozzle. The price is less, so if it sprays as well or better, it could be an Eclipse-killer when it comes to best all-'rounder.

I have 2 SOTARs, and while they're fine and capable brushes spray quality wise, IMO they're no longer market-competitive. It's a detail specialized brush rather than a general purpose brush, meaning you don't buy one as an "only" brush, but rather in addition to a general use or broad coverage brush. Problem there is that there's general use brushes that can approach or match its detail ability for not that much more money, so if your budget is tight enough to make its price a factor, then you're better off buying one of those better all-rounders than two separate brushes at a higher total cost.

It also has rough spots that make it IMO less desirable if you can afford just a little bit higher of a price. The cup interior has a very "no-frills" join with the body, which creates a bad recessed interior seam that paint can linger in. This is not a problem with the machining or soldering/brazing quality, but rather with the shape of the parts. I.E. the problem is in the blueprints, not in the manufacturing. Both my SOTARs have rough machining in the trigger cutout that give the trigger action a gritty feeling if the trigger is not pulled back in a specific way. Doubly annoying, as Badger touts applying a low-friction "Glydercoat" finish on their triggers, which if true is rendered a completely pointless waste of money by their leaving rough edges on the metal itself.

I've also had issues with SOTAR nozzles being either mislabeled or manufactured out-of-spec. I've got two "fine" nozzles, one of which sprays perfectly, the other clogs like mad and is excessively restrictive about paint reduction. Close examination reveals the latter has a smaller hole at the tip. So either the smaller one is out-of-spec, or the larger one was a mislabeled/mispackaged "medium" nozzle. I suspect the former, as the latter would be strange given how well/poorly they respectively work together with the "fine" needle.
 
The GSI brushes are not made by Iwata. Iwata themselves do not manufacture airbrushes at all. The two brands are both made in the same facility, though.

Gunze Sangyo (the GSI part of the name) has been offering airbrushes for a bit over 10 years. They have only recently been marketed outside of Japan on any type of scale (maybe 3 or 4 years).
 
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Awesome wrote up Nessus thanks

Is the 770 as good as the top of the range iwata? /worth the jump over the 270?


Cheers mate
 
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