Thread: Low PSI spraying?

Hi guys! I plan to get a new airbrush soon (have a Iwata HP-CS right now) and I need one that sprays very fine detail (Im thinking needle/nozzle no larger than .2mm) and I need it to be a brush that's meant to spray at a low PSI (20 and under) without getting that grainy looking effect low PSI spraying gives me with my current ab. What brush should I be looking at?

Ive been considering a Mojo, Grex XN, Iwata CM-B or the Harder and Steenbeck Infinity. Which would you guys reccomend? Any other ones I should be considering?

Thanks for any help!

The grainy look can happen with any brush, it's more of an issue with the paint than the airbrush. The thicker/heavier/higher the viscosity, the more pressure it takes to atomize/spray the paint. So the real questions you need to answer are; What kind of paint are you going to use? How fine of a line or detail do you really need and want? and What kind of painting are you going to do?
THe last question is important, The Microns are nice brushes, but they are typically overkill for 99% of the airbrushing world. The Mojo is just a modified Richpen airbrush with the 0.2mm nozzle and needle. Both of those are very expensive to buy, and to maintain. The needle and nozzle off the Microns can run you as much as another airbrush. The XN sprays as nicely as the Mojo, and it too has a 0.2mm needle and nozzle, and it doesn't cost you a paycheck to replace either or both.

The Infinity can go even finer than the Micron (by .03mm) and can do really nice detail, but those tiny nozzle setups come at a cost in performance and usability. The smaller the nozzle and needle, the touchier the performance is. It takes only a tiny blob or chunk of something to block up those tiny nozzles, and only the slightest bump to destroy the nozzles or needles.

You may be pleasantly surprized to find that brushes like the XG, the XS and the HP-C are capable of some remarkably fine detail, and they use heavier/thicker paints, and let you/your brush hold more paint.
The XS is a side feed brush that lets you work with a variety of different size reservoirs, and lets you rotate them to any angle to work. That's important if you need to point a brush at any extreme angles (straight up, straight down, etc.)

Thanks for all the great help everyone! My issue is that what Im ABing on is a paint repelling hard surface (resin) that I cant do any prep work on to make it so the paint sticks better. I also have to use an acrylic paint and not a paint that might adhere better because it can't stain the resin if its removed later.

Im painting doll heads that are small (fist sized and smaller) and I find that because of the surface I cant get very close to it to do finer work which is why I was wondering about a low PSI AB. My HP-CS says it needs to use 40PSI but I use it lower than that. To get as close as id like I notice it needs to be around 10PSI but then I get the grainy look even with the paint Im using (Com Art).

Im not as worried about the price of the airbrush because I consider it an investment and I do commission work for my airbrushing so its something I use pretty much daily. I do know that experience and practice is a huge part of getting an airbrush to do what you want it to but I was just hoping to find a good brush that will be better suited to my needs than my current one.

I really do appreciate your help and guidance guys!

As much as I like siphon feed brushes, I would avoid them for your needs. Because they require more air pressure to create the siphon/vacuum needed to pull the paint from below, they will have a much tougher time working at the lower pressure.

A brush you might want to look into for the detail and shading capabilities would be the Paasche AB Turbo, it can do finer lines than the Microns, the Infinity, the Mojo, the Satagraph, etc. It gives the user a huge variety of texture capabilities too. It does require very thin/light viscosity paints or inks though.

You might consider trying a different paint. I used Golden Airbrush Colors in doing a demo with a pair of ladies who own a company that makes porclean figurines, and doing those was no problem even with a 0.3mm nozzle. The heads were about half the size of a golf ball, so doing stuff your size should be a snap. As far as the adhesion issue goes, you may find that doing a clear coat with something like GAC900 first will give you a better surface to work on, and still let you remove it all if you need to. However that same "removeability" would still be there in the finished product. Those same problems would occur with any paint you wish to use that you have to be able to remove.
Another alternative would be something like One-Shot Lettering Enamel, it can work on the hard non-porous surface and would give an incredible hold/grip.
I would to some testing before I commited to using it though. Without knowing what the "Resin" is that you are using, it's tough to tell if there would be any issues with staining or removal.

So I see know one has said the eclipse is a good brush for detail I am know and that is what some one told be to buy have I gone wrong in that buy

Originally Posted by heavyhitters

So I see know one has said the eclipse is a good brush for detail I am know and that is what some one told be to buy have I gone wrong in that buy

We didn't mention that model because that is what he/she already has, and they are asking about a brush with a finer needle and nozzle size.

I would also look at the new Tritium models from Grex, you can get it with the 0.2mm nozzle and needle setup, and it lets you have a large reservoir either mounted on top, or as a side feed brush (depending upon which model you buy), those models will let you switch the nozzle and needle sizes.