NEw baby... Olympos Micron MP 200C

[markjthomson]

Thanks to the very generous @frank artale I am now the proud owner of an Olympos Micron MP-200C. This is basically the same brush as my Custom Micron CM-C. IT is a nice looking brush with a good balance and feel. The cup is slightly smaller. I'll give it a clean, apply some K33 lube and give it a run a little later today... watch this space.

 

[JackEb]

Welcome home Simone, I think you'll enjoy Marks company, I haven't heard any complaints from Suzie

Mark, it will be interesting to see what you think.

 

[jord001]

Nice looking piece of kit, now you got to prove its worth Looking forward to seeing what you create.

Lee

 

[musicmacd]

Excellent

 

[J000seph]

Cool! I've had my eye on that exact model... Curious to hear how you think it compares to your Iwata..

 

[markjthomson]

OK so here we go. Here are the two brushes side by side. They are essentially the same brush with some minor modifications. Olympus had the original design and sold it to Iwata) My Iwata Micron came with a soft spring and a taller trigger, both of which I appreciate and would modify on the Olympus Micron. The cup on the Olympus is slightly smaller but that isn't a problem. The Olympus is slightly lighter as the tail end is plastic rather than metal. That doesn't seem to affect the balance at all. Straight out of the box it needs a little lube but the application of some K33 needle balm solves that. The trigger feels responsive but I can notice the difference of the soft spring. I like the cup design better than the Iwata micron but the cup design on the Iwata eclipse is still my favourite for ease of clean and good feed of paint. The order of photos is Olympus micron cup, Iwata Micron cup and Iwata eclipse cup.

 

[markjthomson]

So how does it spray. I put a 2:1 mix of transparent black and water (so 50% reduction) golden high flow and sprayed both brushes down to 5%. Both of them are spraying with the split air cap on. As you can see they are both pretty much the same. A couple of "comfort" modifications and you would never know the difference. All in all the Olympus is a nice brush. If you don't have (or want to spend) the coin for the Iwata Micron this brush should fit the bill quite nicely! Thanks again the @frank artale for setting up the little competition and the giveaway - spreading the love! Check out his reviews on youtube of the Olympus vs the Micron. here is his channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgR4nMN5vH2e_p-0tw2unMA

 

[Mr.Micron]

Now between the two I like the cup style of the Olympus then the CM-C. That is the reason I bought the CM-C+ .
Hat off to @frank artale

 

[J000seph]

Great to hear that the Olympos gets your vote! I think I know what my next airbrush purchase will be, and who to get it from. Thanks for your review

 

[markjthomson]

Yes indeed. I think I will see if I can get a side feed for my next brush. Here is a quick dirty test piece I trialed to give it a spin... Minimal erasing... just enough for effect.

 

[rpglogic]

"The Olympus is slightly lighter as the tail end is plastic rather than metal"

Olympos tail end is made from metal not from plastic, i prefer olympos because lighter and trigger on olympos more responsive.

 

[markjthomson]

Ah look at that - yes, you're right - probably aluminium. It balances out the smaller cup. The Iwata I have has been tweaked for better response and so is better than original custom micron. The Olympus is good but I can't compare straight out of the box with the Iwata. My Iwata micron performs better enough that I'll modify the Olympos to match it. Like I said, it's a good brush and some will prefer one over the other. I'd recommend both.

 

[Vladimir]

Yes, Olympos tail ends are made with the same material as bodies, but aren't chrome plated. I don't know how that "blacking" is properly called but it's chemically made.

What I dont like about Olympos: cup lid, which is actually not lid but something I don't know what Brush goes with rubber needle packing at a time I use urethanes, so it doesn't suit me. But these issues are solved by simple changing parts
One more thing I don't like and can not change is that Olympos nozzle works badly with opaques But as I understand, it's a problem for all small nozzles. At the same time, Iwata's 0,18 (CM-SB) works better with literally the same paint used in Olympos. I think it's because of gravity/siphon reason.
But MP sprays transparent paints like CM, I mean very fine spraying (pattern).
For me it's an AB for transparents only. Just my thoghts

As for me, it's good AB for the collection, it's not going to be my favorite I don't like gravity airbrushes in general. I wonder what I'll say about MP-A, it has smaller nozzle and much smaller cup, and shorter body either. I like its appearance but can't say how it's at work.

 

[markjthomson]

It will be anodising of some sort by the look of it. Do you know if you can get tefllon seals for them...?

 

[frank artale]

I Have the Teflon Seal for the Micron. I carry because everyone asks for it. Alot of people said to me early on. I wont buy it because it has rubber needle packing.
Well the fact is, So does the iwata. Only the million dollar KUSTOM series has the Teflon/solvent resistant needle packing. So for $20 extra on top of the 169 I have been giving them away for you get what is arguably one of the best detail airbrushes out for less than $190.
And I put the teflon packing in for anyone who needs it. Can some one tell me why it took me 2 months to sell 15 of them. AND i sold a few for less .

 

[frank artale]

And I have to be honest , the more I use the Olympos, the less I like the CM-C. For real, the trigger feel and response is just better in my opinion. But it all depends on what you are spraying, and how thin.

 

[markjthomson]

Yup I gotta say I agree completely, performance for price the Olympos is brilliant.

 

[frank artale]

You are very right. But, at any price the Olympos is brilliant. I think Olympos is cutting there own throats by selling it for roughly the same as i do.
With no advertising on their part, and only a history of greatness, followed by very shady comments floating around the web about them. They need to do something.
I kinda have to sell it for the same price as they do because its no secret they have a website. people are not stupid.
The only advantage by getting it from me , is i'm in the U.S.
I ship it faster than they do and I answer everyones questions.
I have even given them a slogan . you might have seen it in my videos ;
Olympos- " Versatility-Balance-Control" the best the world has to offer.
It just came to me, after they sent me like every model they made. after trying them all i thought hmmm. very versatile line up. Some of which looked like they would not feel as balanced as they did. and then the fact that they created the micron... pretty much the best we have and have had for the past 30 yrs
So a no brainer slogan really
ya mite not agree with it, but. No brainer none the less

 

[Malky]

I Have the Teflon Seal for the Micron. I carry because everyone asks for it. Alot of people said to me early on. I wont buy it because it has rubber needle packing.
Well the fact is, So does the iwata. Only the million dollar KUSTOM series has the Teflon/solvent resistant needle packing. So for $20 extra on top of the 169 I have been giving them away for you get what is arguably one of the best detail airbrushes out for less than $190.
And I put the teflon packing in for anyone who needs it. Can some one tell me why it took me 2 months to sell 15 of them. AND i sold a few for less .

I can tell you that right now, "SCAREMONGERING" just as you have seen here and I've seen it just about everywhere, people exist that despite not knowing anything about anything pretend that they do and then you hear all kinds of stories about how Olympos screwed Iwata and stole their designs and used these designs for their own means, a lot of these know it all's, some featured here by the way have never owned an Olympos or Iwata for that matter but still have opinions about how it is, the only story out of all of the crap I have read that I actually believe is that is that both versions are based on the same design features, the rest doesn't interest me and I have no opinion other than if it works well it's worth buying, however, like many I have fallen into the trap of believing that Iwata is the best but I'm quickly becoming aware that I and others are simply buying a name pushed upon us by the same fools I mention above, so talking crap with no authority to back it up is dangerous and that's all it comes down to.

As Mr Micron said, I much prefer the style of the cup on the Olympos to the Micron, because the Micron one looks like it was just plonked on there as an afterthought, a ridiculously ugly feature for such a price tag.

If you want to get the Olympos name back on the map, I think you would need to go live events and let consumers try out both brushes so can they see first hand that the only difference between the two is the price tag, I have bought loads of stuff based on the opinions of others and been very disappointed so I am now a firm believer in "taste and try before you buy" and I like to see stuff work before I'll even consider buying, I did that with my new compressor, I asked them to switch it on and let me hear it which they did, if they didn't it would still be in the shop, I've been to the Olympos and found it difficult and confusing to navigate and even translating the site was laughable, the English version sounds a child learning to talk, so if they are going to be taken serious they would need to work that, I think a native English speaker who can also speak Japanese would be a far better option for translating their site, there are a couple Olympos dealers here in Holland but the spare parts they carry is very limited which certainly puts me off, if a dealer is happy to sell their brushes, they shouldn't have to beg for spares to go along with the lines they sell, it's this limited availability of parts that stops me buying one.

 

[Vladimir]

Just forgotten to say Mark, change stock airvalve spring for soft one and you'l be surprised how smooth your MP is. I did so, and it has become another airbrush.
Olympos has its own teflon packings for almost all models. So it's not an issue at all I've got custom made packings here changed in all my Olymposes

Frank's prices are sweet. Maybe I'll buy from him in future, as the price is lower then in Japan I've got some ideas about the Olympos.