Iwata / Olympos Micron Head system

[Electric Cat Dude]

I’m getting ready to power up and use my old CM-B / CM-SB next week after about two decades in storage. I realize that I need to replace both the nozzles and needles on both brushes but I’m having a debate over the effectiveness of this vs buying a complete fluid head system.

Iwata advertises (or at least used to) the fluid head system as being hand matched for optimum performance. I tend to think this is a marketing gimmick as these parts were precision machined to exact tolerances to begin with and a hand fitting won’t make that much of a difference. Does anybody have any experience with this?

 

[erwin de pan]

I only replaced the nozzle.
On my c.m and have not noticed any difference.
The nozzle is still perfectly in the middle of the aircab.
There is also sealing on a new nozzle.
So that's no problem either.

 

[SiRoxx]

I’ve had an Iwata Technician change a nozzle in front of me and telling me that it doesn’t effect the performance of the brush.

 

[DaveG]

It kind of depends... I think what you have are 2 Iwata brushes, so there are physically some differences from Olympos. Now, based on age, I am also assuming you have V1's. V1's specs are much closer to the original Olympos specs. When you buy parts, you can just get a nozzle and needle from Iwata. The new V2 nozzle and needle are quite different than the V1 so, you may also want to add a nozzle cap for each. They will work with the original caps, but the new one has a smaller outlet hole, offering better vacuum and finer atomization (in conjunction with the V2 nozzle and needle).

If you have an Olympos head, you will absolutely also want to change the nozzle cap. If you try the original, you will always be fighting with the brush, wondering way it does not work like it used to.

 

[Electric Cat Dude]

One other thing: has anybody got their Microns to spray a stipple pattern when you remove both the nozzle and needle caps? This was an advertised feature but it never worked on my CM-B and CM-SB.

 

[DaveG]

One other thing: has anybody got their Microns to spray a stipple pattern when you remove both the nozzle and needle caps? This was an advertised feature but it never worked on my CM-B and CM-SB.

Yes. You have to rock the needle back and forth. The Richpen Gemini models (same needle and nozzle cap style as a Micron - very similar to Olympos SP models) come with a test sheet showing the stipple it will produce with the needle and nozzle caps removed...

 

[Electric Cat Dude]

Yes. You have to rock the needle back and forth. The Richpen Gemini models (same needle and nozzle cap style as a Micron - very similar to Olympos SP models) come with a test sheet showing the stipple it will produce with the needle and nozzle caps removed...

So you’re saying I have to rock the trigger back and forth constantly with the airbrush in that configuration to get a stipple pattern? I would think this would produce unreliable and uneven spray patterns.

I know the HP series can stipple when operated normally; I’m surprised the Microns don’t work the same.

 

[DaveG]

A Micron stipples just fine by reducing air pressure, or pinching off the air hose - no need to remove the cap, although you can . You get much more control with air pressure though... a Micron is just an airbrush, it is not some sort of magical, holly grail or something

 

[JackEb]

Direct quote from the Iwata website.

"Just about every airbrush will stipple to some degree by simply adjusting the air pressure lower than normal. But, the standard tried-and-true Iwata HP-C is the airbrush I prefer for creating stippled textural effects. However, the Iwata HP-A, HP-B, and HP-SB airbrushes function equally well for stippling. Even the Iwata Eclipse models will stipple in this same technique (though not quite as effectively) as the models just mentioned. Micron type airbrushes will stipple, but are not ideal for this application."​

the left column depicts atomized spray with the needle cap and nozzle cap still attached to the airbrush. This yields the smooth spray that we expect from any airbrush at 25-psi. The next column shows a coarse spray pattern at 25-psi with the needle cap and nozzle cap removed. In each of the consecutive columns I reduced the air pressure by about 3-psi. In painting the final column, I rocked the trigger back and forth to get paint to flow. As you can see, the lower the air pressure, the larger the dots.

Aiming the airbrush directly at the surface produces tiny round dots. This type of stipple might be ideal for textural effects in painting sand, stone, brick, concrete, rust, a galaxy of stars in a night sky, or any number of other subjects. I even stipple flesh in my paintings so that it has a little texture and doesn't look like "plastic."


https://www.anest-iwata.com.au/tutorials/illustration/a-gritty-angle-on-stipple

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