Ready for Something New

Hi JackE. Well, if they meant ounce of water why the hell didn't they say that? It is appalling at how inconcise mfgrs. can be with directions that wreck the reputations of their products.

OKAY ALREADY, PEOPLE, I AM GIVING UP ON THE F******* PLEDGE.
In fact, I haven't been using it for quite a while now with no evident change in performance other than tip dry reduction.
 
In fact, I haven't been using it for quite a while now with no evident change in performance other than tip dry reduction.


Well that's funny, yesterday you said this --

QUESTION #2: As for dealing with paints, would you recommend that I purchase and use only the cleaning/thinning/ reducing products sold by the mfgr. and not do "one type fits all."? I'm using Pledge now so maybe that's part of the problem. As I said, its not tip drying that vexes me as I can see that when it occurs. Its when the AB acts up when the tip is clean, but gummed up internally that demands a trip to the kitchen.
 
Well that's funny, yesterday you said this --

I meant generally speaking, not right at this moment. For "quite a while" means a week or so. Guess I'd better be more careful with syntax since I'm being edited so closely.
 
LINES2.jpg I stuck a bamboo sandwich skewer in the tip of my Chinese brush. WOW! a lot of nasty gunk, so now I know just how bad they can get. Can't do this for Sotar tip as it is too small but I put it under 15x and it looks clean but I see a tiny bend in the needle and so changed it out. Here is a pic of the very best I can do with it.

Two things: first the rather obvious splats occurring at both beginning and end of stroke and I have both keep the air on and not on with same result Secondly, the inconsistency of the lines when I have done my best to keep them consistent. And in a few cases the lines start to fade out or even skip, some are clear while many others are fuzzy. This is proof that the problem is not me or cleaning when it will, at times make a clean, clear line and other times not. If it does it once, it should do it always. The fresh needle made no difference.

You might say well, maybe the nozzle is cracked. In that case it would make consistently flawed lines and there wouldn't be any good ones . . . . .but there are. In any case, this concludes my fooling around with this unfortunate thing. Whatever is wrong with it is beyond my scope of discovery.
LINES2.jpg
 
I FOUND IT! The problem with Sotar. Finally . . . . and it only took two months and many thanks to all of you who so patiently tried to help.

The problem with my Sotar was a bent needle, a bend so small only a magnifying glass can reveal it.. I found it by, on a whim, changing out the needle and presto! problems gone, so that narrowed it down to something wrong with needle. Without the magnifier I couldn't see anything but it revealed a very slight crook near the tip. Fortunately, the seat, or nozzle seems to be ok as it is now making hair-thin lines with no splats or rapid clogging. I just may buy the ECLIPSE anyway as the Sotar is clearly not the best all-around tool as I often need a wider pattern it will not deliver.

I would point out that the splat at the beginning of a stroke was no so much the brushes problem as ME not keeping the air on. You guys missed that one. Anyway, thanks again, you people are the greatest. [insert dancing emoticon here]
 
I would point out that the splat at the beginning of a stroke was no so much the brushes problem as ME not keeping the air on. You guys missed that one. Anyway, thanks again, you people are the greatest. [insert dancing emoticon here]

The only person that missed anything here is you, you didn't read the posts properly

. .
The 'splats' that you experience at the beginning and end of each line is lack of trigger control, you're not applying air before triggering the paint- that's what gives you the splat at the beginning, at the end you are shutting off the air before triggering off the paint, which gives you the splat at the end. It all comes down to practice.

...
 
Glad you found the issue, now you can concentrate on learning, and progressing :). I didn't mention technique as it seemed obvious there was some kind of problem, and you can't get good technique without a brush that is working properly (or maybe I didn't think of it at the time cough cough, shuffle feet ) But yes JackEb caught that one, as pointed out, no nastiness there, just a bit of tongue in cheek I think.

The eclipse might still be a good idea, then you'll have an all rounder and a detail brush. How big a spray pattern do you need though for coverage?
 
Glad you found the issue, now you can concentrate on learning, and progressing :). I didn't mention technique as it seemed obvious there was some kind of problem, and you can't get good technique without a brush that is working properly (or maybe I didn't think of it at the time cough cough, shuffle feet ) But yes JackEb caught that one, as pointed out, no nastiness there, just a bit of tongue in cheek I think. If you look at my picture post you'll notice that sometimes I held the air and others not.

The eclipse might still be a good idea, then you'll have an all rounder and a detail brush. How big a spray pattern do you need though for coverage?

I just bought the Eclipse today at a good price because the Sotar started acting up again, new needle and all. I did some i'net research and read that there are a lot of brushes that behave like this -- just totally inconsistent behavior and there's nothing to do but scrap them. When I read stories of people who had such brushes and then replaced them with Iwata . . . . well, that was the convincer. My technique isn't all that great but it surely isn't THAT bad. It was just hard to believe that I got TWO bad Sotars and so I stuck with it longer than I should.

There was also no way I could clean that gun the way everyone was telling me. I had to do a complete teardown and flush over the sink with hot water. Otherwise paint stayed in the passages even after running solvents and cleaners thru it.
Does that suggest a machining fault issue or what?

Now I'm faced with the issue of what brand of paint is best suited for the Eclipse with 0,35 needle. Is that a valid question to ask? One can spend more money on paint than a brush so its a good idea (I think) to poll the peanut gallery for opinions as so many here have the Eclipse there is likely to be a consensus. I have a bit of Createx so I'm hoping that's one. If there is no consensus and everyone has different answers, I think I'll go jump off a bridge somewhere.
 
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lol... I remember mentioning splats and double actioning a wee while ago... :) (eg turning the air off too soon leaving paint in the nozzle ahead of the needle) I use golden high flow, great paint... Golden is good, com-art is good, wicked is good, trident is good, schminke is good, depends what you want to do - they are all GOOD paints and have their peculiarities... All of them some times will require straining. There is no one paint suited to a particular brush however I have some scminke that is pre-reduced and recommends a 0.18 nozzle... Look forward to hearing how you like the eclipse. Remember air brushes are VERY high tolerance items... yes they get stroppy, my eclipse does, I know when to flush stuff through it or when to give the nozzle a good soak. Maybe every 10 to 20 hours using high flow.
 
Everyone has their fave paints depending on what type of painting they are doing and on what surface, how they like to paint/what suits their style, sometimes even what is available locally and was to get, or what is cheaper.

E'tac is used by pros for fine art, and the private stock line is good for multi surface. Not for me, too hard to get and too expensive, and cant be doing with the additives, but many peoples fave, and it reduces with water.

Createx . The original is jus intended for t-shirts etc. Auto Air speaks for itself - not my fave,I find it needs drying and can stay tacky. Wicked is an all round multi surface paint and my fave, I use it for many purposes and love how colours look when cleared. Createx Illustration, re wettable and more specifically for fine art.

Com-art, I haven't used as not easy for me to get, but is popular as it seems to need little to no reduction, and is good for fine art.

Trident I have tried, but didn't like, seemed slightly chalky looking for my use and taste, but is popular with many.

Vallejo is popular with model painters etc.

Golden and schminke are also popular, but again not something I can comment on.

These are the most popular off the top of my head, and just my take on them . Everyone's preferences and requirements are different, so there will be different answers. Apart from the original createx, all are suitable for the eclipse. The best thing is to choose one that seems most suitable, is easy for you to get hold of and the right price, and just learn its properties and get to know it really well. To help decide it may be worth emailing some suppliers and asking for samples of any that may be suitable - though its unlikely you will get any additives to go with them.
 
I see Squishy's point about what's available as I tried to fill out an order on line for colors I wanted. Most were not available individually, but only in expensive sets with lots of useless colors I don't want. Hobby House sells them individually but at a dollar or more per 2 oz bottle. In the end you just end up with whatever you can get.

I also want to avoid the problem of having too many bottles of paint as I do with my brush acrylics - around 100 2 oz bottles which causes me to waste time looking for what I want along with just being annoying.
 
I have black, white and red opaque, and yellow, blue, red, sepia, flesh tone (as a base to mix different flesh tones, I just find it easier) transparent. I also have metallic silver for pop in auto work. So 9 bottles, and I make pretty much everything I need from that. Though 100 colours would be awesome, especially when I'm having a little swear cos I cant match a colour cos I'm having a doofus day.lol.
 
I'm terrible at making/matching colors . . . . I still haven't figgered out what a color wheel is for. Dartboard?
 
Well, the "something new" arrived barely an hour ago and this is definitly a different animal. First off, the air connection gives an extra inch to the tip, eliminating my problem with the 4" rigid part of the air hose connection interferring with trying to guide the brush: I don't have to use my other hand to hold the hose off the work as I did with the Sotar. Then there's the matter of the Sotar trigger which is flat-topped and too smooth so that one has to push down hard to keep finger from sliding off, which causes real trouble with doing good double action.

BUT!!! First thing I do is load up with white, reduce 1:1 and crank down pressure to a measly 5 psi and holy moly, paint splatters all over the place. I can't friggin' believe it: I gotta increase both pressure and reduce viscosity to get a nice fine line. Not that there's anything wrong with that - real nice actually. So I run off 30 - 1/32 or .5 mm lines real quick. Nearly perfect, no splats beginning or ending. Now I see how you make long, straight lines . . . . but not with a Sotar.

I think think the Sotar's main failing is actually excessive fineness for general purpose use. Frankly, Ken Schottfeld actually told me that when I had problems with the first Sotar and he asked how much experience I had and when I said "none" he suggested I'd be better off with something less precise. I can make it work, just not for very long. The Eclipse is certainly not a step down for me, in terms of fineness of lines. On my first attempt I pulled lines that are more than adequate for me. This seems to prove the point that it is not so much the brush but the operator that determines line fineness: Sotar, 0.18 tip; Eclipse 0.35 tip yet right out of the box I'm getting nearly the same size lines when the Eclipse tip is twice as large.

I also like the balance and the fact that it is a larger brush, it just feels more comfortable in my hand for no reason that I can explain. Its got the larger cup, which I don't like and may account for the low price but I'm not seeing that as a major hindrance. Finally, I did not notice any difficulty maintaining consistency of lines, mainly due to the lack of internal clogging but it does get tip dry much faster than Sotar if I forget just one time to keep air on.

With Sotar I was getting dangerously close to giving up because I don't have years to invest in just learning how to use it. Eclipse is going to cut waaaaay down on the learning curve because its so much easier to get paint to flow thru it as desired. The frustration factor is nearly eliminated.
 
if it was the HP-CS that you got you can now see why so many members recommend it as a starter brush, sure its a little more $$ than some, but its a brush you will keep and keep using.
The larger cup comes in handy when your blasting backgrounds.
 
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