gravity feed vs. siphon feed

You are right, Phil_H!  I had never seen a design like that before.  It works extremely well, and now that I have spent some time with it, I double my recommendation!  Best airbrush I ever had!

Cadet Chuck

I recently bought this Iwata Neo TRN1 at Hobby Lobby for $105 with a coupon. It is single action, but I have found that I really don't need dual action.

Curiously, the TRN1 is a double action brush.

Cadet Chuck

...  It is single action, but I have found that I really don't need dual action. 

I have both a single and double action brush.  I use the SA most of the time- it is easier to clean (fewer parts to disassemble).  I only use the DA when doing thin overcoat weathering, or on certain camouflage schemes.

I recently bought this Iwata Neo TRN1 at Hobby Lobby for $105 with a coupon.  It is single action, but I have found that I really don't need dual action.  This thing is very comfortable to hold, and easy to control, due to the "pistol grip" design.  I can gladly recommend this to anyone for general modeling work.

An additional feature that I really like, is the needle travel limit adjustment nut at the tail end.  

http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/neo-for-iwata/neo-trn1/

There you go. Good arguements for both styles. The moral of the story; one can never have too many tools. Or toys... :-)

I like the convenience of just attaching the color I need quickly to the brush rather than have to pour it into cup. I keep a good supply of bottles on hand, so I can mix all the colors I need for a project in bottles.  Then just a quick cleaning and put on the next color bottle.

I also keep a bottle with just thinner, for cleaning.  I think it does take a little longer to clean- that long pickup tube takes awhile to clean, plus the non-metallic material of the tube means the paint sticks a little harder to it.

Plus, I find myself twisting the airbrush around at weird angles, and don't trust those cup covers to really keep the paint in.  I even sometimes spill paint from my siphon feed brush, though the very small hole in the cap minimizes the mess.

 

I had had a badger 150 for about 15 years and got a 100 a few years back. Main difference for me is the latter doesn't have a cup underneath that gets in the way when spraying close up. I also find the gravity feed easier to clean, other than that, can't see any difference.

I keep the 150 with a Medium head and needle for spraying large areas and the 100 with the Fine set up for detail work.

Really, there isn't much that one can do that the other can't. You can still use a cup with most siphon fed brushes. That can make the cleaning routine very similar to a gravity feed. You may be able to use slightly lower air pressure with a gravity fed brush and the cup won't fall off. :-) But with a siphon feed you can hang a big bottle of paint and spray forever. Very handy for larger areas.

I doubt that the Neo will perform any better then the 150, maybe not as well. I've had both, in my experience the 150 will certainly outlast the Neo. As to gravity VS siphon, again from years of experience with both, the gravity wins by a big margin. 

It's felt that the gravity perhaps requires less pressure, as the siphon uses pressure to "draw" the paint up from the cup. Can't swear to that. The main point for my gravity preference is cleaning, I can probably do a thorough cleaning after use in one third the time, compared with siphon feed.

My go to brushes are the Badger 100G for detail work and camo, the Badger 100LG for wider area coverage. Fine, medium and large needle/head combos are available for dirt cheap, compared with some others.

A bit pricier by about $20, but so well worth it, (in my view.)