Sotar History

Bgrigg

Correct, Chris.

The ONLY difference between the 155 Anthem and 105 Patriot is the siphon or gravity fed body, and that the Anthem comes with the "medium" head while the Patriot comes with the "fine" head. The air valve, spray regulator, needle chuck, spring, handle etc. are exactly the same parts.

The Badger 360 is as well.

The 175 Crescendo uses the same head assembly and air valve assembly, though the needle bearing and needle chuck assembly all have different part numbers from the 155.

Larger diameter needles in the 175. About .070 vs .050 or .055 in the others. I think it's .050 though. Mike can explain why.

In a one brush situation I think any of the Pro family would be a good choice in almost any situation. I've said it before but I really like the 360 because I kinda like using bottles, I've built my method around it. And although it's a small cup, being able to flip it around and use as a gravity feed for small parts and details works well. It's a forgiving and easy to use brush so the Patriot would have to be a good choice too. Being able to operate at lower pressures with less overspray all the time. But I still like bottles so the 360 ain't going anywhere.

I'll be honest with you, until recently I've seldom practiced the basic strokes of airbrushing. I shot paint on model cars and I can do a pretty good job with that. There's no freehand camo or even fine lines, you just mask. I have been practicing strokes and lines and I'm coming along but I'm having a little problem and am wondering if isn't related to the double taper needle. You can do a soft, pencil size line with the medium needle fairly easy but the transition from enough to too much paint flow is pretty touchy. Probably wouldn't be as noticeable with a fine needle because there isn't much of a double taper. Maybe it's just me but I'm wondering if a straight taper needle is preferable for some things. After all, that's what's in the Renegades and Sotars.

Correct me if I'm wrong but to draw a fine line, whatever your brush is able to do, and to have a minimum of overspray then you have to move in very close and operate at the lowest pressure that your brush is reliable. And it's going to involve starting and stopping on your subject. So you start the air, pull back the trigger, start paint flow and move. You can't always be in motion when flow starts. I've been practicing with the 360 at about 7 - 10psi and you can ease up to a soft line but move that trigger a couple thousandths more and instead of a line you have a spider. I've tried going to a little higher pressure and thinning my paints a little more or less but it always ends up the same. And all it takes is a little twitch of the finger to go from line to spider.

Tony

Wingman_kz

Larger diameter needles in the 175. About .070 vs .050 or .055 in the others. I think it's .050 though. Mike can explain why.

The Badger Pro-series airbrushes have the fine and medium needles with nozzle sizes of 0.51 mm and 0.76 mm. See the spare parts list here.

Wingman_kz

I'm having a little problem and am wondering if isn't related to the double taper needle. You can do a soft, pencil size line with the medium needle fairly easy but the transition from enough to too much paint flow is pretty touchy.

I have heard similar description about the double taper needle at other airbrush forum. I experienced the same thing with a 155 clone that I have, but it is not a real Badger. I have heard some user prefer it. It may be good for spraying very large area or fabric type surface that requires lots of paint. I prefer the more linear and graduate transition type control of a single taper needle for modeling.

Wingman_kz

Probably wouldn't be as noticeable with a fine needle because there isn't much of a double taper. Maybe it's just me but I'm wondering if a straight taper needle is preferable for some things. After all, that's what's in the Renegades and Sotars.

No all straight taper needles are the same. You want a small taper angle for finer control. I found the 6.5° taper on my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS to be about optimal for modeling (Yes, it is just me). The Patriot 8°, fine needle is also controllable, but more sensitive than the CS, i.e., a quicker trigger pull.  Both should work better than your current situation. Which one works better for you is the individual modeler's choice. You will find the opinion here very divided. See the measurements that I and Don Wheeler made of the needle taper angles at earlier posts of this thread.

Wingman_kz

Correct me if I'm wrong but to draw a fine line, whatever your brush is able to do, and to have a minimum of overspray then you have to move in very close and operate at the lowest pressure that your brush is reliable. And it's going to involve starting and stopping on your subject. So you start the air, pull back the trigger, start paint flow and move. You can't always be in motion when flow starts. I've been practicing with the 360 at about 7 - 10psi and you can ease up to a soft line but move that trigger a couple thousandths more and instead of a line you have a spider. I've tried going to a little higher pressure and thinning my paints a little more or less but it always ends up the same. And all it takes is a little twitch of the finger to go from line to spider.

Tony

Do you have the original medium needle on the 360? Did you try the 3155 fine needle (8°) and nozzle (0.5 mm) combination? It should make it less sensitive than the double taper needle. Depending on the paint thickness, both my Iwata and Badger Patriot need at least 13 psi of pressure, up to 25 psi to work evenly in most situation.

When I visited the web sites by Waikong and Don Wheeler, I realized that airbrush is not the limiting factor in building top notch models. To the much less skilled modeler like me, the choice of an airbrush I feel most comfortable with do offer the opportunity of building up skill and enhance the enjoyment of the building process.

Wingman_kz

I've been practicing with the 360 at about 7 - 10psi and you can ease up to a soft line but move that trigger a couple thousandths more and instead of a line you have a spider. I've tried going to a little higher pressure and thinning my paints a little more or less but it always ends up the same. And all it takes is a little twitch of the finger to go from line to spider.

Tony

You could try to lenghten the trigger as well. A longer trigger gives some people easier control. I find the long triggers to be harder on my tendons, but some prefere them, and as an example, most of the Iwata Kustoms have extended triggers.

Tony,

The 175 Crescendo has the option of the Large needle/nozzle combo, but according to Badgers parts list, the head assemblies are the same.

The 3155 Hybrid is one more that uses the same head assembly and air valve.

The double taper is why I prefer the old head 100/150 series. The double taper was supposed to eliminate the need to switch from a fine to medium needle, but I think the short transition worked against them, and Badger ended up offering fine, medium and large tips. The twitch you describe is far less noticeable on my 100LG. However, all dual action airbrushes are subject to the vagaries of the human operator, and I bought my 200-20 detail brush so I could eliminate the issue altogether. It also has a "cut-off" spray regulator, so that the needle extends beyond the tip. I can almost touch the needle tip to the surface when spraying, and since I only control if the air is on or off, there is no variation in line width because of a muscle twitch.

Don Wheeler

 

Check this page out.  I don't know anything about them, but the price is good.

Don

I just tried to order one, but they needed a registered adress for shipping, which is problematic if you live outside US. Sad, since I wanted one for my collection...

Goodness, where do I begin?

Sorry to hear that denstore. Not to rub salt in the wound but I ordered mine this morning around 10:30 and it was shipped about an hour later via USPS and a tracking number was provided. Should be here first part of next week. If you, or anyone else, do get to order one you can request it be shipped with either fine, medium or heavy tip, needle and regulator. Just include that in Comments To on the PayPal page.

The 155, 3155, 175, 360 use the same tip and regulator in fine and medium. There is a heavy tip and regulator that will work on all of them but there is no heavy needle available except for the 175. And that is because the diameter of the needles for the 175 is .070 and the needle diameter for the others is .050. According to MikeV that is because the 175 was originally designed for T-shirt artists and the larger needles were intended to pass more paint. 175 needles are also shorter, 4.672 inches versus 5.758 inches for the others. The longer needles also have a ball on the back end to make it easier to pull the needle fully open to blow out the tip if it becomes clogged. I believe the new style 200 series uses the same tip and regulator as the 155, 3155, 360 and they use the same needle diameter but they are between the other two needles I mentioned in length, 5.396 inches, and of course do not have the ball on the end since they're in a single action. But, there is a heavy needle available for them and it is long enough to use in a 155, 3155 or 360 if you wanted.

What I said about fine needles was that I wonder if the fine double taper needle would be less touchy since it has such a short transition AND I wondered that if for fine or detail work a straight taper needle wouldn't be a better choice.

Now, the point I was trying to make about sensitivity is that when trying to exact the finest line that my brush will allow with it's current needle, tip, regulator configuration that the point where you achieve the best paint flow is right at the transition of the needle taper and if you move it as little as a couple thousandths more it tips over and releases too much paint. So when I say a twitch of the finger puts you over the edge I'm not talking about frog legs jumping around in a frying pan. All it takes is one slight movement and you blew it. And denstore is right, if I could fit a longer trigger then that would make it less sensitive by mechanical advantage.

OK, does that clear up a couple things? I may be attempting and learning new things but I'm not a rookie. I've got quite a bit going on in the modeling world but as soon as that Sotar shows up I'll let y'all know how it worked out.

Tony

Tony,

I meant no offense by my comments, and I agree that the double taper makes just a "twitch" far more noticeable than straight taper needle, especially after a lengthy airbrushing session. I have a difficult enough time with my 100LG that I gave the 200 a try with excellent results.

I hope you enjoy the Sotar.

Bill

No problem Bill, just feeling a little misunderstood.

Tony

So...

Has anyone use the Sotar and could give us their personal review on it?

Wingman_kz

Goodness, where do I begin?

Sorry to hear that denstore. Not to rub salt in the wound but I ordered mine this morning around 10:30 and it was shipped about an hour later via USPS and a tracking number was provided. Should be here first part of next week. If you, or anyone else, do get to order one you can request it be shipped with either fine, medium or heavy tip, needle and regulator. Just include that in Comments To on the PayPal page.

The 155, 3155, 175, 360 use the same tip and regulator in fine and medium. There is a heavy tip and regulator that will work on all of them but there is no heavy needle available except for the 175. And that is because the diameter of the needles for the 175 is .070 and the needle diameter for the others is .050. According to MikeV that is because the 175 was originally designed for T-shirt artists and the larger needles were intended to pass more paint. 175 needles are also shorter, 4.672 inches versus 5.758 inches for the others. The longer needles also have a ball on the back end to make it easier to pull the needle fully open to blow out the tip if it becomes clogged. I believe the new style 200 series uses the same tip and regulator as the 155, 3155, 360 and they use the same needle diameter but they are between the other two needles I mentioned in length, 5.396 inches, and of course do not have the ball on the end since they're in a single action. But, there is a heavy needle available for them and it is long enough to use in a 155, 3155 or 360 if you wanted.

What I said about fine needles was that I wonder if the fine double taper needle would be less touchy since it has such a short transition AND I wondered that if for fine or detail work a straight taper needle wouldn't be a better choice.

Now, the point I was trying to make about sensitivity is that when trying to exact the finest line that my brush will allow with it's current needle, tip, regulator configuration that the point where you achieve the best paint flow is right at the transition of the needle taper and if you move it as little as a couple thousandths more it tips over and releases too much paint. So when I say a twitch of the finger puts you over the edge I'm not talking about frog legs jumping around in a frying pan. All it takes is one slight movement and you blew it. And denstore is right, if I could fit a longer trigger then that would make it less sensitive by mechanical advantage.

OK, does that clear up a couple things? I may be attempting and learning new things but I'm not a rookie. I've got quite a bit going on in the modeling world but as soon as that Sotar shows up I'll let y'all know how it worked out.

Tony

Good luck Tony, it's all about the hand-eye coordination of the airbrush user that is the determining factor.

There are people who can spray a finer line with a Crescendo medium needle than others can with a Sotar or Velocity. It's all a matter of skill and knowing your airbrush's capabilities.

MikeV

Good luck Tony, it's all about the hand-eye coordination of the airbrush user that is the determining factor.

There are people who can spray a finer line with a Crescendo medium needle than others can with a Sotar or Velocity. It's all a matter of skill and knowing your airbrush's capabilities.

It sure is true for the experienced users and the SOTAR airbrush is meant for them.

For the beginners (myself included), I read this thread with interest and wonder how the experst will describe the difference of a SOTAR vs. a Crescendo in an experienced hand. And why they want one. Hope that we will hear from Wingman_kz soon.

keilau

 

MikeV:

 

Good luck Tony, it's all about the hand-eye coordination of the airbrush user that is the determining factor.

There are people who can spray a finer line with a Crescendo medium needle than others can with a Sotar or Velocity. It's all a matter of skill and knowing your airbrush's capabilities.

 

 

It sure is true for the experienced users and the SOTAR airbrush is meant for them.

For the beginners (myself included), I read this thread with interest and wonder how the experst will describe the difference of a SOTAR vs. a Crescendo in an experienced hand. And why they want one. Hope that we will hear from Wingman_kz soon.

In an experienced hand there is no comparison Keilau. The Crescendo was designed as a T-shirt airbrush (textiles) and the Sotar was designed for illustration work for the most part. It's about like comparing an Iwata HP-CS to a Micron C. Now of course it all depends on what you are painting as well. For 95% of what I use an airbrush for on models the Patriot 105, Omni 4000, 100LG, Vega 1000 or 360 can all do well.

Mike, you and I both agree that the airbrushes you listed can do 95% of what most modelers need to do. I always mean that to mean base coats to smoke ring camo in 1:48. I don't do 1:72 but can imagine that smoke ring camo in that scale would be pretty tough to do with the 100LG.

I've never held a Sotar (or a Micron). What percentage of modeling can the Sotar do? Can it do it all? Base coats to 1:72 smoke ring? I think one would be pretty busy filling the cup doing a NMF at 1:48 on a B-17!

I know what the learning curve that the 100LG requires. If that's a five on a scale to ten, where would the Sotar or Velocity end up?

Well let me start this post with an add for the people that sold me the Sotar. My correspondence was with Tony Grainger at ABD, Inc (That's a link). I ordered a Sotar last Friday morning about 10:30 and got an email about 11:30 that same morning that it had shipped. And guess what, it was in the mail today. Of course silly me didn't know that until I checked the tracking number they provided when I got on the comp about an hour and a half ago. Evidently the mail was late this morning and I checked it before the mailman got here today. Of course you never know here, he could show anywhere from 08:30 to 14:00. Point being, I didn't get to play with it today. On the plus side, it comes with an extra needle and regulator. No extra tip. The regulator on the brush is the one without the little protective wings/ears but the extra one has them. So you have the option of using it either way.  I mentioned this before but if you order one you can request either fine, medium or heavy tip, needle and regulator. I don't know how they can sell them so inexpensively because it's much less than the sum of it's parts but it's real. Brand new, unopened and shrinkwrapped.

It feels good in your hand. Balances well, not too heavy. The cutout on the handle rests on the side of your index finger just like my 360.  The thumbrest is great, gives you that little something extra to hold on to.The Sotar is a little shorter than the 360 because it doesn't have the cuff in front of the trigger to allow the front of the brush to rotate. Doesn't have a large cup but it's larger than the 360 and since it isn't designed to be used with a bottle the opening at the bottom of the cup is larger. It is a detail brush so it should hold plenty of paint, ink, whatever. Looking at the picture I was concerned that maybe your fingernail would catch on the edge of the cup but it doesn't and the cup is small enough that you can look over the top or from the side. The needle stop adjusts smoothly and for the intended use of this brush I believe it will come in handy and with the micrometer dial if you need to back it off the clear the tip you can set it back to where it was without much thought. No danger of twitching fingers creating a spider. The trigger is smooth but I will back off the spring tension just a bit. All in all it has a very nice feel to it and for the asking price I don't see how you could go wrong.

The 175 makes kind of broad stroke. Even with the fine needle it's like a flat pencil. I'd guess between 1/16 and 3/32 is the narrowest line I can get with it. My old style 200 with a fine needle isn't that much different. Maybe just under 1/16.  And the new style 200 with medium needle is in between. Of course they're all suction/bottom feed so you have to turn up the pressure. The 360 with a medium needle will pull a finer line than any of those three in gravity mode, by a small margin. The 360 with a fine needle would probably come close to what I'm looking for but the problem with that is, that's all you get. There's no room for adjustment. The Sotar should allow room for adjustment and I'm hoping the fine tip and needle won't be a problem with the paints I use and from the looks of it shouldn't be. I'll find out tomorrow.

Forget the disclaimers, this isn't a general use brush. I have 4 other brushes for general use although anything other than the 360 seldom sees any paint. I've said all along that it's done everything I needed it to, till now. And I plan to buy a Patriot because it will be a do just about everything brush too, with a larger cup and strictly gravity fed. But this brush is a detail brush and that's what I got it for. It remains to be seen if I'm capable of using it to it's potential. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how it goes.

Tony

Thanks Tony.

BTW, heard that Model Master Acrylic is a pain in the neck with this brush.  May recommend you start out with the more trusted Tamiya paints.  And I suspect that you may have to be a bit more careful mixing because the needle is so small.

I believe Ross calls the stuff 'Model Mucker.'  Me, I'd swap one of the 'M's for an F!  I agree that starting with a "cleaner" brand of paint initially might be less troublesome, especially with such a fine new brush.

In addition to Tamiya (my most trusted), I also have very good, consistant results from Vallejo's Model Air line, and from Goldens airbrush paints.  These (Goldens) would be my hands-down favorites if they came in a military color range!

Good luck, and look forward to seeing/hearing about your experiences!

Chris

Fodel Mucker? Certainly couldn't be Model Faster!

I haven't had very good luck airbrushing Acryl (or ACKryl, as Ross also calls it), at least compared to Tamiya.

Alright, got to play with the Sotar a couple times today. Not for long but got to shoot a little paint. Before I go any further, I'm no artist and certainly no airbrush expert so don't laugh. I'll post a few pics of what I did today but, obviously, I've got a lot to learn.

First are some pics of the Sotar and what comes in the box. And one with the rest of the family. You want to be careful with that needle because it is sharp. You can see it comes with an extra needle and regulator. I used the reg with the protective arms to be sure I didn't snag the needle. The wrench is for removing the head from the body. There's a nylon gasket behind like the old style brushes. By the dial on the needle stop you have about 4.5 turns of needle travel. Just loosen the setscrew in the numbered collar, screw the stop in till it touches the chuck, slide the collar against the body, set zero to the mark on the handle and snugg the setscrew. Then as you find different settings that work for you, you can adjust back and forth between them.

Now the real fun begins...

This first pic is from playing around this morning. I didn't draw the outline of the plane, it's a copy from the masking sheet of an RoG Tornado and I colored in the sections with another brush the other day playing around with paints. On this one I just tried to get a feel for what kind of line I could draw, how the brush handled paint and what kind of pressure I needed. At first I tried low pressure and that didn't work very well so I turned it back up to about 20psi. I only put a few drops of paint in the cup and I didn't think it was ever gonna run out. I even cranked the needle open to see how wide it would shoot because I was out of time and needed to empty and flush the brush. Nothing much to look at but I said I'd show you. Oh yeh, this was some Tamiya Semigloss Black.

I did this next *example* this evening. I stopped by here earlier in the evening so naturally I had to try some MM Acryll. I happen to like these paints and except for the flat black they've sprayed well for  me in my other brushes. But this brush didn't fair so well. I think maybe with the medium needle, tip it would be ok. I did fill in the colors on the plane with the Sotar and Acryll this time and as long as I kept spraying it was ok but stop for a few seconds and I'd have to pull the needle back to clear it. I had a little MM enamel International Orange mixed so I gave it a try and it sprayed better than the Tamiya I used earlier. The yellow is Tamiya Lemon Yellow and it sprayed pretty well.I could dial the needle stop down to about 1.5 turns open with Tamiya, 2.5 - 3 with Acryll and only about a half turn with MM enamel. I kept playing with air pressure and 35psi seemed to work best. I was a little surprised, I expected lower pressures would work better. But there's several variables and I'm used to reducing paints for my other brushes and just used those mixes with this one. OK, can't delay it any longer, let the embarassment begin...

Yep, nuthin' much to look at it but I did show you. Can't accuse me of not trying. I will learn and get the hang of it. A few drops of paint goes a long way. When I can afford it I'll get the medium setup to try but that costs all most as much as a second brush. lol  Obviously I wasn't able to get a *hairline*. I have a feeling that will take some very fine medium like ink. What really surprised me was how much PSI I had to use. Maybe that was because of the paints I was using, I don't know. Maybe someone will chime in this time...

Tony

Wingman_kz

Alright, got to play with the Sotar a couple times today. Not for long but got to shoot a little paint. Before I go any further, I'm no artist and certainly no airbrush expert so don't laugh. I'll post a few pics of what I did today but, obviously, I've got a lot to learn.

Tony

Tony, it is wonderful that you share what you found with the Sotar. While I learned a lot and enjoyed reading the "experts". I also learn a lot from other modelers who are willing to tell how different airbrush works in the "less than expert" hands. Your writing is exactly what I am looking forward to. Thank you a lot.

Did you use Tamiya and MM thinner respectively with your paint? What paint thinner ratio did you used? I am curious about your higher psi comments. Does the Sotar manual come with a range of pressure recommendation for different paints?

While I don't doubt that an expert can draw anything he wants with any decent airbrush, but it may not be true to the average modeler.

Tony,

Thanks for the run through and pics.

I'm surprised at the high pressure required, as well. What ratio were you thinning at? The Sotar is designed for inks, and not pigmented paints, and you may have to thin more than you would for the 200 or 360. The Crescendo could probably pass mud!

Tony,

Did you get 2 fine needles (One in the brush, one in the tube) ?

brickshooter, yes, two needles. One in the brush and one in a tube. And be aware, it is a very *pointy* thing. lol My old camera can't begin to capture how thin it is. And I bent it today. But it was easy to straighten. I decided to try the regulator without the protective arms/legs/wings whatever you want to call them, got a little too close and caught the needle. I had an issue with spattering/splattering earlier and couldn't understand why. I looked at the brush under the magnifying lamp and there was a single fiber sticking out the tip. I wiped out the cup with a Q TIp yesterday and figure that's where it came from. Put it back together with the unguarded tip and was spraying fine but then I got a little too close. Oh well, took the needle out and rolled it on a piece of glass under my fingernail and all was right with the world again...

Thanks for your comments guys(and for not ridiculing lol). I'm the type that generally holds back but I figure what the heck, what's it gonna hurt. But you're still not getting my social.

keilau, I had the enamel left over from shooting on some decal paper last weekend and for that reason I did thin it with MM's thinner. Normally I'd use lacquer thinner with MM enamels 'cause it works for me. Kinda ensures that they actually dry and do it quicker. Sometimes it may flatten the finish a little but that's ok with me. The Tamiya yellow was thinned with Tamiya thinner for the same reason as the MM, I didn't want to have too many variables when trying to find how paint would react on decal paper. It worked OK btw. But I also use denatured alcohol, 70% iso and 90% iso. I can't give you ratios because I don't measure, just mix till it looks right and see how it sprays. I normally make it fairly thin though. But you're kinda walking a fine line(pun intended) with thinning. Sure, there's a point you need to get to to avoid spiderwebs or orange peel or runs and sags but it also has to be thick enough for the coverage you're looking for.

In this case, one coat coverage because it's hard to enough to draw that line the first time so multiple coats are out of the question. So, there's how thin your paint is, how fast you move, distance from the target, neelde/tip opening and air pressure.

With the pressure turned down low you, I, get soft fuzzy lines because you need a larger opening/needle retracted further to get paint flow.  With this brush we're putting out a small amount of paint so to get a semi-dark line you have to move slower and the thinner your paint is the slower you have to go. But the slower you go the wider it gets and the more chance you have to wander. 

Turn up the pressure and you get paint flow sooner so you can use a smaller needle/tip opening. Smaller opening equals finer line. It also allows you to move a little faster because the amount of paint you're spraying is concentrated in a smaller area and your line is getting darker.

Turn up the pressure even more and it's all magnified. Narrower line that's darker and the ability to move a little quicker. We're getting there...

But you still have to control the airbrush. You have to be consistent and smooth. That only comes from practice. And obviously that's something I need a lot of. lol Thanks again for not laughing. At least out loud...

Bill, not to argue but I think the Sotar is designed for paints also. Just depends on how fine the pigment is. Evidently the Acryll is a little too coarse. The MM enamel shot very well and after thinning the Tamiya a little more today I was really happy with it. I was using denatured alcohol and gloss black and was able to dial the needle way down. I have a bottle of black ink I was going to try but it's been sitting for years and was starting to dry out. I misspoke last nite about the needle opening. I wasn't using 1, 1.5 or 2.5 turns out, I used less than one revolution on all of them. What I should have said was, from completely closed I was turning the needle to 1, 1.5 or 2.5 on the dial so the largest opening was about a half turn. Today I was able to shoot the Tamiya black at about .5 but I did turn the pressure up even higher. I turned the pressure up to 50psi and while spraying that was giving me about 40. It worked. But you can only go so fine...

Don't have any pictures now, not really much to show, but I'll try to post a couple later. And think I'll try Firefox, IE won't let me post media now unless I use the HTML editor.

Tony

Tony,

True enough and I should have said "finely pigmented inks" like they do on the Badger site. My point (and I'm not trying to start an argument) is that the Sotar is designed for the professional illustrator. That we can use such a beast on models is remarkable.

High quality paint that is properly thinned, and this is one time I would recommend straining the paint, should spray with no problems. Though I can understand that a higher pressure may be required.

You are the owner of a very high end airbrush, the equal of any out there, and I know you'll do proud by it!

Bill

No problem Bill. How about a few more pictures?

Like I said, obviously I need practice. Attempting to lean a board up in my paint booth with a sheet of paper taped to it just wasn't cutting it. So, I drove over to WallyWorld and bought an inexpensive little easel and a pad of watercolor paper. Not perfect but an improvement. And it's adjustable so I can set it on a bench or table and get comfy.

It could stand to be a little heavier but helped a lot. Here's some pics of the front of the Sotar torn down. Now you can see just how small the tip is. And how sharp the needle is.

Here's the tip setting in the head.

Head installed on the brush.

Starting the hold down ring.

Hold down ring tight.

Needle inserted.

Regulator on.

And here's a couple pics of what I got done today. I scanned them in full size and reduced the quality. If you look at the full size image it's gonna be big but it's about 300k. I meant to go back with pen or pencil and draw arrows pointing from the text to whatever it's talking about but, oh well. Mostly, the words are under what it's talking about. No big deal, just trying to give a little idea of what's going on.The boxes with numbers under them represent the collar setting I shot them at. They aren't actually .1 or .2, there are 4 graduations between each whole number so that's what they represent. You can see a little splatter and some bleed or runs. Tip dry hasn't been much of a problem with Tamiya black. With very small openings occasionally I'd have to open it up and blow it out. And remember, this is paper so the paint doesn't react quite the same.

On the second drawing I played around a little with the 360 and the lines I pulled with it are in the box above *360*. Heck, I even pulled out the old Aztec and played with it a little. It's been years. Trigger didn't function all that well, most of the time you had to push it home. One tip was beyond use and I don't remember what the beige and blue tips are supposed to be but it sprayed OK. I didn't mark them but there's a few lines scattered around the top from the Aztec. Anyway, here they are, hope it isn't overload...

Tony

Hey Tony,

I find that when using Tamiya acrylics, if you thin with denatured alcohol, you can mix it pretty lean and still get it to stick. With Tamiya X-20A or Iso  pass about 60% thinner and it will start to bead and blob. I don't mix very accurately at all, but if I were to count drops, I routinely use three to four drops of thinner (denatured alcohol) to one drop of paint. I find that the denatured alcohol seems to help it "wet" better than X-20A. However, as you noted above, this often means that you don't get "one pass" coverage.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that Tamiya acrylics can take a hell of a lot of thinning and still be workable. Just offering you this to see if it helps get your air pressure down a bit.

PS: Sounds like it may not be a good idea to put Tamiya metallics through your AB I suspect you'd see an instant clog. (The metallic particles in Tamiya's paints are pretty chunky.)

Yeh Phil, wasn't going to try metallics. Acrylics are still pretty new to me but I've been experimenting. Using denatured alcohol is how I got the black to spray today. At the first mark on the collar the needle is barely even moving from closed but it still came through. Had to use higher pressure but it works. I have noticed what you say about beading with X20A and 70% iso. Haven't really used 90% that much. But with denatured you can really thin the heck out of it. I've been using X20A with the gloss paints I'm using on a car kit and not over reducing. Seems to work OK.

Tony

Sounds good. Yep, with the gloss Tamiya's the X-20A is the way to go. I find that when you use denatured alcohol, it tends to dull the gloss, but you have no loss with the X-20A.

Tony:  Do you have a spare plastic model that you can test spray on?   Paper is nice, but different from a 3-D plastic surface.   And from what distance are you spraying pencil line?  Any overspray?

Phil:  I don't think you can get one pass coverage on these type of detailed brushes.   Working with the Velocity, I don't do single passes.    The Sotar is a more detailed brush so it's probably spraying a thinner coat.