We take a long hard look at the new airbrush from renowned manufacturer IWATA
After a few days I had decided to get a Iwata TR2 having read a lot of good things about them, with a little more digging on the web I discovered a company called everythingairbrush which is located 15 minutes away from where I live, after being lead astray by the directions google map gave me (the middle of a field to be precise!) I arrived at there small unit on a industrial estate had a chat with Tim there about my intended purchase, he was really helpful and friendly guy especially guiding me on the phone when we got lost trying to find them!
I walked away with my new TR-2, pistol grip moisture trap, new air hose (which was free cheers Tim) and the hope that it would really live up to the hype.
[block4]In the box[/block4]
The Iwata come package in a stylish black plastic box and neatly packed within a foam insert is the airbrush, paint cup, instructions sheet, small spanner and test card showing that the brush has been tested with pain at the manufacturer before being shipped out.What first struck me about the airbrush was the quality feel of it compared to my old Aztek, sleek shiny and feeling immensely more solid if it performs half as well as it looks I was in for a treat.
Another change from the usual design of airbrushes is the trigger, more like a paint gun than the standard top down button activated brushes that are on the market, this arrangement sits more naturally in the hand than the pen like was my old Aztek was used.
The airbrush is dual action, which for you non airbrush folks out there means you can control the amount of paint that is mixed with air “on the fly”, single action brushes require the operator to adjust a nut or screw to vary the paint mix. Usual dual action brushes are controlled by depressing the button down to release air and then pulling back to introduce the paint, the TR-2 does things a little differently, pulling the trigger back slowly releases air keep pulling further back and paint is introduced into the air .
A optional extra for this brush was the pistol grip moisture trap, this screws into the bottom of the airbrush, even though my compressor has one fitted I would recommend spending the £5 as it makes the airbrush much more comfortable to use.
The rest of the airbrush is pretty standard construction, a machined steel paint cup with lid is a welcome addition as there is nothing worse than spraying away and then having a spillage of paint on your precious model, the paint cup can be attached to either the left or right of the body with a small lug closes of the opposite hole depending on where you have placed the cup.
At the rear of the airbrush unscrews to reveal a small nut, unscrewing this frees up the needle from the body to be removed for easy cleaning, the nozzles also screw of the tip of for easy cleaning.
[block4]Bench Test[/block4]
Well more kitchen table test for me, the TR-2 was assembled together with the paint cup and the moisture trap and fitted to the hose, which in turn was screwed onto my trusty ripmax compressor and the pressure set to about 25psi (the pressure my old Aztek would spray at).
I mixed up some Vallejo model colour paint (I use a mix of 20% Klear with de-ionised water as thinner) I started to mess about on a few pieces of paper to get the hang of the TR-2, my first shots spidered the paint , this happens when your pressure is set to high or you position you airbrush to close to the object your spraying. I adjusted the pressure down to around 12psi and gave it another shot.
WOOHOO!!!!
On my second try I was gob smacked by how well this brush performs, for me being able to spray thin lines around 1-2mm in on my first run was a real eye opener, the airbrush also allows you to spray larger arrears with a spray pattern around 3cm in width.
Grinning like a hysterical chimp from my first tests I cleaned the airbrush, this is pretty easy especially compared to my old Aztek which I could never thoroughly clean unless I stripped it down. A few minutes later the TR-2 was spotless, paint free and packed away back in its box.
My second outing saw me spraying up my Forgeworld death Korps of Krieg infantry and heavy weapons, this really was a pleasure, the ease of use comfort and accuracy of the TR-2 is leaps and bounds ahead of my old brush, spraying at low pressure really has freed me up to do a lot more detailed work, and not having top constantly adjust air pressure to get anything to spray as my old Aztek needed really is fantastic.
[block4]Summing Up[/block4]
Pros
- ease of use for beginners and seasoned pros
- comfort of the new style trigger grip
- easy to clean
- quality all metal piece of airbrush engineering
Cons
- no pistol grip as standard
