Introduction

Although a picture may well be worth a thousand words it seems like a good idea to go ahead and add some words to the video of the new Neo airbrush from Iwata. At the very least you shouldn't have the background noise of an air compressor, unless of course yours is still running as you read this (purely for the proper atmosphere I’m guessing).

Iwata entry level airbrush is the NEO, now they have added a new pair to the NEO live with two trigger style airbrushes; the TRN1 Gravity feed and the TRN2 Side feed. Presumably for the Christmas market that will hit us all very soon; these two brushes are both made for Iwata, not necessarily made by Iwata. The samples that Armorama received were both sent without any of the packaging or the manual in order to give both of them a chance to be quickly reviewed so any mistakes or errors herein are mine alone.

Introduction & Breakdown Video

Using the Airbrush

The example this review will cover is the TRN1 gravity feed style, internal mix airbrush. The brush comes with a .35mm needle, interchangeable cups of 9ml and 1.8ml (1/3 and 1/16 of an ounce), a small wrench to remove the nozzle, a lid for the larger cup, and the trigger style airbrush. The breakdown of the airbrush is fairly standard throughout. The only thing that was different, other than the pistol grip and trigger, from other Iwata brushes I have used was the adjustable air flow tension screw in the back of the brush.

When you pull back on the trigger the air begins to flow, when you add just a bit more pressure to the trigger that will begin to bring the paint into the air mix and viola, you are painting. It’s not much more complicated than that. Pull back a bit more on the trigger and you will get a bit more paint, really pretty simple. You will want to practice a bit to get the feel for how much to pull back on the trigger but most of us should have it figured out in a minute or so. From that point you might not yet be an expert but you should be on your way to at least being able to paint with an airbrush, and once you start you will never want to be without one on your modeling desk.

When I got everything hooked up I really thought that the two cups was something of a waste, but after using the brush a bit I really got to where I liked the concept. It makes it easy to switch out to just what you need in terms of paint volume and the easy removal makes clean up a snap. General cleanup of the brush was simple, add some cleaner, hold your finger over the nozzle to provide some back pressure and spray out the cleaner. I use an old synthetic bristle brush dipped into cleaner to swish around the mix chamber to break up any dried paint. This was even easier to do with the removable paint cup. Pull the needle and give it a nice wipe down before you carefully reseat it and you are ready for your next paint job.

Just to be clear I have used the brush more than the few minutes here in the video. I am finishing a T-34/85 and have used the new brush throughout the entire painting process. It shot Vallejo primer, Createx acrylic, Vallejo Air, AK Interactive Chipping Fluid, and Vallejo Model Color acrylics without any issues at all. I quickly got to the point where I really liked the pistol grip and the trigger; they both fit well into my hand and were comfortable throughout all of the painting sessions.

I did find that I needed to be careful about screwing the back end and the needle guide onto the brush, at times they wanted to ‘bite’, or perhaps ‘lock up’ is a better description, momentarily before they would tighten up completely. Also, I learned I needed to be careful to make certain that the needle seated properly into the back end. I don’t think you could actually bend the needle from the back end but it would prevent the whole thing from tightening up like it should.

Spraying Tamiya Color Paint & Feedback

Spraying AV Vallejo Model Air Paint & Feedback

Conclusion

I have heard a few different dollar figures tossed about as to what the price of these brushes will be, so far I haven’t seen anything certain for the US market. However, it should be relatively inexpensive when you take into account that it is an Iwata product and comes with a 5 year guarantee. I would have no reservations about recommending this airbrush to anyone. If you don’t have an airbrush or were thinking about switching to an Iwata, put this at the top of your Christmas list and you can thank me later.

Our thanks to Airbrushes.com for the review sample.