Airbrush bottle size?

[TD2802]

Not sure if this has been addressed elsewhere but I've been meaning to jump start my long-dormant airbrushing skills. I have an Iwata dual action bottom feed Eclipse model which came with a 4oz bottle. I know those are ideal for holding large volumes of paint when spraying a wide area or large scale figures, but if all I need it for is 75mm or smaller, would a 4 or 2oz bottle be too big? I mean as long as I put in the amount I need, since the bottle has a siphon in it, wouldn't the compressor still do the job of getting the paint out of the nozzle regardless of bottle size? Sorry for the newbie question but I want to avoid buying any extra bottles if what I already have can do the job.

Thanks

 

[martin tabony]

I know nothing about airbrushes, but there are lots of "how to" videos on youtube

Martin

 

[kagemusha]

It's the angle of the bottle, when working, that causes the problem. You need to make sure that the tube is angled to reach into the front bottom of the jar, because this is the most common angle of the bottle when working.
Make sure the end of the tube is reaching the bottom of the jar, but not pressed tight against it. Check you have it right by just running some clean water through the AB. If it all sprays without 'spitting' towards the end it's seated correctly.
Hope this makes sense. If not, PM me and I will try to explain it better.

Ron

 

[Funky50]

The best advice I could give is sell your existing Bottom feed airbrush on eBay and get a top feed Iwata airbrush it makes life a whole lot easier especially with smaller figures ,the extra cost will be sidelined in a while with paint you won't waste ....Kevin

 

[TD2802]

The best advice I could give is sell your existing Bottom feed airbrush on eBay and get a top feed Iwata airbrush it makes life a whole lot easier especially with smaller figures ,the extra cost will be sidelined in a while with paint you won't waste ....Kevin

Since I paint larger scale, non-historical resin figures too, I don't think I'll be pursuing that course but understand your suggestion if applied solely to smaller scales. I did get a 1 oz bottle and everything seems to be swimming now. Cheers.

 

[P GREEN]

Realisticly if you could find a bottom feed cup for 1/4 or 1/2 oz other than that you are wasting a lot of paint and associated effort.
You may find a little paint goes a long way, smaller resevoirs make the brush easyier to handle.

Paul

 

[TD2802]

Realisticly if you could find a bottom feed cup for 1/4 or 1/2 oz other than that you are wasting a lot of paint and associated effort.
You may find a little paint goes a long way, smaller resevoirs make the brush easyier to handle.

Paul

Thank you kindly for the tip. I was just looking for an excuse to experiment with a bottom feed on smaller scales but the consensus here advises against it. So guess I will break out my gravity feed instead and reserve the bottom for bigger projects.

 

[theBaron]

I'll second Paul's comment. I have a Paasche VL, and it came with two jars with lids with a fitting, plus an additional lid. But I've never used them, I've only used the cup. If I were going to mix a color and needed a lot of it, I could see using them. But for almost every job I've done so far, I've used stock colors, decanting a little paint into the cup and then thinning as appropriate.

I will say that the lids and jars are the same size as many jars of paint were, back in the day. Pactra, for instance, used the same size of jar for its enamels. I forget the volume, but the jars are about an inch-and-a quarter in height, maybe three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The lids from my VL fit them.

Prost!
Brad