Interesting airbrush find

[Cyrus Tan]

Howdy folks,

I just wanted to share an interesting find I made. I recently got this airbrush off EVIL Bay out of curiousity and was impressed! I do realize it's an Iwata clone of the CM-C+ from a Chinese Mfr. called Fengda Bida. I was very skeptical about its quality and performance, but decided to take a little gamble since they're only $50 bucks. When it arrived, I took it apart to see how well made they were and discovered it was satisfactory (to my expectations at least). Like all my airbrushes, I applied Iwata lube on the trigger stem, the needle and all threading. It makes a big difference on how smooth the trigger feels. Anyways, I tried it out with Tamiya Dark Gray and I was surprised how well it sprayed. It atomizes paint very well and clean up is comparable to Iwata. Truth be told, I really didn't expect much from it, but I quickly grew confident with this airbrush after a few mintues and even took another gamble by preshading my A-10 with it. It came with a threaded .20mm & .30mm needles/nozzles, MAC valve, and teflon seals. The only downsides I discovered is that although it looks like an Iwata, the construction quality isn't up to par with Iwata, but for $50 it's not bad. I compared it to my HP-CS and HP-C+ and you can definietely feel the difference in quality. The Iwatas feel more solid and I expected this so it was no surpise to me. The other downside is that the trigger on my example was poorly contructed. There was too much "play" between the trigger stem and the little brass rod that releases the air plunger. The dealer, however, was good enough to send me a better replacement. Great customer service, btw. One thing I want to make clear is that although it can spray very fine lines, it isn't a true micron or micron technology like the Richpen 213C. Anyways, I thought this "mini-review" would benefit anyone looking for a cheaper alternative with great results at a bargain price This is just my unbaised opinion and I have no affliation with this product or dealer so take it for what it's worth. Here's some pics. Judge for yourself.

[Gary P]

Howdy folks,

I just wanted to share an interesting find I made. I recently got this airbrush off EVIL Bay out of curiousity and was impressed! I do realize it's an Iwata clone of the CM-C+ from a Chinese Mfr. called Fengda Bida. I was very skeptical about its quality and performance, but decided to take a little gamble since they're only $50 bucks. When it arrived, I took it apart to see how well made they were and discovered it was satisfactory (to my expectations at least). Like all my airbrushes, I applied Iwata lube on the trigger stem, the needle and all threading. It makes a big difference on how smooth the trigger feels. Anyways, I tried it out with Tamiya Dark Gray and I was surprised how well it sprayed. It atomizes paint very well and clean up is comparable to Iwata. Truth be told, I really didn't expect much from it, but I quickly grew confident with this airbrush after a few mintues and even took another gamble by preshading my A-10 with it. It came with a threaded .20mm & .30mm needles/nozzles, MAC valve, and teflon seals. The only downsides I discovered is that although it looks like an Iwata, the construction quality isn't up to par with Iwata, but for $50 it's not bad. I compared it to my HP-CS and HP-C+ and you can definietely feel the difference in quality. The Iwatas feel more solid and I expected this so it was no surpise to me. The other downside is that the trigger on my example was poorly contructed. There was too much "play" between the trigger stem and the little brass rod that releases the air plunger. The dealer, however, was good enough to send me a better replacement. Great customer service, btw. One thing I want to make clear is that although it can spray very fine lines, it isn't a true micron or micron technology like the Richpen 213C. Anyways, I thought this "mini-review" would benefit anyone looking for a cheaper alternative with great results at a bargain price This is just my unbaised opinion and I have no affliation with this product or dealer so take it for what it's worth. Here's some pics. Judge for yourself.

thanks for the review, do you have a link to the evil bay store by chance

cheers

gary

[pookie]

I have been using that airbrush for nearly a year, and it is really good. I was a bit hesistant to buy it because of how cheap it was.

The only issue I am having is that the paint tends to dry in the tip and clogs often. I don't know if it's the airbrush or the paint, or the fact that I live in Florida.

[Av8fan]

Not sure if this is the same seller Cyrus dealt with

Auction Air

Found it by using PS910 as the search item.

[Cyrus Tan]

Not sure if this is the same seller Cyrus dealt with

Auction Air

Found it by using PS910 as the search item.

Yes! Auction Air is the dealer I bought it from. Great service too.

The only issue I am having is that the paint tends to dry in the tip and clogs often. I don't know if it's the airbrush or the paint, or the fact that I live in Florida.

I doubt it's the AB. I would suspect it's your paint viscocity (maybe too thick), your air pressure or climate conditions?). I do notice more paint drying on the tip when I shoot enamels though my Tamiya HG, but you can always mix flow enhancer into your paint to cut the surface tension thus minimizing drying/cloging. I shot for about an hour with this AB and didn't experience any tip drying, spitting or sputtering so I was pretty impressed.

[Kei Lau]

Howdy folks,

I just wanted to share an interesting find I made. I recently got this airbrush off EVIL Bay out of curiousity and was impressed! I do realize it's an Iwata clone of the CM-C+ from a Chinese Mfr. called Fengda Bida. I was very skeptical about its quality and performance, but decided to take a little gamble since they're only $50 bucks. When it arrived, I took it apart to see how well made they were and discovered it was satisfactory (to my expectations at least). Like all my airbrushes, I applied Iwata lube on the trigger stem, the needle and all threading. It makes a big difference on how smooth the trigger feels. Anyways, I tried it out with Tamiya Dark Gray and I was surprised how well it sprayed. It atomizes paint very well and clean up is comparable to Iwata. Truth be told, I really didn't expect much from it, but I quickly grew confident with this airbrush after a few mintues and even took another gamble by preshading my A-10 with it. It came with a threaded .20mm & .30mm needles/nozzles, MAC valve, and teflon seals. The only downsides I discovered is that although it looks like an Iwata, the construction quality isn't up to par with Iwata, but for $50 it's not bad. I compared it to my HP-CS and HP-C+ and you can definietely feel the difference in quality. The Iwatas feel more solid and I expected this so it was no surpise to me. The other downside is that the trigger on my example was poorly contructed. There was too much "play" between the trigger stem and the little brass rod that releases the air plunger. The dealer, however, was good enough to send me a better replacement. Great customer service, btw. One thing I want to make clear is that although it can spray very fine lines, it isn't a true micron or micron technology like the Richpen 213C. Anyways, I thought this "mini-review" would benefit anyone looking for a cheaper alternative with great results at a bargain price This is just my unbaised opinion and I have no affliation with this product or dealer so take it for what it's worth. Here's some pics. Judge for yourself.

The FengdaBida BD203 has been around for awhile and marketed under many different brand name. There was even a detailed Review by Rato Marczak as the Sagyma SW770 double action professional airbrush with generally very positive comments.

I have a copy that goes by the brand PowerCat 203. It is a good airbrush for those who cannot afford an Iwata or H&S yet or not sure about how much to spend. But the Fengda Bida does not have the quality of the established brands. The trigger are more loose and the paint control less precise. It does atomize very well if that's what counts for you. Your comments summarized it very well. Another issue is replacement part because the mail order shipping is expensive, like $10 for a $5 needle. When the brand or model number changes, you don't know what is what. There are just too many copycats to the Fengda Bida in China. And the needle quality is no Iwata either and you may need nozzle and needle replacement a lot more often.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Kei Lau

[Cyrus Tan]

The FengdaBida BD203 has been around for awhile and marketed under many different brand name. There was even a detailed Review by Rato Marczak as the Sagyma SW770 double action professional airbrush with generally very positive comments.

I have a copy that goes by the brand PowerCat 203. It is a good airbrush for those who cannot afford an Iwata or H&S yet or not sure about how much to spend. But the Fengda Bida does not have the quality of the established brands. The trigger are more loose and the paint control less precise. It does atomize very well if that's what counts for you. Your comments summarized it very well. Another issue is replacement part because the mail order shipping is expensive, like $10 for a $5 needle. When the brand or model number changes, you don't know what is what. There are just too many copycats to the Fengda Bida in China. And the needle quality is no Iwata either and you may need nozzle and needle replacement a lot more often.

Hello Kei,

Thanks for the link to the other review. I'll take a look at it.

Before I purchased this brush, I did some research and found that Fengda is a big AB wholesaler in China and stamps whatever "brand name" the buyer wants on the brush. Hence, the different marketed names. I wanted to find a legit dealer even if I had to pay a lttle more. There's a bunch of dealers on Ebay selling the same brush for much cheaper than what I paid like $ 0.99 + $19.99 shipping from HK, but I noticed their feedback wasn't great and often have a "no returns" policy so stayed away from these dealers. I suspect these are more likely copies of Fendga. Like you said, there are too many copies floating around. "Buyer beware" is the best way to describe it.

As for parts, I didn't plan on using this brush very often. I bought it more out of curiosity and the dealer is here in the US so I wasn't too concerned. Besides their parts seem pretty cheap pricewise ($11+ship) for a needle & nozzle set and $30 for a pack of 3. The nozzle alone for an HP-C+ is $27 and $9 for a needle. A needle/nozzle set for an H&S could you run almost $50. To me the math is simple - $11+ship is a bargain! It also depends on the user. How careful and how clean they take care of their brush. I've had my Tamiya HG now for about 13 yrs and haven't needed to replace the nozzle due to damage - only 1 needle.

[Armitage]

Excuse the slightly off-topic post. In South Africa we have another knock-off of the Iwata airbrushes that go under the name of AirCraft. They too are of pretty good quality and work nicely, and cost around 10-15% of the price of the Iwata models they knock off. It seems there are a few knock-offs around, and that must be hurting Iwata's bottom line. The AirCraft airbrushes are exact replicas of a number of different Iwata models.

Wayne

[Don Wheeler]

Excuse the slightly off-topic post. In South Africa we have another knock-off of the Iwata airbrushes that go under the name of AirCraft. They too are of pretty good quality and work nicely, and cost around 10-15% of the price of the Iwata models they knock off. It seems there are a few knock-offs around, and that must be hurting Iwata's bottom line. The AirCraft airbrushes are exact replicas of a number of different Iwata models.

Wayne

I think what would hurt Iwata would be if a Chinese company aggressively marketed a really high quality airbrush under their own name for less than Iwata charges. I'm sure they are capable of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Iwata isn't the only company making fine airbrushes, but they've put a lot of effort into establishing themselves as the standard to be compared to. Apparently, most of the design features of modern airbrushes are not protected by patents. Grex airbrushes get very good reviews. I wonder if they are made in China.

Don

[Armitage]

Apparently, most of the design features of modern airbrushes are not protected by patents.

That's very interesting. No wonder the knock-offs are popping up then.

The store that wholesales (and retails) AirCraft airbrushes and compressors in South Africa actually sell Iwata too, and aggressively advertises the fact that the AirCraft range is a complete knock-off of Iwata but without mentioning Iwata's name, and give Iwata a run for their money in terms of quality. They advertise the features of each airbrush, and with one click you can see the equivalent Iwata model. I'm all for competitive advertising, but I'm sure Iwata would not be happy with this practice.

Wayne

Edited June 27, 2010 by Armitage

[Cyrus Tan]

Excuse the slightly off-topic post. In South Africa we have another knock-off of the Iwata airbrushes that go under the name of AirCraft.

I looked it up that brand "AirCraft" and yes those are made by Fendga.

I think what would hurt Iwata would be if a Chinese company aggressively marketed a really high quality airbrush under their own name for less than Iwata charges. I'm sure they are capable of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Iwata isn't the only company making fine airbrushes, but they've put a lot of effort into establishing themselves as the standard to be compared to. Apparently, most of the design features of modern airbrushes are not protected by patents. Grex airbrushes get very good reviews. I wonder if they are made in China.

I agree. If they would focus more on quality instead of mass production they can easily do this, but Chinese companies have a different agenda. The biggest challenge would be to establish a brand name and actually do some R&D instead of reverse engineer other name brands. Chinese companies are notorious for this!

Btw, Grex are made in Taiwan. I own the XN model and it's pretty darn good. The design is comparable to the HP series, particulary the trigger and air valve. The body is a bit smaller and lighter than the HP-C+ and the trigger action is smooth. There's another Taiwan based company called Sparmax that I've heard are pretty good too, but I've never seen one first hand. They're priced around $100 in the US, but at that price range your better off getting an Iwata Revolution or Eclipse series. Maybe that's reason Iwata came out with these series in the first place to stay competitive?

[Kei Lau]

I looked it up that brand "AirCraft" and yes those are made by Fendga.

I agree. If they would focus more on quality instead of mass production they can easily do this, but Chinese companies have a different agenda. The biggest challenge would be to establish a brand name and actually do some R&D instead of reverse engineer other name brands. Chinese companies are notorious for this!

It does not take a hi-tech industry to create a top notch airbrush. But it takes investment in marketing, meaning to communicate with the artisan community, and in design engineering plus tooling. The Japanese and German airbrush maker had done a good job in both. FengHua has done neither yet.

Btw, Grex are made in Taiwan. I own the XN model and it's pretty darn good. The design is comparable to the HP series, particulary the trigger and air valve. The body is a bit smaller and lighter than the HP-C+ and the trigger action is smooth. There's another Taiwan based company called Sparmax that I've heard are pretty good too, but I've never seen one first hand. They're priced around $100 in the US, but at that price range your better off getting an Iwata Revolution or Eclipse series. Maybe that's reason Iwata came out with these series in the first place to stay competitive?

It is amazing that how Grex established itself as a quality airbrush brand so quickly and few ever noticed its country of origin. I do not own one. I was at the Venture Hobby Shop at Wheeling (Chicago) recently when they had a day long demo of the Grex product there. The AB felt good and the result was impressive. I would like to see more frist hand report on how Grex and Sparmax compare with similarly priced Iwata and H&S models.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Kei Lau