IWATA M2 GRAVITY FEED AIRBRUSH

The M2 is a single-action gravity feed airbrush - so there’s no trigger play to decide the dose of paint that you spray. Instead, you pick paint flow by turning the knurled dial at the rear.

It’s this dial that is innovative.

You can then also dictate how much paint hits the model by changing the distance at which you spray. All this is pretty alien if you are used to a double-action airbrush. Your spray finger decides all of this with one simple movement.

Another oddity at first glance is the way the airbrush seems almost stunted without the usual tail we’d expect.

Having said all that, Iwata knows what they are doing when it comes to airbrushes – the M series is the only single-action gravity feed in their range. So there must be a reason for this innovative approach.

Once you start using it – as we did on our little Revell X-Wing – you start to buy into the philosophy. It’s very compact & easy to use. The build finish is first-class – it feels like a premium product. Beautifully engineered & just the right weight, we like the quality feel of the knurled dial at the rear which works really well.

You also start to enjoy the freedom of having such a small brush in your hand but funnily enough the concept would work even better if the tiny M2 were double-action.

The version we tested used a large paint cup & a 0.4mm nozzle (the M2 - as opposed to the M1). It painted nice fine lines. With the dial set to 4 it sprayed well over large surfaces too.

It’s probably best suited to apply base coats quickly & easily. You can have it sitting around on the bench ready for action & give a model a quick blast when needed. It’s not suited to intricate camouflage schemes where you will need the control of a double action.

The best way to see for yourself is to check out our video review which is coming soon.