Airbrush Step by Step – July 2019

ASBS-CHECK

22 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP03/19 E

Sotar 20/20 Slim: Fine modifications to the long-standing Fine Art Airbrush

It’s been a few decades since the first Sotar 20/20 airbrush

made its way onto store shelves. It’s spent the last few years

turning into an insider tip for the finest of detailed works.

Particularly the look of the flagship product of US-based

producer Badger is absolutely unique and always a jaw-

dropper.

As such, our editorial staff was naturally very curious as to

how the new Sotar 20/20 Slim had been improved. Like the

normal Sotar, the Sotar Slim comes in a nice black paper-

board case. This box contains a replacement needle, a nee-

dle protection cap, a paint pipette, an adapter for the Bad-

ger connection to a 1/8“ thread, and tools for maintenance.

In addition, the device comes with a description and an

overview of the replacement parts. What’s no longer part

of the package is an “autograph card“ from the producers

and a test spray, which came with the airbrush 20 years ago.

To protect the unit during transportation, a black rubber

cap is located on the nozzle head. This also serves to pre-

vent paint or cleanser from bubbling into the paint trough.

When you decide to make use of the device for the first

time, the needle needs to be pushed into the correct posi-

tion. Loosen up the needle locknut in the handle’s notch,

pull the needle all the way to the stop, and then screw the

nut on tightly. When in delivery modus, only the suction cap

comes installed and as such, the needle pokes out of the

device unprotected. This has the advantage that you can

spray finer and even closer to the painting surface. You can

better see, where the paint comes out while also being able

to quickly remove any possible paint remains located at the

tip of the needle.

As far as the essential features are concerned, the “Slim”

model is identical to the previous Sotar 20/20. The manufac-

turer took good note of the needs and wishes of airbrush

artist and has indeed modified this skinny version. The sig-

nificant change here is the small paint trough, which now

allows the artist to maintain a direct view line of the air-

brush needle when spraying. In addition, the needle seal on

the device consists of a screw with an integrated Teflon seal.

This can be switched up by the user (if desired) and is ad-

justable thanks to the screw’s thread. Thus, the artist won’t

need to use any flat press-in tools or even to send the device