Just Curious What Kind Of Airbrush Dose Everyone Use!!!

[stanleymsn]

I have a Iwata eclipse HP-BCS and I love it I had a cheap one but there is no comparison .

[crispy]

I have a Badger Crescendo. Have had it for about 15 years and is still faithful. I'd like to ad another brush sometime, an Iwata to be precise.

Chris

[stanleymsn]

they say you get what you pay for. love it

[Simon]

Funnily enough, I'm thinking of changing mine. I have been using an Aztek A470 for the past 3 years, and I'm getting fed up with it. It can do all that the manufacturer claims - fine lines, smooth coats, etc, but it blocks up and needs cleaning out far too often. I went to spray a car body on Sunday, and before I could even get any paint on the body, the nozzle had blocked and needed cleaning! Plus, I have had to open up the airbrush body and clean loads of old solidified paint out of it before. Quite a tricky job.

So, I'm thinking about a Badger 150 or maybe an old Aerograph if I can get one for a reasonable price.

Edited February 1, 2008 by Simon

[CAL]

Badger 200 for general painting, and a 150 for small and detail painting.

I have used a Iwata Eclipse, a really nice brush, I keep saying one of these days I'll get one.

[monkeyclaw]

sounds like good choices! So many out there...I use an HVLP gravity feed for overalls; and a Paasche VL for fine work....They have both served me well; and I really like the Paasche airbrush; because you can get parts for it (if needed) ..............matt

[MikeMc]

badger 200, and my new badger 155. I do want a gravity feed with a cap for pearls!

[Peter Lombardo]

I have two....an Aztek for big stuff (ok, but not very precise) and a Paasche VL (I think) for fine line work. Nice gun....not too expensive and I have many needles for different spray patterns. Both work well for the intended uses.

[Jefbo]

Hey Stanley. Are you writing a book? I use a Badger XF 150 that I have been using for over 35 years. I have about six Badger 150's and one Paasche VL1 also about 30 years old. I keep the VL1 around because it will always work every time if I need to paint. Not as bad as your Aztec Simon but the badgers are a much more delicate airbrush then the VL and very precise. A breeze can bend the needle Back when I was working everyday with the airbrush and when in good working condition, I used to spay lacquer and sign my name on 1/8 inch masking tape. Can't do that with the VL. With my eyesight now, I'm lucky to even find the 1/8-inch tape. I too have wanted to get a new Airbrush. I've heard a lot of good things about the high-end brushes.

Jefbo

[stanleymsn]

Hey Stanley. Are you writing a book? I use a Badger XF 150 that I have been using for over 35 years. I have about six Badger 150's and one Paasche VL1 also about 30 years old. I keep the VL1 around because it will always work every time if I need to paint. Not as bad as your Aztec Simon but the badgers are a much more delicate airbrush then the VL and very precise. A breeze can bend the needle Back when I was working everyday with the airbrush and when in good working condition, I used to spay lacquer and sign my name on 1/8 inch masking tape. Can't do that with the VL. With my eyesight now, I'm lucky to even find the 1/8-inch tape. I too have wanted to get a new Airbrush. I've heard a lot of good things about the high-end brushes.

Jefbo

not a book but kepping the forum intresting now what if I did not come up with these awsome topics what would we be talking about?

[Brendan]

I use a Pasche VL. Relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other brands. They don't have a tendency to break and or clog up. Easy to clean and can be dissassembled and assembled rather easily. It's a good all round airbrush. You can do pretty much anything with it. Parts are relatively easy to get. I've used Badger in the past but I'm not a big fan of their airbrushes. The best airbrush in my opinion is Iwata. I would love to own one. I used to use my friends and never had any problems with it. When I used to sell airbrushes, we always told people to stay away from Aztec. People who bought them would either return them or have major problems with them.

[Jairus]

I have three.

Binks Wren with a fine tip.

Badger 150 with a fine tip. (Primary use)

Tamiya HG-SF gravity feed w/med tip.

[Jairus]

Incidentally... I did a comparison of a Badger 150 and a Paasche......

The humble airbrush, if you learn how to use it, can be a very easy tool to use. Biggest troubles are the supporting infrastructure needed to make one work, for example: air compressor, hoses, water trap, pair of Pliers, cleaning equipment and replacement parts!

I did this comparison for the benefit of a friend because he was having troubles getting his Paasche working correctly. He sent it to me and I played with it. So the following is not so much a comparison… as maybe tips on making the Paasche work correctly. The information may be of interest to anyone who paints or someone who is considering buying an airbrush. So, please feel free to post any suggestions or questions.

To start with, we have three airbrushes laid out. A is the Paasche VL double action, made in U.S.A! B is a Tamiya HG double action gravity feed, (An Iwata clone) made in Japan! C is a Badger 150 double action, made in U.S.A!

:music:

The first thing I noticed is that the Tamiya and Badger both use metal handles and the Paasche sports a classy red plastic handle. The handle really makes no difference on how the brush works other than balance…. However, when working with lacquer paint one must be careful not to allow any contact with the lacquer thinner.

(I don’t know if I did it or Pablo did it but there is now a fingerprint engraved on the handle because of this….)

The Tamiya airbrush is a nice piece. A little hard to clean but the tip is really fine and perfect for tiny work or airbrushed illustration. Not that useful for painting slot car bodies as the top hopper doesn’t hold a lot of paint. My biggest fault with this brush is the needle is exposed (hard to see) and I will bend it or poke my finger with it if the protective cap is left off for any length of time. The gravity feed hopper is great because you can turn down the air pressure way down to 15psi!

The Paasche and Badger brushes are both suction feed with a cup, although a bottle will fit either as well. Only problem I can see here is that the Paasche cup has a rolled lip making it hard to clean. The Badger cup is more open allowing my finger and a paper towel inside to wipe it out. This is not possible to accomplish with the Paasche cup. Incidentally, the Badger cup will fit the Paasche!

[Harry P.]

I have a double-action suction feed Paasche and Badger. Both are 20+ years old, both have many, many miles on them, and aside from new needles and tips, both work like new.

[Jairus]

Looking at all the parts demonstrates that the number of parts and basic structures are similar. The Paasche brush is a little fatter and easier to hold. The Badger, a more slim design is no easier to assemble than the Paasche. In-fact they are both quite difficult to put back together correctly with the chance to get more than a few pieces in backwards.

One of the problems I noticed with this Paasche is if this finger trigger is put in backwards, the needle won’t slide smoothly and when the button pushed, there is an inordinate amount of friction resulting in the air not getting shut off quickly enough. Simple fix is to…

…slide the needle in... and see if there is friction. If so, rotate the trigger around the other way. I think the problem is the slot milled into the shaft is fractionally to one side. This leaves one leg of the finger button shaft thicker. This could be a problem with this brush only but.... if not, a mark should be filed on the finger trigger so that the owner would know which way to insert the piece each time.

The other thing to watch for is the air to paint seal. The little brass taper fit tip accomplishes this feat on the Paasche very cleverly.

A taper fit means that it should seal the two until actual mixing of the paint occurs beyond the tip. What you do NOT want is air flowing back into the paint area. This causes spitting and poor suction for drawing of the paint. A good check for this is before painting and after re-assembly, put some water or paint thinner into the drawtube and pull the trigger. The fluid should flow smoothly through the system with NO bubbles coming back. If you see bubbles, take off the retainer ring and rotate the brass tip. The retainer then is screwed back down tight (see why the Pliers are necessary?) and the test applied again.

The Badger is sealed with a replaceable Teflon ring, which washes down the drain way too easily. However, if I start seeing air bubbles in my test… I can replace it quickly. They are less than a buck each, but unfortunately only one dealer now carries it in my City so I HAVE to keep a stock of them handy.

Lastly, I put some India ink in both brushes for a quick test at 30psi and they both work beautifully. I was not real experienced with the Paasche so it felt a little uncomfortable but performed very well regardless. The Badger has a fine tip and the Paasche a medium tip. Both work well enough for shooting slot car bodies and applying fades and other tricks. Both are recommended but I have to give the nod to the Badger because of the cup thing… oh, and the handle too!

[Brendan]

Jairus,

The trigger for the Pasche should work on either side. There is no difference between one side than the other. Sometimes in the assembly of the trigger, the metal may have been bent. I used to run into this on brand new airbrushes and would replace the trigger or file the trigger. The other problem that I have seen with the assembly is trying to get the trigger into the air valve. The easiest thing to do is to remove the air valve. It should be the last thing to be put in on the air brush.

This is how I assemble my Pasche:

Cone into body

Locking nut onto the cone with the tip

Trigger into body

Needle assembly into body

Needle into the needle assembly, sliding into the cone

Tighten everything down

Put air valve into the body, making sure the trigger fits into the air valve

It takes me about 30 seconds to assemble the airbrush and ready to shoot.

Pasche has 3 needle and cones for the VL. #1 is for fine detail; #3 is a medium (most commonly used); #5 is large for spraying primer and such. As the needle and cone wear, they will turn into other size needles and cones so #1 would turn into a #2 as it starts to wear and so forth with the other numbers. As I replace my needles and cones, I keep the older ones since I may want to use them for different spray patterns.

I hope this makes sense.

Awesome comparison. Is this going to be in the coming magazine? I think this will help out quite a few people. Thanks for taking the time to show this.

[ismaelg]

Jairus, that's a very nice comparison. Thanks! I've never used a Paasche.

While having the proper airbrush is key to success, I use to say "It's not the arrow, it's the indian shooting it"

Back in 1993 I used an airbrush for the first time. It was a Badger 150 from a graphics artist at college. I immediately knew I wanted one, but they were very expensive for a student like me. So I saw one in a Harbor Freight catalog called a Central Pneumatics 1500 for something like $19. Basically a cheapo copy of the 150: Dual action / internal mix. I bought it as a temporary fix until I could afford a "real" one. Well, Guess what, that's the ONLY airbrush I've ever bought or used since. I've used it pretty much almost daily for 15 years and counting. Some people that come to my workroom don't believe it. My only secret is: I disassemble and clean it completely after each use. It's not a chore, it's a ritual.

It is definitely not the best choice for a graphics artist like Jairus. There are no fine or high volume needles/tip available for intricate work. But it has proven more than adequate for hobby use.

Fine enought for this pattern:

yet wide enough for this 1/48 monster (it takes the space of 5 1/25 cars)

and of course all the cars in between.

Bottom line, if I ever need to replace it I would look for dual action internal mix. Most likely a Badger 150.

Thanks,

[cruz]

I own a Crescendo for 18 years now, it has been so good to me I went out and bought another one, just in case they stop manufacturing it

[CAL]

I own a Crescendo for 18 years now, it has been so good to me I went out and bought another one, just in case they stop manufacturing it

Which you never know especially with Badger they keep wanting to jack with their product line, which is my only complaint using a Badger. It's not a Badger brush that is going to make me switch to Iwata, it's the company.

First it was the 100 - discontinued.

Then the Anthem was to replace the 200 and 150 as a universial brush, and only after a big outcry did they keep it in their line.

Now I see they completely changed the 150, which I don't like.

Not to mention everywhere around here they discontined carry service parts for both Badger and Paasche. Everyone seems to carry only the Iwata line any more. That's fine I used a Iwata and it was a real nice brush to paint with, and it's going to be my next brush, which may come sooner than later.

And I never did get used to using the fat handled brushes like the Crescendo and Paasche.

[Andy Wyatt]

Another Paasche VL user here. Great airbrush all around.

[Zoom Zoom]

I have nine airbrushes

My oldest is my Badger 150. Nice brush, but high-maintenance. The enclosed tip is a paint magnet, hard to clean. It's also prone to getting a small bit of dry paint on the tip of the needle that deposits itself on a paintjob when you push the trigger down after previously spraying. It's best to spray the model without shutting off the flow. So many times I blamed the dirt in my paint on dust, when it was this buildup. I watched a friend spray w/his 150 and he got nearly perfect paintjobs in the exact same conditions where I was getting "dirt". He never let off the trigger, he kept on going, spraying the body in one fluid motion w/o shutting off the flow at the end of each stroke and that was the key. I tend to use this technique now on all paintjobs, as a precaution.

I have a Model Master/Aztek. Nice when new, tips are terrible because they wear out far too quickly.

I have a Paasche VL. Nice brush, but then I got a Badger 175 Crescendo that I far prefer. The Crescendo has a higher-flow; better suited to bodies. With a medium tip it's better flowing than the Paasche with the wide tip. I eventually got two more Crescendos so I could have one for solid, one for metallics, and one for clear.

I have a Rich AB200 for fineline work. It's also a gravity-feed brush, and made by Iwata. Great brush for intricate camouflage or even windshield tint strips.

My lastest brush is an Iwata HP CS Eclipse. It's a gravity feed w/big cup, and it's become my favorite brush by a wide margin. Until you get/use a gravity-feed brush, you never realize how much paint/solvents you've wasted because there's a lot of paint to clean out of those suction tubes. I spend a lot less time cleaning up now, and the brush is amazing in it's flexibility and quality. I wish I had three of these vs. three of the Crescendos, and I've raved about how good the Crescendo was!

[Olle F]

I use a Badger 200 that I bought about 30 years ago. I have had to replace a few parts that either wore out or got damaged (tips, needles, air hoses etc), but it still works pretty much as well as the day I bought it. You just gotta love the fact that you still can get parts for it, and this is something I definitely would consider if I were in the market for a new one. I have tried a few double actions, but I'm too clumsy to use them so I'll probably stick with my trusty old 200 for another 30 years.

[Cornpatch]

I have a set of airbrushes (4) that I bought thru Airbrush City on the Evil-bay. Got the 4 brushes and

a compresser, brush stand, 8 bottles of paint, and a few other goodies for a pretty decent price. The compresser isn't that

good (use my own ) but it will work. The air brushes work great am very happy with them.

Jeff

[wdcav]

I use:

I bought this several years ago now, and it always served it's purpose. It only lays down a huge wide pattern, but makes for great large surface work like one color car bodies or spraying the hull of a battleship. I'm cheap, and it works for me. And it got even better when my gf bought her Badger 175 and the Badger 180 compressor, cuz I swooped in and attached my cheap junk to her compressor.

Though I was thinking of upgrading eventually to that Testors Mighty Mini.

Edited February 5, 2008 by wdcav

[FactoryStock54]

Badger 360. . .don't know how I'd live without it!