I am going to buy an airbrush in a couple of weeks. I purchased the jan. and feb. 2004 back issues of finescale because they had an airbrush review. I am lookikng towards a badger 200 because it’s a single action and has an adjustment on the back for paint flow. I am new to airbrushes, just used to paint models with can paint. My question is this, does the paint flow adjustment cover wide as well as fine, because I would like to do fine detail as well as spray basecoats. I am trying to keep things simple stupid until I master the single action and then I can go to dual action. Or if the badger 200 works just fine then maybe I wouldn’t need a dual action. Does anyone have any thoughts on this. I am trying to put together a workshop on a strict budget.
I’ve got a Badger 200 that I’ve had for a long time. I don’t use it much anymore, but it does still get some use from time to time.
They are good brushes, simple and reliable. The only weak point is a Teflon washer between the head and body that tends to flatten with age and cause a pulsation of the air flow.
They have, I think, three needle / nozzle combinations available; fine, medium, and coarse. I think most of them come with the medium combination installed. With the fine needle and nozzle, they are capable of pretty fine lines.
Personally I prefer the Omni 3000 (siphon feed) or 4000 (gravity feed). Both are double action brushes, and after using a DA brush I’d never go back to a single action brush for anything more complicated than general coverage. I just don’t have the level of control from a single action that I do with a double action. The 3000 costs about $60 and the 4000 about $70. My recommendation would be to start with a double action brush, but if you want a single action the 200 is a good one.
Keep in mind that about 90% of the abilities of an airbrush are the person behind it. They take some practice to get good with, so your first few attempts with one may not be what you expected. Practice is the key and there is no substitute for it.
I wouldn’t start with a single action. Go right to the double action. It’s not really hard to use and if you practice a bit you’ll find that your control will be as good or better. I have a Badger 155 Anthem and it works great but I started with the Aztex which I found was a mistake after I tryed the Badger. But even with the double action Aztec I got pretty good results. Certainly beat hand brushing. Yhe nice thing about the 155 is that it’s a single needle does all design. I’m not really into extremely fine detail so it does the job for me.
John
I have a 200 NH & use it all the time & get great results everytime. I have an Aztek that’s a double action, but the Badger is way easier to use, clean up, & better results. Alot of people here in the forum would recommend the Double Action airbrush, but to learn on & just get a feel for airbrushing, the 200 is a really good buy. You can pick one up from DixieArt for $48.95 w/free shipping, or MikeV has a discount available. Good luck with making your decision & think about a compressor soon because air can be expersive & a hassle (buying can after can & running out in the middle of a project).
if i were you and i know i aint and dont know your budget or anything, i wouldn’t waste my cabbage on a single action. when i started this hobby a year ago, i had a paacshe H single action. moved to the omni 5000 double action, was very frustrated for a while cause i couldn’t get the hang of it. i liked the gravity feed like the omni had, but i just couldnt master the touch to do what i wanted to do!! so, i bought the 200G which is the gravity feed single actiion model. i still couldn’t accomplish what i wanted, which was to be able to achieve the fine line effortlessly. well, i never could get it with the 200G and i kept reading on this forum that one has more control with a double action, so this forced my hand to pick up the double action once again. i turned every kit i had on my workbench into airbrush fodder by practice, practice, and more practice!! i would just go and buy a cheap kit and slap it together no matter what the fit looked like just to have some fresh plastic to practice on. watching the smoothness of the finish grow more and more “slick” as i practiced. the fine lines started becoming narrower and narrower and the thinned paint to psi ratio started becoming second nature until oneday i felt confident enough to begin a serious build and actually finish the darn thing. i would never go back to the single action brush again!! uless ofcourse my hp-c or hp-cs or omni 5000 all became ill and didnt work and i just had to, but i dont see that happening. what i’m trying to say is, try the double action brush because if you want the ultimate control of your paint, then its gonna be with a double action brush. if you buy the single action, then one day you are gonna want to upgrade to a double action and you’ll basically be starting all over again trying to master the double action. bite the bullet and go for the double action brush. any of the ones mentioned here are exceptional for modelling. here is the list of the most popular and well known brushes for modelling and they can all be purchased at dixieart for a good price:
Omni 4000
Omni 5000
Badger 360
Iwata hp-cr
Iwata hp-cs
there are more ofcourse but these seem to be best suited for modelling. email mikeV as he has a whole stash of airbrushes and could point you in the right direction. later.
Notice Chris listed the Badger’s before the Iwata’s? He knows what’s best. [:D] [;)]
Seriously though, I agree with what has been stated so far. A double-action airbrush is something you can grow with as you improve youer modeling skill. That single-action is a nice airbrush but it is limited in what it can do and it doesn’t make sense to buy two airbrushes if you only wanted one. [;)]
Mike
i’s just savin’ the best for the last bro!!![;)][:D]
If you can afford a good double action, ie an Omni or an Anthem, go for it.
However if you can’t, you won’t feel cheated with a 200. I didn’t.
It’s a good brush, that is great intro to ABs as it is easy to use and clean, allowing you to concentrate on the core skills of mixing paint, and actuall spraying technique. The fixed paint metering can actually be a benefit to a beginner as it allows you to set up the paint flow before you point the AB at your model. This is a definite bonus when still getting the hang of airbrushing.
Even if you move up to a double action later, I have still found the 200 comes in handy for primer and varnish coats.
Karl
Uh, huh … I think you’re a closet Badger fan and just won’t admit it [:D][:D] Come on, come into the light! You’ll like it here!