Time to upgrade to a double action air brush. Looking at something in the Badger product line. Three options are Crescendo (model 175), 360 swivel and the 155.
Your thoughts/recomendations?
Thanks
btw-I’m using acrylics exclusively
I’m in a similar situation. I searched the forums, and got a lot of info and opinion. Just search on “airbrush” or “airbrushes” and you’ll find a heap. After reading that, and reading what Badger has on its web site, I’ve got it down to a 155 or a T&C 4000.
I’ll throw the 150 into the mix. A completely reliable workhorse of an airbrush. I have one that is over 20 years old and another is less than a year. There is no difference between them other than the handle is slightly different. This is the brush that Badger calls the “classic” airbrush. I’ll be buying a 100G this year which is the gravity fed version. Parts are interchangeable, other than the obviously different body.
Bob - unless you are dead set on a siphon fed I would recommend the 100LG with both a fine and medium tip,head and needle… I really feel it could fill all your needs (no I don’t have one but am planning on buying one soon… I DO have a 175 and 155)
The 175 is great at medium to large coverage, a good airbrush especially if you do Alcad2 and acrylics but not as good for detail in my experience.
The 155 is a good brush and may be better dressed up as a 360 with the gravity feed option… If your heart is set on one of the ones you listed the 155 or 360 would be the best “middle of the road” brush you can get. Easy to clean, feels good in your hands and does some decent detail
I’ve recently been thinking about going to a better “detail” brush, and think out of the Iwata HP-C Plus and this one the 100LG is a better deal price wise for the ability delivered… if you want a Badger go ask some of the usual suspects about the 100LG, it’s about the same price as the 175 and 155, but seems like so much more brush. I believe KJ200 and rjplasticmod both use the 100. It costs about the same as the brushes you listed and as you get more into this it will be able to provide you with a lot more flexibility… If you are concerned about going gravity fed don’t be… I was worried about that big cup on top but it never has bothered me… and the detail you get is amazing with one!!
Thanks all for the input. And especially your thoughts on the 100LG Tom. Makes sense-use my current single action for large areas/Futuring/etc. and the 100LG for detail work…hmmmmm.
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I have both the 155 and the 100LG w/Fine and Medium head needle sets, all right fine, plus a 100SG, an Iwata HP-BCS and a Tamiya HG Superfine.
I’d say after using all of them at my currently skill level, for a good low price do-it-all set, the suggestion of a 100LG w/ Fine and Medium sets is the one I’d agree with.
The medium tip does some general coverage just as well. Plus the 100LG has a little screw next to the trigger to allow you to achieve some very fine lines acting as a preset. The cup itself is large enough to do a whole round of spray coverage for a model. I got the SG with just the little cavity because it was for cheap shipped from ebay with a broken plunge in the air valve that the seller didn’t care to note…, I was going to use it as spare parts for the LG until i got the plunge replacement for only 3 bucks, which is another thing with these 100 replacement parts, they are just so cheap. The 100 already come with a crown cap as well so for close up detail spraying it does an awesome job.
Of course if you are willing to blow a lot of money, as I am currently saving up some pocket change for, you can always go for a Iwata HP-BH and HP-CH. I doubt I will be rid of the badgers even after I get those two though, unless the asking price is good enough since they are still pretty new. The 155 though doesn’t work so well in the detailing area, is indeed a very robust airbrush that i abuse all the time, while I treat those imported ones like babies.
I agree with Tom.
The 100LG or the Omni 4000 would be my choice.
The 155 and Cresendo are good airbrushes too but they were designed for T-shirt airbrushing and are not quite as fine spraying as the 100LG would be since it is an illustration airbrush with a micro-tip.
Mike
Mike & Ryan-thanks for the input. I think I’ve narrowed the choice down to the 100LG or the Omni 4000. A lot of positive things said regarding the 100LG. Your thoughts on the Omni 4000?
Thanks
Bob - I’ve not sprayed with either one, but one of the big things that for me would be a big plus about the 100LG, is that with both the Fine and Medium needle/nozzle sets you can do everything with one brush, where with the 4000 you can do very good work but something like 1/72 German mottle would be more of a challenge. (If you ever see yourself doing that type of work)
I know users of both brushes that have nothing but high things to say about them though, so with either road you take, I don’t think you could go wrong.
Bob,
For general overall spraying the Omni 4000 will spray just about as fine as the 100LG with the medium tip/needle combo. The main advantage to the 100LG would be that you can switch to the fine tip/needle combo and with the properly thinned, fine pigmented paints, you can get even finer lines if you practice.
The 100LG has a little better finish inside of the cup also but that is not really that big of a deal.
I use the Omni 4000 more because it is easier to disassemble and is not quite as fragile as the 100LG in terms of the tip being damaged, but either one would be an excellent choice.
Tom & Mike-thanks for the reply & the input. I’ve seen both of your work so I know I can trust your advise. Not sure which route I’m going to take, but at least I have it narrowed down to two choices.
Tom-if I ever mention trying mottle on a 1/72nd scale project, please call for help![:D]
Thanks again
I have to agree with Mike. I have both the Omni 4000 and Badger 100. While I use them both I have found that the 4000 is easier to disassemble and somewhat more robust in its construction. The tiny nozzle on the 100 is easier to damage than the nozzle on the Omni series.
As to painting, they are both great. I’m reluctant to include this photo because of the circumstances under which it was taken, but I will. Just read the paragraph underneath it and understand that both brushes are capable of better work than this.
This photo was taken the day I received my Badger 100. I had been spraying some large areas of an A-10 with Dark Ghost Gray from my Omni 4000. The paint was not thinned for painting thin lines, it was thinned for painting large areas. I also didn’t try to “Optimize” the paint for the Badger 100, I just dumped it straight from the cup of the 4000 into the cup of the 100. What I was trying to determine was a side-by-side comparison of the line width of the Omni 4000 and the Badger 100 with a medium tip (the “Fine” tip will do a little better if the paint will flow properly). Had I really tried to get fine lines out of either one of them I could have done better than what the photo reflects, but I wasn’t really trying at that time.
Thanks Scott-I’ve checked you website many times for info. This picture helps. Now I have to weigh ease of maintanence and the fact that the 100LG is more fragile than the 4000. Looks like either one will be an improvement over my Passache H, which is good for most of my current needs.
Thanks again.
Glad you found my web site useful, Bob. Like most sites it will always be a work-in-progress.
I wouldn’t say that the 100 is actually fragile, just more so than the Omni series. The nozzle on the 100 is very tiny but is mounted in the head so that you normally never need to take it out. The nozzle of the 4000 is larger and easily removed. If you drop the head of a 100 you will most likely damage the nozzle. The 4000 is more forgiving in that respect. The 100 also has a Teflon head washer that the Omni doesn’t have. That washer is easily lost if you aren’t careful (there are a couple of them in my basement somewhere).
As to disassembly, the 100 has a curved piece that fits behind the trigger. It always takes me a couple of minutes with some tweezers to get it in the right position. If I used it more I’d probably have that down pat though. The Omni doesn’t have that part and it is very easy to reassemble. Other than that they both assemble pretty much the same way.
I use my Omni more than my 100 but that is just because I’ve had it longer and am more comfortable with it. Either one would be an excellent choice though, and pretty comparable in operation.
Not that I’m trying to knock anyone here for asking for help or people giving help. But does anyone ever give Badger a call when they are contemplating a Badger product?
I called their toll free number and spoke with a very nice person for what must have been 30 to 45 minutes. I explained everything that I was planning on doing with an airbrush and everything that I “might” want to try doing. She was very helpful and explained why certain brushes with certain needles would be my best choice for certain projects. In the end, it boiled down to one brush that would server all my needs to start with and I should get the extra needles (fine, medium and heavy). If I wanted to just spray my models, the same brush would be fine or I could get one other choice. Don’t ask me now which they were, but they were the ones that are always mentioned here in the forum. I then took those 2 recommendations and browsed through the forum reading what people had to say about those AB’s.
Sometimes the companies actually give good advice like the nice folks here. [:D]
Sorry for my ramblings… [:I]
Jim-no knocks taken. Appriciate your approach. I tried that with Dixieart and while they were helpful telling me that I couldn’t use the Pasache air hose with the Badger product, they would not comment on a good application for my needs/uses. I will be giving Badger a call next week thought.
Scott-thanks again for sharing your experiences with both brushes.
The owner and President is a friend of mine so I talk to him. [;)]
Then there are bums like me who ends up having 6 airbrushes just to figure out which one is good for me. Having yet to receive the HP-CH and HP-BH shipped from Hongkong, I gotta say every one of the others does the job they were currently assigned to do after trying them all in different roles. Kinda makes me feel more retarded nowadays when I airbrush I had to pick which one to use since I have multiple ones for the same application (Like for small details I can use Tamiya SuperFine, Badger 100LG, 100SG, and the future HP-CH/BH, talk about overspending). But then again that is one thing you won’t get from a company.
You can use a Paasche hose with a Badger brush and vice versa with the proper adapter and they’re pretty cheap. I run all of my brushes off of my Badger hose except for the Aztek, but that’s another story.
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Scott, the newer Badger 100/150 line have slotted trigger returns that make that job MUCH easier than in the past. They simply lift out and drop in when you pull the needle. Not like the old days when you had to contort your fingers and such. Been there and done that!
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