Badjer 155 - Help!

Anonymous · March 8, 2005, 12:22pm

Greetings everyone.

I just purchased a Badjer 155 at a “going out of business” sale. I’ve never owned an airbrush but purchased it in part based on the info I read in the forums. My question or plea is this. It came new in the box, but without instructions. I have bought a compressor with regulator along with paint, thinner and airbrush cleaner.

Can someone out there provide the following advise.

Basic use of the airbrush. May be a dumb question but the two screw knows within the body of the airbrush, what do they do? I’ve found info on the net about cleaning it, just not using it.
Mixing Paint. It came with three bottles of “ready to use” paint / primer. But I’ve bought a few bottles of paint from my model store along with some airbrush thinner. How should I mix it? 50/50?

THNX![:)]

ABARNE · March 8, 2005, 2:40pm

The screws in question look to be an adjustment of the needle, presumably so that the needle is closed in the tip when the trigger is forward. This should be preset from the factory, so you probably shouldn’t need to adjust it in the near term.
It’s hard to give a good answer to thinning ratios because paints can vary so much, even the exact same color from the same manufacturer can have huge sample to sample variations, such that one bottle may be perfectly good straight without thinning, and another bottle may need to be cut 2:1 or even 3:1. Getting the right thinning ratio is one aspect of airbrushing that takes some practice to get right consistently. It is said that you should shoot for the consistency of milk. How you judge whether or not you paint is at that consistancy is something you get with experience.
Although you didn’t ask about air pressure, if your compressor has a regulator, you’ll probably find that it works well at 15 PSI, although you might find yourself varying that anywhere from 10 to 20 PSI.

Basically the deal with the AB is that it will take some practice to get the hang of it. How thin is the paint, what is the air pressure, how close is the AB to the model, what speed are you moving over the model, what is your trigger position, all these things combine in sometimes not obvious ways to make a good paint job. Practice, practice, practice!

good luck with the new Badger,

Andy

Anonymous · March 8, 2005, 4:28pm

THNX!

Anonymous · March 8, 2005, 4:35pm

One more question. If the screws really don’t need to be moved, what controls the width of the spray (from pinpoint to "~3 inches wide?)?

tho9900 · March 8, 2005, 5:33pm

Bianchi - there are three good links in this article that can help you:

http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=37953

I own the 155 and it is the main brush I use…

the two screws you mentioned are:

the one you see through the handle is to hold the needle in place, you loosen it when you remove the needle to clean it off at the end of your modeling day. (the needle just pulls out to the rear, through the nut))

The internal one just inside the airbrush body adjusts the tension on the trigger, determining the amount of pull needed to move the trigger back, also determines how fast it springs back forward, it should be left as set… at least till you get to know your airbrush more. actually it does more but for now that is good enough… (after about 30 hours or so follow the directions in the book you got with the 155 and that “screw” comes into play more… to dissasemble the brush)

Paints: any modeling paint will work fine, either acrylics or enamel. Read the link on thinning in the link I sent you above. One important thing to remember is it is better (at least for Tamiya acrylics) to use the manufacturers thinner when starting out (in my opinion) the results you get from them will be uniform and Tamiya thinner for example has a retarder to aid in painting — mixed in. Later when you get a little experience under your belt is ok to play with using other thinners like alcohol for acrylics, or mineral spirits for enamels… oh yeah if the paints that came with the brush are Bear model paints I remember hearing someone have some negative comments about it… if it is your first use of an airbrush try Model Master by Testors (enamel or Acrylic) or Tamiya acrylic buy some of the Model master airbrush thinner too for enamels, or if it is acrylic the Tamiya thinner works well too for either the MM or Tamiya acrylics…

The acrylic primer I use sprays fine out of the bottle, no thinning requirted. check the side of the bottle and it might have instructions on thinning it.

Basically you start out by turning your regulator between about 10 and 20 (20 for more coverage, 10ish for finer detail) depress the trigger and pull it back to allow paint to flow… the more you pull back the more paint comes out.

The trigger WILL NOT manage air flow from the brush, nor pressure. It is an on or off thing. The only thing you can adjust when painting is paint amount…

I would thin some paint and on a junk model or even a piece of cardboard just play with adjusting your paint flow… try some small lines and such… until you get a feel how much is enough… then go for it!!! try it on a model!

Oh… normally I use the metal color cup on my painting as it lets you use lower pressures, which lessons overspray… I only use the bottle for spraying the entire body one color (and not always even then)

Check out the links and come back and ask questions if ya want!!! And by the way… that was a good brush purchase! with a little practice you will be very proud of the results you get!!!

Good luck!!! [:D]

Anonymous · March 8, 2005, 8:51pm

hey mate, if u want a copy of the manual, send a email to badger (get it off their site) and they will send u out one free of charge!

Anonymous · March 9, 2005, 8:50am

THNX everyone for the help! I hope to fire it up this weekend, I’ll be back with questions!

Anonymous · March 14, 2005, 11:40am

Got the Badjer going this weekend, lots to learn but much possibility. The one thing I
could not even get a start on was executing a small thin line. Any hints?

THNX

1seventytwobuilder · March 14, 2005, 5:03pm

small thin line is done with lowish air pressure 10-15 psi and getting up close to the subject. 1/4 inch or closer. The issue will be; not to pull the trigger back too far. One thing that you might want to do is to find someone who lives close who is willing to let you watch them airbrush something. Then go home and practice practice practice.

For the longest time I could not get good results with freehand airbrushing. It was only after I watched someone who was to my mind good, that i realised I was trying to do to much with one coat. I also learned to get much closer for fine work than I had. I have a Iwata Eclipse and a Badger 360 and I use both so close that if I got nudged the tip would hit the model. At this point the paint is a light mist, which dries in 30 seconds or so after it hits the surface being painted.
I’ve seen some modelers who get as close, but pull the trigger back slightly further and get a very definate line in one pass. It takes me a couple of passes to do that since I dont trust myself to not leave a puddle.

MikeV · March 14, 2005, 7:28pm

I agree but with a siphon-feed airbrush like the Anthem he may have a tough time spraying reliably at that low of a pressure. GIve it a try and see how it does.

Mike

1seventytwobuilder · March 14, 2005, 7:40pm

Good point, a gravity feed imho works better at low pressures, but at higher pressures it takes a much finer touch. lol in the end it comes down to practice practice practice. Then just when you get over confident practice again lol

tho9900 · March 14, 2005, 7:52pm

mine does fine at 12 - 15ish with the metal color cup… syphon fed I have to go 16+ to spray consistently… try that Bianchia and see if you have better results…

Anonymous · March 16, 2005, 3:37pm

THNX for the tips, I’ll be back at the bench this weekend for some more practice. As for a place to spray, do many of you have problems “painting the walls”? I’m currently doing this in the garage, but have been wondering about building a small paint box and trying to do it inside where it is a bit warmer.

THNX