Seriously, just try a Paasche H airbrush and join us on the dark side. [prte]
Paasche H’s are just about indestructable aren’t they ? I use mine more than my Badger these days since shooting quite a lot of acrylics and enamels and after the loss of MM Metalizers. I bought it as a back up about 7-8 years ago while I upgraded my Badger 200 to the newer air caps and such… The 200 was in need of a really good clean up after 40 years of use . It’s always good to have a back up imo. The Paasche H is a work horse, pretty inexpensive too. And it has hefty parts, large orifices etc. These days I keep the #3 tip on that and the .25 in the 200. My hands slip now and then as I’m aging, I’ve dropped that H on the floor twice now and it just keeps going. Not that I’m advocating doing such a thing mind you. If nothing else though, a guy could get an H and once everything is squared away with their other air brush or brushes, use the H for primers, heavy clears or whatever.
I use mine for everything now…had the same one for 35 years so far. I usually use my #1 air caps and needles with it, since I like a nice, thin coat of paint. I have 2 sets of the #1s, and 2 sets of the #3s, along with 2 color cups. When I get done with one color, I just dump the needle, cap, and cup into my relish jar of MEK in the ultrasonic cleaner and then put the second needle/cap/cup set on the airbrush to shoot the next color. That set also goes in the jar and everything gets a thorough cleaning for about 30 minutes while I work on other stuff. I bought an Iwata HP-CS last year, thinking I would really like it…its still practically brand new because it was a PITA using it, and I have never liked the concept of shooting a bunch of solvent into the air to flush it. After using the H for so many years, I haven’t run into a situation yet where I wished I had a different airbrush…it can do pretty much anything I need it to. Working on the bare metal tail surfaces of my Tamiya F-4B project with it this weekend, and getting amazing results so far. Its definitely my workhorse. [H]
Hmmm!
I wish I could help! BUT! I packed up All my hobby Air Brush units and went back to my OLD De-Vilbiss Mk 1 and the Mk.4 commercial brushes I used years ago on actual Cars and Boats. They were definitely built to last! Both are over fifty years old! Based on what you’ve said, it sounds to this old engineer that you have a microscopic crack somewhere!.
Ya, I used the #1 for a year straight. Then when I decided to stick mainly with the fine tip in the Badger, put the #3 back on ( I also have 2 #3 setups for it, they’re cheap enough). But I found with the #3 I can still reduce flow to next to nothing if need be so now it’s been about a year that way. Varnishing my wife’s ceramics was another good use for that H with larger or multi bottles. I did that often with the #5 before she passed away on me back in Dec 2020. You’re right though, very versatile airbrush. These days I most often use the metal side cup, actually in both the H and on the Badger. Except enamels on car bodies I use the glass jars/bottles.
If you decide to get rid of it, let me know. I’d be willing to see what I can do with it, with no hard feeling if not fixable.
Well, I replaced the nozzle with a brand new one and it’s still splattering paint everywhere.
not sure what else to do, so it’s time for a new airbrush. Will probably go H & S.