Okay so I did a really dumb thing. I left my airbrush in water and forgot it. For a couple months. It is a rusted mess. Totaled. I couldn’t break it with Kroil, a vise and vice grips. Okay, you can point and snicker now.
Anyway, I could never get the hang of it. It was a Badger 150, a two stage. I always thought it was defective. I could never get it to spray like the directions said. I even contacted Badger and they had me change the needle and and nozzle–still didn’t function correctly. What can I say? I got it cheap off eBay.
So I see a video. One of the Laugh, Scream, Build series and they showed a guy using a one-stage. It looked so easy. Adjust the spray so it doesn’t blow chunks and then twist the nozzle until you get the volume you want.
So now I’m thinking, a single stage is the way to go.
I could never get it to spray controlled and evenly. Invaribly, I would spray paint globs. This is with all kinds of mixtures of paints, brands of paints, air pressures, etc. Even more so on larger jobs. Mainly, uneven spray patterns and paint distribution.
And I never got the thin line and pinpoint dots shown in the manual as a beginner lesson.
Yeah, for painting locomotives and rolling stock you usually don’t need to do things like unmasked fine line or dot sprays. RR paint jobs are usually solid colors anyway and fine lines are either mask-painted or decaled. All you need 99.9% of the time is something that can lay down a simple, solid even coat of paint.
I say go ahead and try a single-action if you know someone who has one, and see if it suits you better. Sometimes it’s easier to just KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
I agree with LongIslandTom. Simple is better. I have the basic Paasche H and it is simple to use and clean. What finally sold me on this one brand was that I had read the design has been unchanged for many years.
I too have had uneven paint and blobs but I believe it is my inexperience and not the brush.
I have been contemplating this question along with you Chip. In fact to take it one step further I also am stumped by the “internal mix vs. external mix” and “gravity feed vs. siphon feed” questions as well. I currently have one of the plastic Testors airbrushes that will spray a nice even coat of paint that I think is a little too thick when the stars align correctly. Of course this is a single action external mix siphon feed airbrush.
I try to take an organized approach to decision making. First, single or double action? I think single action for MR use. This is not painting murals on Harley tanks. Second, internal or external mix? I lean towards internal, but have no evidence that I need this feature. It sounds harder to clean and more complicated but maybe gives better “atomization”-does that matter? Third, siphon vs. gravity feed-my first reaction is gravity, but can you set the brush down if there is a color cup? Does one give the ability to spray a thinner mist, like when you are weathering?
I use my Testors bru***o spray thinned acrylic craft paints a lot, like the Ceramcoat you can buy at Wal Mart. Will a better bruch shoot this stuff? If so, what size nozzle doyou need? So many questions.
At least I do have a compressor so I don’t have to work through that decision. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I use this air brush for most everything, including weathering. I have a ‘medium’ tip on it and have had it since the 70’s.
Badger 350 - Single action/external mix
I won this one as a ‘door prixe’ and it works great and cleans up easy. The problem is that I cannot weather with it. The spray pattern is too coarse. It does lay down paint great for general painting however.
I did have a Testors ‘Dual Action’ air brush many years ago. The air/paint control was nice, but cleanup was time consuming, and every once in a while I would have problems with it. The all metal Badger just works better for me. A friend has a new Testors air brush(Aztec???) and is very pleased with it. From what I have seen, the intenal mix air brushes seem to produce a much finer spray pattern and weathering with them gives superior results. And for any air brush - CLEAN it right after use!
I have only used a Paasche H single action/external mix airbrush. I have also only used Floquil paints. With that said, it has given me years of trouble free use.
Easy to clean and use, I’ve painted many a car and loco over the years.
Chip, I used to paint alot always used a single action, doubles are to picking,they have to be cleaned every time and i mean cleaned spottlessly. A single action is a little more forgiving with the cleaning,not has many moving parts. You sound like you where having moisture prolems. Do you have a moisture trap between your compresser and brush? Also do you have a air regulater on your compresser? One more thing to think about is the area you are painting in very damp?
Jim, I love creamcoat’s paint, but it is not designed for an airbursh, read the label. It will spray for a short while ok but then it will start to turn into a a clob of rubber in the air brush its self, and then my friend you get to take it apart piece by piece. ( been there myself, not fun.)
I’ve had moisture traps in the past and they don’t seem to make a differnce either way. I have a two stage regulator on my current compressor. It has a moistrure drain in the tank.
Jim B., thanks for the advice. I have looked at the Badger 200 and there are about 4 different ones, some are gravity and some are siphon. Any hints on how to decide between the two? They list the new 200-20 as the hobby unit, is that fair to say?
Also, apparently the internal mix does matter. It atomizes the paint to finer drops, is that a fair way to explain the difference? Sorry for all the questions but I think I need all the help I can get to make a good choice.
My Badger 200 is very old. It has be ‘rebuilt’ several times(new tip/needle from a fall to the floor, and ‘o’ rings). The current ‘tip’ is the new style with the ‘V notch’ on it to clear dried paint from building up(something to consider with acrylic paints). Mine has siphon feed direct from a bottle. I have sprayed Scalecoat, Floquil, and PollyS for years. I have had problems with the Badger paints(both versions) and tend to stick with the PollyS now…
I see that there are several ‘versions’ of the model 200 now - Check out the Badger web site for detailed info and make your decision from there.
Yup, my Badger 200 single-action internal-mix is 1988 vintage. Served me very well all these years. It’s the basic kit-- Siphon feed, medium tip. Haven’t had any of the parts break on me yet (and I was very careful every time I disassemble it not to accidentally mess up the needle or lose the tiny parts). It’s simple to use, easy to maintain. I kept it meticulously cleaned after each use and it works as good today as the day I got it.
I prefer the siphon feed for our particular application (RR paint jobs) because of the paints we use-- The thinned paints we use tend to dry out quite fast, so keeping it in a glass jar prevents fast evaporation of the thinned mix.
The chief advantage of an internal mix vs. external mix is the finer atomization, and that means you can lay down a thinner, more even coat. Thinner coats are always better!
Chip,
My next tip would be to make sure you are thinning your paints enough, if not this can cause a little clog to form and all of a sudden break loose. I had trouble using Floquil at first, I wasn’t adding enough thinner and it was coming out of the air brush and drying amost instanly, leaving a texture just like a egg shell, with the little dents. You’re not using Creamcoat paint are you in your brush?
I remember your post about a year or so ago and thought you worked it out. If the new needle and tip, and seals didnt get it, was probley damaged by the original user. Badger has excellent great quality control of its products. I also have the 150 Pro, its a great unit.
You will get as many openions as there are types and brands of air brushes. Most of us only have experience with a few of them. Try your LHS and find someone in your area that is into air brush painting, Plains, trains, Cars, it doesnt matter, a twenty minit session would work wonders for you.
In my personal openion the learning curve between single and double action air brushing is not that great and over stated by some.
However if one unscrews any tip before releaving the needle tenson in its seat, the twisting of the taperd needle in the seat area will damage the tip with any type of spray gun. This will cause splatter and a very hard if not impossable to controll the spray pattern.
regardless of what type or brand, check out your local supply of parts for the type and brand you buy, and most importent, dont treat your next one like a submarine, just kidding…