As the title says, WHERE???[%-)][?][%-)] I’m using it for general purpose work.
Need reply by may 10. (birthday-payday) [:D] Thanks!
I suggest eBay and Craig’s List. In either case, e-mail the seller questions about the condition and ensure that they accept returns if it is damaged/broken.
Cheap and reliable? Pick one. Buy a cheap one and it will give you problems. Buy a better one and it will be reliable.
Check out Badger’s Garage Sale
http://www.badgerairbrush.com/Garage_Sale.asp
The 200NH gift set is a real bargain at $55 and if you already have some bottles and a hose, get one of the blemished ones for $24 (200NH) - $35 (150).
If you have a Harbor Freight Tools near you go by there. They have hobby airbrushes all the way up to professional paint guns and all of their stuff is priced great. They also have compressors. Jamie
I agree with Harbor Freight. They had a kit on sale for $75, and that was everything. Gun, bottles, hose, compressor, etc. Might not be the best, but its a good start.
I own both the Harbor Freight single action airbrush ($9.99) and their Deluxe dual action airbrush ($19.99). Both go on sale frequently. My single action unit cost me $5.99 while my dual action unit cost me $14.99. The single action unit is a virtual clone of the Badger 350. It works well for everything from general purpose painting to limited weathering tasks. The dual action is all metal and looks similar to the Badger Hybrid. I haven’t used it as much as the single action gun (I simply haven’t owned it very long) but it works well and I was able to paint 1/16" wide lines the first time I used it. As long as you thoroughly clean each gun after use, I don’t see why the Harbor Freight airbrushes wouldn’t remain totally reliable. The biggest plus is that you can own more than one for fast color changes or replace several you might damage or leave full of paint for less than the price of a single name brand unit!
It seems to me that the biggest problem with any airbrush is an adequate air supply. Since I already owned both, I fill an approximately 15 gallon portable air tank with about 75 PSI of air from a 4 HP compressor in my garage. I can then take this air supply to wherever the work is to be done. I use an in-line regulator to drop the air pressure to between 10 and 30 PSI depending on the job. One tank of air gives me about 20 minutes of continuous painting time with the single action brush. I get less time with the dual action unit but I can refill the air tank as often as I need. Best of all, the tank style air supply is extremely quiet.
I got one from Airbrush City
I don’t care what people say but when it comes to airbrushes you really do pay for what you get. If you want poor results go buy a cheap 9.99 one but if you want quality results get yourself a good one. I’ve painted over 200 1/24 scale model cars in my life time and I know what I’m taking about. The better the brush the faster your learning curve, the cheap ones just leave you frustrated and disappointed.
I bought my aibrush set from Michels craft store. Every week our local newspaper has 50% off coupons for anything in the store… Good for either Saturday, or Sunday… I don’t remember. I bought a $100 badger set for $50. I thought it was a good deal!!
Mike
I admit that I’ve never used a name brand air brush before. However, I have painted and weathered three MDC locomotive kits using my Harbor Freight Tools cheapo Badger 350 clone and John Pryke’s weathering method and the results look every bit as good as the examples that appeared in John Pryke’s MR article. The paint output of my $9.99 (actually $5.99) HF airbrush is smooth and consistent. The paint output is easy to adjust and is quite predictable. I have sprayed enamels and acrylics with equally fine results. This airbrush is easy to use and I honestly can’t imagine the results with a name brand airbrush being any smoother or more uniform.
I have been even more impressed with the HF dual action airbrush (appears to be similar to the Badger Hybrid model). The all metal construction of the dual action airbrush is impressive. The brass body is chrome plated and the aluminum metering rod cover is nicely anodized. The two-way trigger action is very smooth. Though I have not owned it very long, I have been able to add rust streaks and water leak drips to various locos and tenders as well as general weathering effects on freight cars to automobiles (HO scale). I have yet to find any need or reason to spend more money for a name brand airbrush.
Any Micheal’s crafts or AC Moore they regularly offer 50% off coupons on non sale items, about a year a go I picked up a Badger two stage Airbrush for $50.00 can’t beat that deal with a stick. An added bonus is each store will honor the others coupons
I agree 100%, but depending on application. For my immediate airbrushing needs, I just will be spraying color on my backdrops, painting track and other general purpose airbrushing. I will go the cheap-o route on that one. When I come around to kitbashing a $100 locomotive, my requirements will be much different. So I guess I agree 100% with you about 50% of the time! Jamie
Then you people must not be able to spray with a cheap airbrush. I completely disagree. I bought a kit, 2 airguns, compressor and a lot of different stuff for under $80.00 from Airbrush City. I can say 100% that I wouldn’t think twice about using it to spray a brass Overland $2500.00 Turbine or any other model. I will put that cheap airgun up against any Badger, Testers, ect any day. It is even a duel action airbrush. That was years ago and it is still working great. I guarantee it will perform as good as your $300.00 airgun. And I have enough money left to buy several Kadee boxcars. I also think taking care, cleaning and mixing paint correctly is 50% of the battle. Taking your time, preparing your model is the other 30%. The last 20% is experience. So NO, you DO NOT have to spend big $$$ to get great quality results.
Mike
I’ve got a 30+ year old Badger 200 that was a hand-me-down from my best friend. I just put $40 into a rebuild for it with a new jar lid / syphon and air valve. It still works like a champ.
But, since there is a Harbor freight nearby I’ve also added the two inexpensive airbrushs that they offer.
So, I’ve ended up with 3 brushes and a 1 Gallon compressor with regulator. They all seem to work just fine and if one of the Harbor brushes breaks, well it wasn’t too costly now was it?
Mark Gosdin
Hello there,
I am looking at the Harbor Freight website. Are these the two airbrushes you guys are talking about?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95810
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47791
They also have this kit:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95630
Thanks,
Keith
You’ve got me beat by 10+ years. My Badger has worked for me for 20+ years on to numerous models cars, trucks, and planes, not counting 3 layouts and numerous trains.
Three for three Keith. They may not cost much, but both HF brushes, and even the compressor appear to be copies of high quality brand name guns. The single action gun is so close to the Badger 350 that I suspect HF gets it from the same supplier.
I didn’t even know they would have such things, but ironically there is a Harbor Freight Tools nearby me. Its on one of the main streets through the towns here…how did I notice it? Simple, because it has the WORLD’S BIGGEST FREAKING SIGN out front.
They have tools so cheap I’ll just buy them and throw it away if it breaks. Great value in there for hobbyists. Got 40 spring clamps for building my spline roadbed and paid a cool $0.33 each. Everything is always on sale at one time or another; be sure to get the sale paper when you walk in the store. Jamie