TAKING CARE OF OUR TOOLS

I still have my first airbrush (Paasche H) and first compressor, a cantankerous blue Paasche unit I call "Thomas", since its small, blue and grating, just like the tank engine my son's obsessed with.

How do I care for them? I don't. The Paasche H is ridiculously bulletproof. Literally three parts to replace and it's good as new. Don't use it for all that much these days, but for big bomb-style coats its still great.

The compressor just won't die.

I've only been at this for a little over a year and also have the "H".  Just learned recently, that no matter how much I thought running a significant amount of thinner through it after each use would keep it from getting gunked..... it still does.  But as Doogs stated, there's not much in there to fix so I hope to be able to use it for life.  Bought a cheap (but effective) compressor from HF, we'll see how it holds up.  The rest of the tools are pretty low/no maintanence.

Still have my original Paasche H bought in 82 and my first compresser, A Sears continuous run jobby. A couple days ago I regulated my Porter Cable Pancake compresser to the gearage and bought a little Harbor Freight  unit because when the Pancake would run I would just about jump out of my shoes.

Bill

My first airbrush was a cheapo Badger that cost me a whopping 20.00 bucks or so, and never kept it running...  It was better than a rattle-can, but not as good as a decent, mid-range, single-action Iwata or the like.. Smallest "line" I could get out of it was maybe an inch wide one.. Worked great for one and two-color camouflage jobs though, and for fading...  Meanwhile, I learned more about how to mask..

I didn't buy a "real" airbrush until about three years ago, with the Paasche H-45630 SA I currently use... ( Got that with the good ol' 40% coupon from Hobby Lobby, naturally... ) Bought a Chinese knock-off of the Testor's "Blue Meanie" compressor for 16.00 offa Ebay, too...

I don't really airbrush much, at least not if I have tape and a rattle-can that matches***, and don't need a scale feathered edge...  I do use it for sun-fading desrt and tropical camouflage schemes though, which happily, is exactly what the airbrush was designed to do, ie: Applying a smooth, even, transparent layer of color over an existing one... 

So, no, I don't have old Badger anymore (nor the second and third ones I bought either, for that matter, lol), since I was guilty of the "I'll get to cleaning it later" syndrome. Probably because they were so cheap...

Also, since I really HATE to clean my airbrush, I keep it's actual use to a bare minimum too...   One of the reasons I don't use Future is that clear glosses already come in rattle cans, and with one, the actual job is ten seconds long, while the cleaning is ten minutes...  But for some applicatins, it's impossible to use anything BUT an airbrush, ie: certain camouflage mottlings and schemes, or colors that have to be custom-mixed by myself, and combinations of both...

Tool-maintnece is important though, especially compressors and their lube, as well as Dremel tools, attatchments (anything that spins at 20,000 rpm needs to be taken care of without short-cuts or you're gonna GET cut...), drill-presses, vacuforms (anyone with a Mattel Vac-U-Form will tell you that they need care and maintnence too, especially of the heating element and vac-pump/tray...

*** No point in using an airbrush to spray a tank Olive Drab or Panzer Grey or a US Navy AD Skyraider in Dark Sea Blue when the rattle-can is already there, lol...

I've been a mechanic for the past 40 years and know the value of my tools. I still have hand tools that i got in 1974 and they're all in great condition. Now I've only been back into modeling for 5 or 6 years but have acquired a fair number of tools for the hobby and I betcha I'll still have most of them when I finally give it up. Take care of your tools and they'll take care of you.

I sold mine. It was a Paasche VL. While they are tough airbrushes I don't like them as they are too large in diameter for my tastes and the action is not that smooth. They are a workhorse though.

Like others, I started with a beginner Badger, probably cost $6. 00 in 1972.  In 1977 I made the big leap to buy a Paasche  H model single action.  I used it until 1990 when I got a Badger 150 double action.  Now I use an Iwata Eclipse.   I got an Aztec when the Badger had to go back for a repair on an internal part.   I think I tossed the old beginner Badger,  and I gave the Paasche  to a beginner modeler years ago.  I still have all of  the others The Iwata has been in use for over 5 years now, and is the airbrush I use most frequently.  (BTW, I build from between 30 to 40 kits a year. So it gets a real workout.)

I keep them all extremely clean.  I break it down after every painting session, sometimes in the middle of it if I need fine control and don't want to risk any problems.  Cleaning is almost zen in its' process.  Very relaxing to me.  So aside from tips and needles wearing out, as they do on all of them, I have never had a airbrush go bad.  I have had to replace compressors, diaphrams wear out, etc.  The Badger compessor I have now is 15 years old or so. I can't even count all the models it's painted.  And I do no maintanence on it at all.

Other tools, like hemostats, tweezers,  knife handles,(I have my original X-acto handle from 1966!) have lasted decades.  Buy good tools and with care, they will last.

Doug

I want to upgrade my airbrushes.Are you recommending the PAASCHE products? How,s IWATA ? My compressor was replaced two years ago with a HAUSFIELD-CAMPBELL tanked type and it,s a lot quieter and stable.The othet nice thing about the H-C is parts availability is always there.It takes anyone,s water trap and filter. And the hoses from IWATA,PAASCHE and BADGER all work. Hey, if you were at the show why didn,t you say hello? I wore that darned hat so,s you,d know who I was.  Oh , well , maybe we will bump into each other at KING,S         TANKERbuilder.

I just started using a Grex Tritium TG a few weeks ago and love it. I was using a Badger 175. It does a quality paint job and is easy to control. The Grex is very easy to breakdown and clean. I'm now able to take it apart, thourouly clean it and re-assemble in just minutes. 

Im a firm believer in investing in quality tools and taking care of them. A few dollars more now will more then pay for itself down the road with performance, reliability and long life. 

I don't remember the brand of my first one, but it didn't last long.  I don't think it was very expensive since I got it as a Christmas gift in my early teens.  It was before I knew about thinning or proper cleaning of enamel paints.  I recall creating a frosting effect on a model from the compressed air can.

After that got plugged up, I got a new one and I was so afraid to wreck it so it sat in a box for years.  I just recently cracked open my Testors Aztec now since I am more comfortable cleaning it, though I mostly use acrylics now.

My thirty-year-old Badger 350 is still my "everyday" airbrush.  I'm obsessive about disassembling and cleaning it after everytime I use it.  Other than the O-rings all the parts are original.

Mark  

I used the air cans in the beginning because they came with the Passche H kit. They were a joke, I never had any luck with those cans and never bought any after that.

Bill

HANS: Funny you should mention a MATTEL-VACU-FORM.I used my old one probably for about eleven years till it blew away with the house.It took me all these years to acquire another.It was sealed in the box,brand spanking new ! I primarily use it to do canopies on "things with wings " as the kit parts are always to thick.There is a maintenance cycle that should be used on this product too. Most folks saw it as a toy and said "oh well" and threw it out .      TANKERbuilder

I still have and use my Badger DA airbrush and compressor  I got back in the late 70's at Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami.Unfortunately, the compressor went kaput about 4 years ago but I kept it for sentimental reasons. I may be able to fix it eventually.