Renegade Rage Review

Don,

I really like your reviews. You are very methodical (as I would expect from an engineer!) and consistent in how you approach each review. The website is nicely laid out and has a good flow to it. It might not be the whiz-bang, eye-popping, flash extravaganza that some people seem to expect, but I like it. Simple, easy to use and more important to this 50 yr old, easy on the eyes!

Your conclusions are spot on. As you proved, you don't need a top end airbrush to get the results that 99% of modelers would love to achieve, and our budgets are probably better served by "lesser" airbrushes! Airbrushes were originally designed for the illustrator, and it wasn't until Ken's father started Badger that airbrushes were targeted to the hobbyist. Even today, there are probably more airbrushes sold to tanning boutiques and nail salons than to scale modelers!

As you know I am gathering up opinions on various airbrushes for use in a user guide, and I would love to have yours included. Would you mind if I lifted some of them off your website? Proper credit would be provided, of course!

And I love your stand! I'm afraid I'm going to steal that one, regardless!

BTW, the discoloration on your 200 needle is probably caused by the previous owner leaving it to soak in Windex or straight Ammonia (Windex contains 3% Ammonia), which can discolor chrome quite quickly. And it's not removable. It also isn't harmful, only unsightly. I made that mistake with a color cup from my trusty 150.

Bgrigg

 

BTW, the discoloration on your 200 needle is probably caused by the previous owner leaving it to soak in Windex or straight Ammonia (Windex contains 3% Ammonia), which can discolor chrome quite quickly. And it's not removable. It also isn't harmful, only unsightly. I made that mistake with a color cup from my trusty 150.

 

Hey Bill

I don't want to hijack this thread, but check your PMs... or whatever those things are called...

Boyd

Don

I agree with Bill.  I've been to your site a couple of times, and I've got to say that you do a really superb job there.  Thank you for your efforts. 

Bgrigg

As you know I am gathering up opinions on various airbrushes for use in a user guide, and I would love to have yours included. Would you mind if I lifted some of them off your website? Proper credit would be provided, of course!

And I love your stand! I'm afraid I'm going to steal that one, regardless!

Thank you for the kind words, Bill.  Any opinions or ideas that I have are free to anybody who wants them.  And probably worth exactly what they cost.  The website is simple because that's all I know how to do.  And I wanted it to look OK to anyone with at least a 600X800 display and any old browser.  If you need any details of how I made the stand, let me know.  I didn't include them because I have some woodworking equipment that most people wouldn't have.

Don

Don Wheeler

 

 If you need any details of how I made the stand, let me know.  I didn't include them because I have some woodworking equipment that most people wouldn't have.

Don

That is a nice stand Don but I am curious as to why you think the Vega 1000 needs a steep angled stand like that?

I guess if you wanted to fill the color cup more than 1/2 way you would want to keep it angled down more but I just use my Badger airbrush holder for all my airbrushes as it works great.

Don, thanks for your permission. While many opinions are worth no more than the air expelled in their uttering, yours is honestly given and forthright, and are therefore worth much more than the sum total of the words.

I have a clear idea of how the stands are made. I fancy myself as a "olde tyme" woodworker, and what my router can't do, my gouges can! I've studied Tage Frid's work and text books. If I only had the space for the workshop I want!

Mike, I suspect Don is basing that steep angle so that the rim of the cup is parallel to the table surface. I would (indeed, I will!) do the same, it is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

MikeV

 

 

 

That is a nice stand Don but I am curious as to why you think the Vega 1000 needs a steep angled stand like that?

I guess if you wanted to fill the color cup more than 1/2 way you would want to keep it angled down more but I just use my Badger airbrush holder for all my airbrushes as it works great.

Bgrigg

I have a clear idea of how the stands are made. I fancy myself as a "olde tyme" woodworker, and what my router can't do, my gouges can! I've studied Tage Frid's work and text books. If I only had the space for the workshop I want!

Ah, good old Tage Frid.   One of my prized possessions is a set of the first 104 issues of Fine Woodworking Magazine with many of Tage's how-to articles.  They are on the shelf with the Homer Simpson doll in the picture of me on my site.

Don

You have more than I do, I'm missing the first couple of years, but I have all three of his books. Fine Woodworking is more like Pretty Decent Panel Routing these days, but those early years had some amazing work!

Don,

Thanks again for another of your helpful, well-written reviews.  Your efforts are appreciated!

Chris

I converted my Velocity to use the Rage needle & nozzle.  And frankly, I was disappointed.   There was mild overspray when I was freehanding a 1/35 Panther.   It seems that there was a big difference between the .21 and .33 needle.

brickshooter

I converted my Velocity to use the Rage needle & nozzle.  And frankly, I was disappointed.   There was mild overspray when I was freehanding a 1/35 Panther.   It seems that there was a big difference between the .21 and .33 needle.

Don Wheeler showed that the Renegade Rage needle is very similar to the Badger 200 needle with similar length of taper. Do you see any difference in shape when you lay the Renegade .21 and .33 needles side by side? It is interesting to know where the difference in performance result that you saw comes from.

How does the Velocity with the Rage needle & nozzle compare with your old Crescendo. I will love to see a more detailed review of this combination like you did with the "pure" Velocity last December.

brickshooter

I converted my Velocity to use the Rage needle & nozzle.  And frankly, I was disappointed.   There was mild overspray when I was freehanding a 1/35 Panther.   It seems that there was a big difference between the .21 and .33 needle.

Did you change all 3 parts, the regulator, tip, and needle?  I don't see much overspray with the Rage.

Don

Isn't overspray more the user, than the brush?

Keilau - The .21 needle tapers differntly.  It's not a narrow version of the .33 needle.   The .21 needle starts to taper earlier resulting in a sharper needle.   The .33 needle looks more like the Cresendo finest needle, shrunken down to .33mm.   Visually, the .33 needle looks less "sharp" than the .21.

Don - I did change all three parts. You have to. Otherwise, you can't get the .33 needle through the .21 nozzle and cap.

Bgrigg - Maybe it's me getting frustrated and impatient with the .33 needle when I wasn't able to spray with the same presicion as the .21 needle.  With the .21, there were no oversrpay even when I'm over 1 inch from the spraying surface with psi between 10-20.   It was extremely forgiving of mistakes.

With the .33 needle,  I had to get in real close to about 1/4 to 1/8 inch and lower the psi down to under 10 to eliminate overspray.  And even then, I wasn't able to do it consistently.  In the end, I had to resort to spraying at a 75 degree angle to the surface, which is a big no-no. 

I also noticed that the .33 needle was using about twice as much paint as the .21 needle.  One can tell that one is spraying paint onto a surface.    One can see the paint.  With the .21 needle, it feels like the surface is merely chaning color.

I wonder if this has something to do with the .33 needle and tip being designed to work with a siphon airbrush.  I notice that Badger doesn't really say much about it as an option for the Velocity and Spirit.  The pattern I get with the Rage just seems normal to me with either ink or enamel.  But I've never used the .21 tip.  As I point out in my review, the .33 needle has a small secondary taper on the end.  With the larger diameter tip opening, they had to do this or, with the taper it has,  the needle would extend past the protective prongs.  That may make a difference. Now you've got me wondering how the .21 would work in the Rage.  You might want to e-mail Ken Schlotfeldt and see what he says.

Don