Badger 360 vs 155 Anthem, does it worth?

Omni 4000 (bigger cup)
Omni 3000 (bottom feed)

Badger 100 LG( big cup)

Brian,

If you want a siphon-feed then I would go with the Badger Anthem or Omni 3000 as they are almost the same in terms of spraying.
If you would like to go to a gravity-feed then I would go with the Omni 4000 as it has a 1/3 oz color cup which is enough paint for almost any model.
The gravity-feed Omni 4000 will spray slightly finer lines than the Omni 3000 or Badger Anthem just because of the fact that it is a gravity-feed airbrush and allows you better control and more reliable paint flow at lower pressures.

The revers-a-guard aircap that you mentioned is a pretty nice idea in that it allows you to leave it on the airbrush as you see in photos which protects the needle from being bumped as easily. It is threaded on the end of the airbrush tip so you can just unscrew the revers-a-guard and flip it over and screw it back on again which exposes the tip of the needle like the Badger Anthem is. I like to spray with it this way as you can see tip dry on the needle and remove it with your fingernails or a cotton swab when the paint flow starts acting up.

Mike

Thanks Mike, that helps... but.... I was kind of turned off to the 360 & the matrix when you mentioned that the gravity feed cup only holds half a dropper of paint. Right now I'm using the siphon feed, it looks like part #500482 in the diagram at the top of the page. I'm feeling the need to move onto a DA airbrush now, that's why I was inquiring about the 360 & matrix. I'd like something that can do fine lines (without splattering like my Aztek), nice overall coverage (like the 200NH), something easy to clean up (like my 200NH), & something that can hold at least as much paint as my current color cup. I'm willing to go with siphon feed this time. And yes everyone, I'm Badger-biased like Mike, but let me tell you why... I've had nothing but good experiences with the Badger that I currently own. Suggestions anyone?? Honestly, sometimes it's hard to visualize all these special functions like the "revers-a-gard spray regulator cap" when I have no idea what it means or what it does. It's too bad that the LHS don't carry more than mostly Aztek airbrushes & there might be somewhere where we could 'try before we buy." I really never gave an airbrush any serious thought until I saw Brett Green use an Aztek in his How To videos on testorsscaleworkshop. Oh well, enough rambling... opinions & comments by anyone would be greatly appreciated by myself & everyone else who reads the forum, checks the prices, reads the descriptions, over & over again...

QUOTE: Originally posted by transblu Is the gravity cup the same size on the Badger 360 & the Omni Matrix??

Yes they are.

Here is what Ken Schlotfeldt told me about the differences in the Omni Matrix and the Badger 360:

QUOTE: They have the same differences as the Omni and Anthem have. Different needle tube/back - front lever assembly, different needle removal systems, slightly different triggers, slight difference in needle tip design configuration (which is what makes theses parts not interchangable between the omni/matrix and the anthem/360), the omni/matrix has the revers-a-gard spray regulator cap whereas the anthem/360 requires a changing of the spray regulator to a protective one for desired needle tip protection. From a performance and function standpoint these guns are the same - the design differences indicated above are slight, but are notable differences nonetheless.

I hope this helps Brian.

Mike

Is the gravity cup the same size on the Badger 360 & the Omni Matrix??

QUOTE: Originally posted by charger2000 mumble mumble... ok but in my eyes the Omni 4000 matrix has the same cup size...of the 360. ?!

Charger2000,

The Omni Matrix is not the Omni 4000. There are five airbrushes in the Omni line:
The Omni 3000, Omni 4000, Omni 5000, Omni 6000, and Omni Matrix.

I think Scott summed it up nicely in that only you alone can make the choice, we can just offer you opinions. Is there a reason why you want a siphon-feed airbrush like the Anthem 155? They are great airbrushes but you have to use a metal color cup so that you don't need to mix up so much paint at a time in the glass jars. If you feel you may need to do little, quick paint jobs along with a car body then I would buy the 360.
As I have already said, I love my 360 for quick jobs such as airbrushing a few missiles on a model or touching up something small as it is easier to clean than most gravity-feed airbrushes because the cup is small and the opening in the cup is bigger to accomodate the siphon-feed bottles.
If you don't mind getting the metal color cup out each time and hooking it up then go with the Anthem and save some money. Internally they are the exact same airbrush and parts are interchangeable betweeen the two.
I hope this helps somewhat.

Mike

The Omni 4000 has a 1/3 oz cup. I haven't used a 360, so my info is second hand, but it appears to be much smaller. MikeV told me it held about an eyedropper of paint. The Omni 4000 will hold quite a few eyedroppers full.

Edit ... Sorry, I had to go eat supper so I didn't get to finish this.

The 360 does sound like a good idea, and that's what attracted me to it. The small size of the cup and the fact that it doesn't have a cap on it are what turned me off.

I mostly build 1/32 airplanes so I'm used to keeping mixed paint in bottles. In fact that's why I still use my Omni 3000 a lot; screw a bottle on, spray, screw it off, flush the airbrush with water, and keep going. The 360 just doesn't hold enough paint for what I wanted to do with it. It might for you, I don't know.

mumble mumble... ok but in my eyes the Omni 4000 matrix has the same cup size...of the 360. ?!

On Dixieart the 360 starts from $87 and the Omni Matrix from $79...

sorry if I still don't get the point...

I was attracted from the Anthem with the metal cup just for using it as a fast "paint in/paint out", without the needing of reserving it a whole bottle for the occasional color/paint..
Does all this looks a good idea ?

thanks for patience...

QUOTE: but... it's worth or not in yours opinions the 360 ? Considering that MAIN usage is auto modelling ?

Sure, it's worth it! Especially since I'm spending your money!

Seriously, that's a decision that YOU have to make. It's your money that is being spent. Is the convenience of having the ability to switch between gravity feed and siphon feed worth $45? IMO, yes, but not for the 360. I thought about the 360 a long time before I got my Omni 4000 simply because I wanted that freedom to use gravity or siphon feed.

Two things stopped me:
1) The cup on the 360 is too small to do much more than shoot detail parts. MikeV told me that it holds less than an eyedropper of paint, and that wouldn't go very far. Maybe it would with cars, but I don't think so.

2) It doesn't have a cap on the cup. I spray mostly acrylics and they dry fast enough as it is. No sense in leaving the cup open so they can dry up even faster.

i say yes. i use a siphon feed for all my single color paintings, it doesnt need low pressures and besides, siphon feed lets you adapt different size bottles on, big, small, huge, tiny, etc etc. more choice

Thanks for the replies guys !

but... it's worth or not in yours opinions the 360 ? Considering that MAIN usage is auto modelling ?

QUOTE: Edit: Sorry Scott, we must have posted at the same time.

Must have, Mike Sorry 'bout that

Hi Nik.

The Badger 360 is nice in that you can use small amounts of paint for small paint jobs in the color cup as a gravity-feed airbrush, or you can use a bottle attached and use it as a siphon-feed model.
I use mine more for quick touch-up and painting small parts more than most of the other airbrushes I have. The cup is really small so it only holds about half an eyedropper of paint or so.
The Anthem is the same airbrush internally and sprays the same but being a siphon-feed it is not able to spray at real low pressures reliably because of the fact that it needs a little more pressure to draw paint up into the airbrush.
Both are excellent choices as are the Omni's that Badger also produces.

Edit: Sorry Scott, we must have posted at the same time.

Mike

QUOTE: And then... what if I use the metal cup 500482 together with the 155..

It looks to me that using that cup with the 155 would put it at a pretty severe angle, depending on which way you position the cup and angle your airbrush while painting. Also, it has no cap on it. I have a cup similar to that one and I think I may have used it once.

QUOTE: What's the practical difference between the use of this metal cup and a gravity cup like the one on the 360 ?

Even when using a cup like that one, the 155 is still going to be a siphon feed brush whereas the 360 with the cup rotated to the top is a gravity feed brush. Siphon feed brushes take a little bit more pressure to get the paint flowing. I have an Omni 3000 (siphon feed) and an Omni 4000 (gravity feed) and the 4000 will spray at a slightly lower pressure than the 3000 because the paint is already present at the needle, it does not have to be lifted to it.