paasche and badger differences

Tom,

You don't need another airbrush for doing dagger strokes as I can do them with every airbrush I own. It just takes practice.
As you get better at them you may or may not find that you like the trigger tension stiffer so that it returns forward with more snap, which can produce even sharper dagger strokes for some.
To achieve the dagger stroke you push down the trigger, start moving the airbrush and pull the trigger back to get the paint flowing. As you are moving the airbrush along begin to push the trigger forward and the stroke will get smaller creating the dagger shape that you see. If you want it really sharp then you not only move the airbrush as described above, but you also get closer to the object being painted as you move the trigger forward. You have to be careful though as you can "crash" the airbrush needle into the object if you get too close.
I know as I have done it in the past with my Vega 2000 practicing T-shirt art.
You have to be especially careful with airbrushes like the Anthem 155 and the 360 as the needle is exposed and you can bend it if you are not careful.

Mike

Mike... ok my friend you have done it!!!

I'm buying that second airbrush... one with the soft pull for the major painting and one for stuff like that!!!

(next time my wife goes on an all weekend karate training camp of course)

interesting point and I will have to try some test patterns to see how mine fairs... I don't have it soft or anything... I just backed off a bit on the tension... with the long pull on the crescendo (longer than my previous brush at least) as I got closer to the max point on paint flow the more I had to press down to maintain the point I was at in the back pull... with it softer now it is one even motion... Not to say I was using max paint flow because on my brush that would be a lot.. but the further I pulled back, it seemed the more I had to maintain down pressure to keep it there...

I am sure in time I will be used to this... but I definitely want to try out the pattern you showed me to see if it can still do it... I could handle a little more on the pressure side to be able to acheive that pattern...

and thanks for the info by the way! I have been experimenting with another way of doing that but yours seems much easier!!!

P.S. you ought to think of doing a 'learn to airbrush' for models.. haven't seen one out there really, only thing I have seen is illustration and T-shirts... and it definitely would help with some of the finer tricks of doing a good model... without having to go through 10 kits to find out the best way... (might make some money off of it... who knows?)

Tom,

The reason some people like a tighter spring is so that the trigger will return forward faster to create sharp dagger strokes such as this.


This is one of, if not the most important strokes to learn for T-shirt artists and us modelers also at times. This is how I did the oil streaks on my A-1H Skyraider that I posted a while back. See how they taper off at the back into a point?


Mike

yeah the crescendo does have a tight trigger... luckily you can adjust it down some.. for one I don't like having not only to jab the trigger down, but actually have to hold some pressure while painting to keep it there... I loosened mine up to be more comfortable of a grip while brushing... thank goodness when they put a strong spring in they put in an adjuster so you can loosen it up some...

I was worried about getting a case of Popeye finger if I continued to use it that way...

Ryan,

Even if you could control the air with the trigger it is not something that you can replicate each time and that is why it was not designed that way.
When you set the regulator to 15 psi, that is exactly what you get out of the airbrush by pushing the trigger down all the way. If you set the regulator to 25 psi and then tried to get 15 psi out of the trigger movement it would be virtually impossible to do each time.

Mike

I used to be able to control air without a regulator on my aztek, but that had tons and tons of paint that acted like a spring

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1337 spring: I know there's 2 springs: 1 that keeps the trigger forward, and one that 'resists' as you push down to get air. i wish those were really tight.

You can tighten the trigger tension and if it isn't tight enough then you can use a stronger spring. I hear that the trigger spring in the Crescendo is stiffer and some guys put that spring in their Omni's to give the trigger a stiffer feel.
I don't know why you would want a stiffer spring in the air valve, as you just push it all the way down anyhow.
You don't try and vary the amount of air coming out of the airbrush with the trigger, that is what a regulator is for.

Mike

mike: my old aztek had a really long trigger pull, made my hand very tired in like 5 minutes.

spring: I know there's 2 springs: 1 that keeps the trigger forward, and one that 'resists' as you push down to get air. i wish those were really tight.

and i really like that rear handle, I wish i had one :(

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1337 -very short trigger pull.

Why a short pull?

QUOTE: -hard trigger pull and push [up and back]

How are you going to do that? The spring only works one direction.

QUOTE: -gravity feed -cool blue anodized rear handle [mike you have one for the 155?]

No, they quit using those quite a while back. I like the newer design better anyhow.
The anodized handles fade over time especially if you get thinner on them or soak them overnight to remove paint.

Mike

I'm still looking for the 'ideal airbrush.' the 155 comes pretty close, though not quite.

-very short trigger pull.
-hard trigger pull and push [up and back]
-gravity feed
-trigger pad[bingo 155]
-cool blue anodized rear handle [mike you have one for the 155?]

Those will affect it somewhat but not that much.
Distance does matter to a point, but after you get more than 6-8" away the spray pattern becomes much softer.

Mike

wouldnt the psray pattern also depend on the air pressure, distance held and thickness of paint right? im guest making a guesstimate...

The Paasche's such as the VL will not spray a really thick line because of the trigger design.
That is why T-shirt artists use them with the handle off. You can pull the trigger back all the way and then with the other hand, grab the back of the needle tube and pull it back even more for more paint flow.
The Badgers and Thayer & Chandlers have longer trigger throw than many airbrushes, especially the ones designed for T-shirt artists such as the 155 Anthem that you are looking at.

Mike

I was spraying up to something like a 4" pattern with a Paasche H (the #5 tip) when I did clouds on a mural wall. The paint was latex wall paint thinned with water. It was probably a 4" pattern at 5" counting the fading edge. Their site says that the H with tip 5 sprays "H#5 Spray Pattern 1/16"- 1 1/2" Heavy Fluids", which is obviously incorrect on both ends because there's no way that tip will spray heavy fluids at a 1/16" pattern.