Decisions,Desisions

why choose one or the other.. go with both... I have a Badger universal 360 and its great.. It can be used as a siphon feed or a gravity feed.. by turning the feed section around.. it moves from top gravity feed to bottom siphon feed in 2 seconds.. the 360 is also basicly the same as the Badger 155 but the 155 is gravity feed only.

I use the gravity feed to do touch up work or to paint small items that don't require a lot of paint..and this airbrush will work with just a few drops if need be.. for larger jobs i use it as a siphon feed.. I use model master bottles and have a converted siphon cup for it.

clean up isn't that bad either..

1. just unscrew the cap off the bottle, carefully Backblow the extra paint back into the bottle.. put a cap on your full bottle.. (i thin my MM enamals in the bottles and use that way i don't have to clean the darn bottle)

2. wipe off excess paint from the siphon inner lid and siphon.. hold in some thinner and blow thinner through the brush and siphon cap..

3. remove siphon cap clean siphon with thinner and micro brushs. dry with paper towel.

4. turn paint cup to gravity feed mode.. fill with thinner run through airbrush again.. clean cup..

5. Take needle out of brush. remove tip assembly clean needle and tip asembly with micro brushs..

6. Clean airbrush body with q-tips and microbrushs with thinner untill clean.

7. Re-assemble and put away..

takes me about 5 tom 10 minutes to clean and It is time well spent to keep your airbrush in tip top form.

also have a badger 175 cresendo and clean up is basicly the same minus step 4.. the 175 is great for general use and large area coverages..

as Saltydog would say, an omni is a good airbrush, but an iwata is a great airbrush.

as 1337 would say, an iwata is a good airbrush, but an omni is a great airbrush. :D

why not try the "nobs azbeck woodtek 2?"

I own the 155, and I must say, I am extremely pleased with it. I very highly recommend it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tominator while were on the topic of ab could some one clarify something 4 me.... ok, the only real difference betwwen siphon and grav ab's is the method of feeding paint 2 the nozzle. grave feed ab's spray better at lower pressures right? so basically grav feed ab's can do everything siphon feed ab's can do, plus more. is that right? thanks!

Tom,

I am still rather new to airbrushes but wanted to put my in... like Mike said, unless you envision doing large coverage jobs like a 1/16 armor project or something... The gravity feed might be better for you... I bought a siphon feed, but since getting it have only use the metal paint cup... why?? clean up!!! It takes a LOT less to clean that metal cup (think gravity fed) than to take that $#@% bottle off and clean it, the siphon tube, the airbrush and on and on...

There's more, but when you're using enamels and such you'll notice the difference!!!

---Tom---

Hi TomW! to the Forum! I noticed you mentioned Airbrush Depot in your post. If your looking for a place to buy, another one is DixieArt. I did a search of the forum because I'm also in the market for a new AB as well and they seem to have positive feedback. I searched their website and they have what looks to be very good pricing. Hope this helps.

Tom,

Yes, that about sums it up.
They are designed the way they are more for preference than anything else.

Mike

while were on the topic of ab could some one clarify something 4 me....
ok, the only real difference betwwen siphon and grav ab's is the method of feeding paint 2 the nozzle. grave feed ab's spray better at lower pressures right? so basically grav feed ab's can do everything siphon feed ab's can do, plus more. is that right?
thanks!

Tom,

So are you going to want an airbrush down the road that will hold quite a bit of paint for larger projects such as R/C tanks that you mentioned?
If so then I would go with a siphon-feed airbrush instead of a gravity-feed.
The Badger Anthem 155 and the Omni 3000 are both excellent choices in that regard.

Mike

You mentioned Airbrush-depot. They have a compressor with a tank, but it's a 1/8 hp $170 diaphragm type when the Makita Mac700 is an oil-lubed 2 hp 2.6 gallon for $180 brand new (ships from North Dakota).

Mike,I will be doing 1/35 plastic armour model's and such.eventually I want to do remote control Tanks etc.

Hi Tom.

What are you planning on doing with the airbrush?
I would recommend a double-action, internal mix airbrush and my two main choices are the Omni 4000 and the Badger 100LG. The Iwata HP-CS is also a good airbrush, but they are a bit more money.
As far as compressors go, if you want it for the airbrush only then I would get one of the reconditioned Thayer & Chandler Air Star V compressors that Badger is selling for $99.
http://www.badger-airbrush.com/garagesale.htm

Mike