 ABARNE wrote: |
| Inquisitor wrote: | | First of all, even though these companies have been around a while, I'm not impressed with their lack of innovation and the lack of quality in their products. I've gone through multiple badger brushes and have had them basically disintegrate from heavy usage. Workmanship is not that great... at all. My first iwata's as good as the day I got it. And I use them. Alot. |
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I've never heard of Badger's being poorly made and my own Badger seems to be well machined and constructed. Could you provide some clarification about your experience with Badgers? Mostly I'd be curious as to which Badger airbrush models you have owned? Which parts disintegrated? And how Badger's level workmanship contributed to the airbrushes' failures? Andy |
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Well, just to clarify: I shouldn't say that every badger product that I've used has been crappy, nor did I mean to imply that was the case.
edit: I'm also not talking about these new generation of brushes. I just looked at the renegade series... interesting. I'm talking about the stuff they've sold, marketed, etc.
When i speak of quality, I'm talking about the overall performance of the brush, not just that it is made well. If we are just talking about blasting out paint, that's one thing. If we are talking about painting fine lines, performance at incredibly low pressures, that's another. I am referring to the latter mostly.
There is also durability. Of any airbrush make i've used, I've had more problems with badgers. It could just be my luck. The one catastrophic failure I remember off the top of my head was on a 100lg, the airstem broke off. I was stunned. I couldn't believe it, actually. On that and other brushes, I'd have the coatings constantly chip and come off with regular use. I mean big chuncks and not from solvent based paints or anything. I didn't bother getting it serviced b/c I was sick of their products not doing what I wanted.
The other brushes I've used on a regular basis besides their gravity feeds were the 175 series. Good solid construction- sort of like a tank of the airbrush world. A good brush, but convinced me that I really don't like bottom feeders for much more than being a paint blaster. No precision to do the detail work I wanted to do. The anthem series... hmmmm. I think least looked them over, but don't remember using one for any length of time. Good solid simple brush, but didn't do anything different for me than other brushes than I've had. My paasche H's pretty much do everything that a 250/350 could do. That pretty much covers their line, unless its the sotar. I haven't used, but know someone who has, and they love it. When I've spoken with ppl who have used both (including some people at Bearair, when then used to carry iwata stuff...), they said the sotar was a fine brush, but that person still preferred their CM-SB.
I had a friend that used olympos brushes regularly in his porcelain restoration business. These are pretty much comparible to iwatas, so I thought I'd give them (Iwatas/similar) a try. I've never gone back.
As for innovation, I've not really seen much in the way of change with these brushes, apart from the 360, which is a pretty cool idea. Re: iwatas, I love the MAC valves on the brushes that I have them on, the design of the iwata, solid construction, ease of maintenance of ANY part of the brush. As I noted, I appreciate the preset handles when I'm spraying water thin media through my brushes. Never had any chips/dings or anything. I take care of my stuff, but even with solid use- no damaged nozzles, bent needles or anything else, even with my mircon. No significant wear from using any solvent through them. Sprays like a dream, esp. when doing tight hairlines for weathering as much now as when I got them 4+ years ago.
I only find it funny that ppl will buy multiple lower end brushes that just don't perform like an iwata or comparible, citing that iwatas are just too expensive, etc. However, I could recommend 1-2 brushes to anyone that are good enough to do just about anything, would last for YEARS and give superb results.
I didn't mention media b/c this is something that anyone using ABs just has to learn how control their media and how it works dynamically with the AB.
Lastly, I'm sorry, but I just don't see people who use AB regularly using paasche/badger brushes (or designs similar to theirs), apart from Tshirt artists. Though ppl don't AB regularly, outside the art world, that much anymore, I still have yet to see the throngs that go "man, I can't wait until the new badger comes out." or "sheesh, I don't know why I spent the money on the iwatas/etc. Badger is the way to go. Fine for the occasional hobbyist, but not the draw their in performance for MOST professionals. There are exceptions, and there are ppl I've seen who do some good work with these brushes, even professionally, but I wouldn't say that they are 'leading the pack'.
Also, I've never met anyone who's hated their iwata. Met plenty of ppl who are frustrated with other brushes b/c they can't get them to do what they want. Sorry if you don't like my opinion, but that's all I'm offering here. I AB at least a couple times a week; and usually do multiple projects in a setting. iwatas have made the experience pleasurable and give me consistent perfomance.
Lastly, if anyone (including ppl from badger/paasche) would like me to review a brush, pls LMK. I'm in the process (have been for some time) of doing an AB review site, more than just "cool, I love this brush" type of thing, but more like you'd see on DPreview when they review cameras. Comparison on set performance criteria (i.e. doing certain tests, pressures, etc.) and then talking about applications, what different brushes are good for, etc. The key thing in my mind is that its not just this brush or that brush, but what does any brush do for you as the hobbyist/artist/etc and how can it help you to achieve your creative goals.
I'm not meaning to be some sort of fanboy or a jerk or anything. Just my two cents.
edit: so, I've just been looking at the badger renegade series. A couple observations. First, interesting to see that they are moving over to an overall design that is similar to iwata et al. Anyone tried one of these, who use iwatas? i'd love to review one; perhaps i should write them.