Needle size for freehand camoflage

Hey Denis,

If you find that you could use a finer needle and tip you can get one through Badger. If your 200 has the new style needle then it can probably use the same tip, needle, regulator as the 155 Anthem and 360 Universal. If you go to badgerairbrush.com and look up either of those two brushes you'll see the part numbers you need at the end of the product description listed in red. If you decide to try it contact them first to be certain. You'll need all three parts. The difference would be that the needle for the 155 and 360 may be a little longer with a ball on the back end of the needle for using in a double action brush. The OD of the needle should be the same and the tip and regulator should match up. I've swapped these parts between my 360U and 200NH when I bent the tip on a needle. That is, the parts that come with the brushes, I don't have the fine needle and parts.

Tony

A fine tip and needle are not necessary for freehand camo IMHO.

The medium tip and needle work just fine and have less problems spraying consistantly.

 

ABARNE wrote:

There are a couple of types od Badger 200's and it is critical that you properly identify your type before getting parts for it.  I have the Badger 200 NH and as I recall, the Badger 200-3 was written on the box, but engraved on the body of the airbrush was 200 NH.  The thing that is important is that the NH variety uses a single needle and tip for fine, medium, and wide coverage.  If this is the type of Badger 200 that you own, the fine needle/tip that you would buy for the other type of Badger 200 will not fit.

Thanks Abarne for your input. I just took another look at my AB and sure enough it has 200NH engraved on the body. So from what you are saying I wont need to change the needle at all.

You are correct in your assunption that I was talking about 1/35 armour. I am currently working on a Leopard 1A4 that I want to paint in NATO tricolour and decal it to look like a Leo C1. It is my first armour kit and I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the Tiger I Late 3 in 1 from Dragon and am looking to get a Leopard 2A6 to do up like the new tanks Canada just acquired.

I guess I will bash on and start to experiment on some spare sheets of stryene.

Cheers,

Denis 

RMC_Birdgunner wrote:

I have a Badger 200 and I think it came with a medium needle/tip. ... If I do need a new needletp how do I know I am getting the right one? I checked at bearair.com and there are several Badger 200 models listed. I think I have the old style 200. It has the hybrid spray adjustment at the back. The box it came in listed it as a badger 200-3.

There are a couple of types od Badger 200's and it is critical that you properly identify your type before getting parts for it.  I have the Badger 200 NH and as I recall, the Badger 200-3 was written on the box, but engraved on the body of the airbrush was 200 NH.  The thing that is important is that the NH variety uses a single needle and tip for fine, medium, and wide coverage.  If this is the type of Badger 200 that you own, the fine needle/tip that you would buy for the other type of Badger 200 will not fit.   

RMC_Birdgunner wrote:

If I want to freehand camoflage on armour do I need to get a fine needle/tip or will I be OK with what I have?

If you do have the 200 NH, it will work just fine as is.  The first time I ever used my 200 NH was to paint a 1/72 scale Tiger in the typical three-color camo, and it was quite easy to get it dialed in for narrow enough lines to accomplish that.  I suspect that you are actually referring to 1/35 armor which is twice as big as 1/72, and therefore a lot easier to paint and not requiring as narrow pattern control. 

For the other type of 200 that uses separate needles (if that is your model), try it and see what it will do.  For fine lines, I find it beneficial to thin the paint somewhat more than normal.  Get the brush close to the surface, as close as 1/2" or so.  You'll also want to use fairly low air pressure; I find that my AB will siphon the the paint nicely at 15 PSI.  The main thing is that the paint is being siphoned into the AB and properly atomizes when you are painting.  You may well find out that your current setup works just fine.

RMC_Birdgunner wrote:

Sorry for sounding so inexperienced but airbrushing is new to me as well as building and painting  armour. Any help will be apprecieated.

Don't fell too bad it.  Everyone starts off as a newbie sometime, and airbrushing can be a bit intimidating when you are starting out.  For mor specific armor building and painting questions, do visit the Armor Forum here which is quite active and has numerous very talented modelers who regularly post there.

 

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

Do I have to replace tip only or both the needle and the tip?

I have found a fine needle on eBay that says it is for a badger 200. Should it work in my AB? 

Thanks,

Denis 

I would recommend the fine tip for free handing. Keep in mind, the paint will have to be a little thinner than normal and sprayed at a lower psi (8-10). I would add some Liquitex brand slo-dri to the paint as well. This will keep the paint flowing thru the AB and not clog it. Like littlebull suggested, practice on something first to get the hang of it.

Andy 

HI, I use both the fine to out line, the medium to fill in the out line.  I dont know if this is the right way but it works for me but I use differnt air brushes one with a fine and the other with a medium needle I would test it out on card stock play with your air and paint flow to see how fine you can get your out line. You can use a mask for the camo there was a great artical in FM about silly putty as a mask. Call bearair tell them what you have I find them very helpfull