Airbrush upgrade

Well, since you probably already have a bunch of bottles and caps you could go with a Badger 360 that you can use as either a gravity feed or siphon feed. Excuse me, bottom feed. It would be a little easier to clean than your 200 because of the rotating head but you'd still have the bottles and caps and it doesn't have a large cup. If that doesn't interest you then maybe a Badger 105 Patriot. Gravity feed with a nice size cup. The 105 will run you around $75 delivered. The 360 is $95 - 140 depending on where you look.

Or if you'd rather go with an Iwata then maybe the Eclipse HP-CS  or something from their Revolution line. The HP-CS will be around $120 delivered or a Revolution HP-CR is around $73.

I've been seriously considering a Harder Steenbeck Infinity or Evolution. They're a little more expensive but you could check them out at Chicago Airbrush.

You can check them out at Chicago Airbrush Supply, Coast Airbrush, or Dixie Art Supply. Chicago gives free delivery in the states on all the brushes they sell, Coast provides free shipping on Iwatas and Dixie has free shipping on Badgers. Of course there's other places too but those are the ones I frequent.

Tony

Buy the Badger 100G or LG , use it learn it and enjoy it.

Then Buy an Iwata and you will have two really great AB's

DR

I would also point out the H&S range, possibly the Evolution or Infinity. They are slightly dearer than some, but are very well made & are a dream to strip & clean.

On saying that, if you are going to stick with a bottom feeder & already have Badger fittings, like suggested you may be as well sticking with them.

I have two cheap DA brushes in addition to my forty year old Badger SA (equivalent to the 200).  I keep going back to the 200. I use it for all except super-fine work. I find it easy to clean, and have always found whatever the problem I could get it working with proper cleaning and parts replacement.

Those teflon washers do not last all that long, so I keep a couple in stock (they are pretty cheap).  When they go bad the brush acts strangely.

Take it apart and clean manually, especially needle and nozzle. It is a good, dependable brush.

Don Stauffer

It is a good, dependable brush.

Yep, properly cared for yhe 200 is foolproof, dependable and pretty much bulletproof.

Mine takes all of 4 minutes to clean, and that includes lubing the needle for storage. I hate to say it, Smeagol, but if you find the 200 difficult to keep clean, than you're doing it wrong.

What are you using for paints?

Depends on the color I need.  Ill either use Tamiya acrylics or model master enamel.  I always thin both to about the consistency of milk.

The problem for me is that it always takes a LONG time for the paint to feed through and come out of the AB if at all, and when it does it is never a constant stream it comes out in little spittle bursts.

I even sent it back to badger for cleaning and repair, it only lasted that way for a week or so before acting up again.

I need to get some wire pipe cleaners to really clean it out, but I try and clean it out by spraying thinner through it untill nothing but thinner comes out, and when it gets bad Ill soak the parts in thinner.

Merely spraying thinner until "clear" isn't good enough. Backflushing is strongly suggested, and once I've completed my cleaning I pull the needle for a thorough wipe down and lube. There is some danger in that, since pulling a dirty needle will drag the paint back through the inner workings of the airbrush.

Acrylics dry VERY fast, and you must be prepared to clean the airbrush immediately after use. Waiting even 5 minutes can cause trouble.

The 200 is one of the venerable workhorse's of the industry, and there are people who have been using the same airbrush for 20 or 30 years.

I've had one forever, its so old it uses screw on caps for the paint bottles.Its never had any parts replaced other than the needle.Although lately I have the same issues with small bursts coming out every so often.

The only thing I never really liked about it was the higher psi you need to use it to suck up the paint. It does tend to blow small parts around if not anchored down. I was thinking of keeping it(was hoping Badger might do an upgrade !) and getting a gravity feed for smaller parts, so I can use less pressure.

But as you can see my 200 has been going for at least 30 years strong, not much of anything lasts that long anymore.

Then can someone give me a tutorial on how to keep it clean, because the AB kit didnt say a word about it.

Here is how I clean up after acrylics with my 200. I don't use enamels, but they can't be too dissimilar.

I start by pulling the dirty color cup off and dropping it in a container of Windex or some other ammonia based window cleaner (I use ZEP brand) to pre-soak while I attend to the airbrush. I re-use "dirty" cleaner for this. I had originally started with fresh cleaner, and reseal the container after each cleaning. I've had to add some "fresh" stuff in over the years.

I take a piece of paper towel and "wick" out any remaining paint from the siphon tube on the airbrush, and then swab it out with a Q-tip soaked in fresh Windex. Then I hook up a clean color cup and fill that with cleaner and spray through the airbrush. I spray into an old plastic jug (mine is a plastic cooking oil container) with an X slit in the side. I have the opening stuffed with a filter for air conditioner inlets to catch any paint particles that may rise through the opening. I use the same pressure I paint with.

Then I lower the pressure to a bare minimum and hold a piece of paper towel over the nozzle end, and backflush the nozzle. You have to be very careful that you don't damage the needle tip while doing this. I pull my needle back until I can't see the tip in the nozzle first. This forces any remaining paint out of the nozzle, but fills the container with bubbles, which I wipe out with the paper towel.

Then I refill and crank the pressure up to 30+, and spray until empty. Then I take a wetted clean Q-tip and wipe out the spray regulator. Sometimes I take the regulator off to check that there isn't any paint left behind, but mostly I don't. Then I spray distilled water through the airbrush. I live in an area with very heavy water, and it wouldn't take too long before the airbrush can get clogged with calcium!

At this point, I deal with the color cup, and I use pipe cleaners (not the cheap hobby kind! find a tobacco shop and get "real" pipe cleaners) to ream out the siphon tube. Rinse with water and dry with paper towel.

Then I carefully pull the needle to wipe it down (careful it is sharp) and lube the front third with glycerin and carefully re-seat the needle. Since I always have some glycerin left, I wipe the interior of the cup with it. I can pretend that the thin layer will help with cleaning the next time, and since glycerin is a retardant it isn't going to hurt anything.

Total time, less than 4 minutes. I prepare all the cleaning stuff before I paint, that way I'm all ready to clean up immediately after painting.

If I'm cleaning up between colors, I don't take off the regulator or pull the needle.

I leave the cleaning jug outside to evaporate out any residual cleaner.

Thanks alot, I am going to give that a try.  I need to get myself some real stiff bristle pipe cleaners, I tried the hobby kind, it didn't work at all.

My other problem with that is the putting the towl over the cap, I used to do that alot and it would help, but when I sent it for fixin they gave me a new nozzle tip, and it has a nozzle like this.

and I cant get it completely covered.

Stay away from pipe cleaners. Instead visit your local drug store and take stroll down the dental care aisle. There you should be able to find denture care brushes...proxie brushes. These come in various styles and are ideal for airbrush cleaning as they don't leave any lint residue which pipe cleaners can. Image a mouth full of lint? Lint stays inside the airbrush components and gums up as the paints and solvent congeal on them.

smeagol the vile

Thanks alot, I am going to give that a try.  I need to get myself some real stiff bristle pipe cleaners, I tried the hobby kind, it didn't work at all.

 

My other problem with that is the putting the towl over the cap, I used to do that alot and it would help, but when I sent it for fixin they gave me a new nozzle tip, and it has a nozzle like this.

and I cant get it completely covered.

 

That's the spray regulator I have on my 150 and 100LG. It leaks some air, but enough gets pushed back to do the trick.

Here's an image of the 200-20 with the "detail" regulator, no crown to protect the tip. The needle when fully inserted, sticks out almost 1/8".

Gerald is right about using pipe cleaners on the airbrush. I only use them on the siphon tube of the color cup. The kind I buy are expensive and don't leave lint. Imagine a pipe full of lint? He's right about the dental brushes. I've never had the need to use them, but those are what I would use if I had to "encourage" paint out of the dark recesses!

smeagol the vile

 

The problem for me is that it always takes a LONG time for the paint to feed through and come out of the AB if at all, and when it does it is never a constant stream it comes out in little spittle bursts.

 

Spits and spurts can be symptoms of a bad seal washer.  Also, see if it tends to spit back through the bottle vent.

I'v never seen it spit anything back into the bottle, if thats what you mean

Ok, wow, I soaked it In laquer thinner then let it sit in windex for a while then used a pipecleaner and whatnot to get all that now loose gunk out, sprayed windex then laquer thinner though it, and its working beautifully again, though, I wish my compressed could regulate the pressure, it comes out like a cannon

What good news!

This will probably get me flamed, but I use a cheap regulator I picked up at Princess Auto for $10. Princess Auto is Canada's version of Harbor Freight. It's not "as good" as a $45 regulator, but it suffices for my purposes. I certainly don't trust it to show me the real pressure, and I sometimes have to tweak the pressure while painting. Certainly it's better than nothing!

Thanks Bgrigg, I may just get that, itl be helpful