IWATA IS THE BEST!!!!!!

Maybe I should look in this forum more often. But seriously I have to say that I have only really had one airbrush as of yet. And that one was an Aztek, all I can say about it with a tongue is that i was very dissappointed with it. Now that I have an Iwata I might actually look forward to airbrushing. Now dont get me wrong I have never had a Badger, but you never know. When I first picked up that Iwata out of the box I was really impressed with the feel of it in my hands.

Now I know Mike talks highly of his Badger, but he has to tried other brushes and chooses to use a Badger over anything else. So what does it matter if he is a rep for a company. He too has tried other products. And I certainly dont see any bias when he speaks of something. Well thats my for right now.

Mike isn't a rep for Badger. He just likes them best.

Saltydog, you are an absolute genius! You put out the bait and the guys swallowed it hook, line and sinker and fell all over themselves to spew knowledge! Way to go!

MikeV, I respect your opinions about the Omni 4000. Partly because of the knowledge that you share, I have determined that the Omni 4000 is the best value for my money and wiil most likely purchase one shortly. Having said that I think you need to relax a bit. In the society that we live in today PERCEPTION IS REALITY. What did you think would happen when you put that Badger logo on your signature line?! Did you really think that people wouldn't think that you are working for Badger?

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfrejo Salty nice topic! way to stir it up. Iwatas are nice airbrushes, I still have a few and have owned most of their airbrushes at one point or another. They even have a really nice shiny finish on top of a brass body and a stainless steel needle-hey just like almost all other airbrushes how about that! They spray nice but no nicer than most other airbrushes made today. All of this one brand versus the other is stupid- try different airbrushes out find one you like and stick with it but realize that it is the best airbrush for you not everyone else. Which airbrush is better than the next is a matter of personal preference. I CAN AIRBRUSH JUST AS WELL WITH MY $70 DOLLAR BADGER 100 THAN I CAN WITH MY MICRON, EFBE OR AEROGRAPH. Price and brand have nothing to do with how good most airbrushes are, it is the user.

Thanks John as that has always been my point even though some cannot see that for whatever reasons.
I value your input as you are a very experienced airbrush user and probably know a lot more than I do.
I also appreciate all of the others who put their opinions in.
Saying one brand is better than another is nothing but an opinon as some like vanilla better than chocolate, Ford better than Chevy, etc.
Some people claim Iwata has better tolerances on the parts and I have yet to see any of them give any proof. Surely there must be a master machinist in this forum who can measure these parts and inform us on this matter.
I have an HP-CS and it is a very nice instrument that I would be proud to own if it were my only airbrush, but I do not see any advantage to it's increased price whatsoever.
Some other's may see it worth the money and that is fine too.
My 100LG, Anthem and 360 all have triggers that are just as smooth, if not more so than the HP-CS in my opinion so I don't see where they are machined any tighter as far as tolerance goes.
As I said earlier, I believe it is more of a perceived thing than an actual fact.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by bstrump What did you think would happen when you put that Badger logo on your signature line?! Did you really think that people wouldn't think that you are working for Badger?

Well, I also have a picture of an F-15E in my signature but I don't work for Boeing either.
The "regulars" on this forum know that I am not a Badger employee anyhow, so my Badger sig does not convey that to most people. If I were a rep for Badger I would never get involved in any comparison debates as that would be a conflict of interest as well as an unprofessional thing to do in my opinion.

Mike

Good answer!I'm not quite a "regular" but I do know you don't work for Badger. What I do know is you obviously have a wealth of air brush knowledge and obviously some people are jealous of that. Please keep sharing that knowledge with the rest of us!

QUOTE: Salty nice topic! way to stir it up. Iwatas are nice airbrushes, I still have a few and have owned most of their airbrushes at one point or another. They even have a really nice shiny finish on top of a brass body and a stainless steel needle-hey just like almost all other airbrushes how about that! They spray nice but no nicer than most other airbrushes made today. All of this one brand versus the other is stupid- try different airbrushes out find one you like and stick with it but realize that it is the best airbrush for you not everyone else. Which airbrush is better than the next is a matter of personal preference. I CAN AIRBRUSH JUST AS WELL WITH MY $70 DOLLAR BADGER 100 THAN I CAN WITH MY MICRON, EFBE OR AEROGRAPH. Price and brand have nothing to do with how good most airbrushes are, it is the user. John

Wait a minute.........Time out guys!! Bubba (jfrejo), maybe you should go back and read the way i started this whole thread.......................IN PERFECTLY GOOD HUMOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! the title of this subject was just banter to get you to look is all!! but, its not hard to get misunderstood with the typed word. personally, i could care less what brand airbrush anyone uses!!! i was just trying to have a little fun, and everybody else is beginning the arguments, which is why i haven't posted here since all this started. you folks just hijacked the topic and ran in a totally different direction. i was expecting some of my friends like MikeV, Music City, Woodbeck, ect., to give me a tongue lashing all in good humor. we've all been here a while and know that there is no "best" airbrush except the one the user likes the best!!
bstrump seems to be the only one who has understood what i was trying to do!! just hackin' on some badger fans with tongue in cheek!!! thats absolutely it!! i'm surely not trying to prostilize any badger believers over to the iwata camp!! i should've known better i guess. lets just lighten up, and live!! ok fellows, argue on!! later.

PS.. i have 5 airbrushes OK?!! a paasche H, Thayer & Chandler Omni 5000, a Badger 200G, an Iwata HP-C, and an Iwata HP-CS, plus, i used to have a paasche VL, which was my very first airbrush when in highschool for airbrushing T-shirts and such. so mr. Jfrejo, i have tried other brushes friend, and the hp-cs is the last one to arrive at my doorstep. i don't need anything else. i'm sorry, but badger products left me still wondering if there was something better..........Iwata answered with authority.

Thanks Bert.

I just try to pass on what I have learned from others who have taught me what they know and I am still learning new things all the time from you people on the forum as well as others. I am fortunate in that Ken Schlotfeldt at Badger is a friend of mine as well as my buddy Scooter back in SC who has been an airbrush artist for 40 years now. These men have taught me probably 75% of what I know and I consider it my duty to pass it along to others looking for answers also. There is nothing worse than trying to learn about something that you can't seem to get straight answers on from salesmen at stores and such.

Mike

yeah, in short, if you like iwata, then go for it. if you like badger, feel free. same for paasche, or any other airbrush you like.

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1337 yeah, in short, if you like iwata, then go for it. if you like badger, feel free. same for paasche, or any other airbrush you like.

You are becoming wise beyond your years, young Jedi.

Mike

Saltydog, I new your post was in good humor and didn't take it as more than that. I just gave you credit for stirring up the 'hornets nest'-all meant in good humor. I was more replying to some of the other post that were put up. I will say this, I like most airbrushes and own many of them. I also have restored a few and make my own needles and have machined up many parts for some of them just because I like messing around with them like some people like working on cars or such. The airbrushes that I have made parts for are the ones I like the most-I don't have a favorite brand per say. Your choice in airbrush is excellent and I agree with you and others about them , I also agree with the others that like different brands and that is what is great about airbrushes there is a make and model for everyone. Good luck with whatever make or model you choose to use.
John

It's good to take a deeper look into details of airbrushes though. The more we say about this stuff for all to see, the less people will buy Badgers. Just kidding. As long as people don't show up saying they paid $100 for a VL or bought one of those $250 airbrushes to use it only on plastic models, I'm feelin' ok. I still shop for a Badger to work side-by-side with the Iwata, by the way.

QUOTE: Originally posted by BlackWolf3945 Even that Zoltar (Sotar) brush was mighty disappointing.

Blackwolf,

What didn't you like about the Sotar? I am just curious.
It is an amazing airbrush if you ask me.
By the way, Dru Blair painted this painting with the Sotar.


Mike

John in my opinion you owe MikeV an apology. I read this enitre thread and can see you did nothing more then attack him as the thread progressed!!!! Makes me wonder what kinda modeller you are, do you encourage or disuade?
Salty...
I have experience with Paashe, Iwata, Badger and a european make I can't remember its name. I was a hardcore Iwata airhead til I got to try some of the Badgers that have been made in the last few years and and love them. I have a cresendo, 360 and 4000G (and a Custom Micron SB that I use for Illustration work).
Badger to my, in my own hand (because of the responses of some people I have to becareful of my words), is the best balanced, best response of. They have good designs, The Omni from T&C being the better for models in my opinion.
Poeple like Salty 1337 and Wolf always give exceptional veiws on their equipment, and a joy to hear what they have to say about them. The way some of you have come out on this thread makes me wanna hide my stuff from you, like the enemy or something. I couldnt see anything good come with modelling and you if someone had to go to you for advice. Just makes me sad when the context that has come to live here has been the upmost encouragement, opening of horizons, and the most important the better-ment of our modelling skills so we can be happy. I just find a problem here that I can't put my hand on, but I wouldnt share my stuff with some of you.

-Jeff

yep.

Now if I was a moderator here, I would lock it at that, with the final post of "To each his own" or something along those terms.

*hint hint dave or lawrence *

QUOTE: Originally posted by woodbeck3 John in my opinion you owe MikeV an apology. I read this enitre thread and can see you did nothing more then attack him as the thread progressed!!!! Makes me wonder what kinda modeller you are, do you encourage or disuade?

Jeff? John said nothing negative towards me, unless that was meant as humor on your part and I missed it?
John is a good guy and we have spoken in emails in the past.
I value his opinion very much as he knows what he is talking about.

Mike

Hmm Maybe I read it wrong, If so i give a sincere apology to John. Could have, as you can see some of the stuff in this post got me riled up a bit.

Yep I was wrong John... my heartfelt apologies to ya. Rooster is who I meant. Rooster should explain why he posted as he did.

This thread has me dizzy.... I think I'll just resort to using a can of Krylon shot through a coffee stirrer...

Thanks guys... this answered a lot of my questions about airbrushes better than my own thread I started on here... basically I am going to go out and get the airbrush I was originally drawn to... and those who have said it are right... yall have an incredible wealth of info, glad I found this forum!

well, my advertising campaign worked!!! the "IWATA IS BEST" sign has been at the top of the list for a couple of days!!! and all you badger pukes helped me do it!!!! am i brilliant or what?!!!

Paasche.... God bless the french!

paasche is american

and i hope that tho9900 gets that badger he always wanted

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1337 and i hope that tho9900 gets that badger he always wanted

lol!!! I just looked and the HP-BCS is only 10 bucks more than the Omni 4000 on DixieArt and was thinking of getting it tonight... sorry!

Like I said, you guys are scaring me... thinking the krylon can through a coffee stirrer is the way to go! haha

::nervous look behind me too see if the Badger salesman is sneaking up behind me::

tho9900, keep in mind friend, the HP-BCS has a .5mm n/n combo. you're not gonna be able to get a really fine line with it, but again, i don't know how fine a line you're gonna need or want to be able to achieve. you can do fine line work with the omni 4000. when the omni 5000 was my main squeeze, i got to where i could do allright with it. i like to do free hand camo on 1/48 aircraft, so the really fine line is essential in order to clean up the demarcation lines, and some say they are still out of scale, but i've been to aircraft museums and stood 48' from an aircraft with a camo job, and could still see the soft demarcation lines. anyway, if you're looking for something to do really fine line work with, whether it be badger, paacshe, or iwata, a gravity feed brush will enable you to spray at lower pressures with greater control and less overspray. later.

thanks Salty... I don't know which brush I am going to get.. several have caught my eye mainly due to this thread... I am lookin toward siphon, but I might try to work the paint cup on my old Badger 350 to see how it goes... if I think it's worth it I might go gravity fed... I just like to set my airbrush down in a convenient spot every once in awhile to get a look at what I am doing.... seems like with the gravity fed I would be stuck holding it more often than not...

Mabe it is just me getting old... not wanting to change me was haha

just get a stand

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 if I think it's worth it I might go gravity fed... I just like to set my airbrush down in a convenient spot every once in awhile to get a look at what I am doing.... seems like with the gravity fed I would be stuck holding it more often than not...

That is what these were made for:


If you do decide on a siphon-feed then I would look at the Badger Anthem as well as that HP-BCS. The Anthem is the fastest airbrush to take apart that is made and it is really smooth and well balanced.

Mike

tho9900, the omni 4000/5000 comes with a hanger, all you have to do is nail/screw it into your workbench. with iwata, all you get is a box with some instructions, but DANG its a nice airbrush as in spray pattern/balance/operation/easy to clean/durable ect., but a hanger can easily be scratchbuilt with a little imagination and a clothshanger/copper wire. hey, if you are leaning toward a siphon feed, then by all means get you one friend, there is certainly nothing wrong with them at all, especially if you're gonna do other things besides modelling with it. but, if you're gonna do modelling pretty much exclusively, then i'd choose the gravity feed just because it give you a slight advantage with detailing at lower psi. but, by all means get the airbrush that you feel in your heart like you want to buy. if its the paasche mil., let it rip tator chip!! we all just make suggestions as to our experiences, and as you can see, everybody has different "favorites", but the most mentioned airbrushes on this forum as far as favorites seem to be the omni 4000, iwata eclipse hp-cs, and the paasche H, in that order. the 4000 is a nice airbrush at a great price, the hp-cs is an awesome airbrush at a not so good price, and the H is a decent airbrush (if you mask your camo jobs and don't plan to do much squiggly line camo jobs) all around with a sweet price to boot, but as you probably know its a single action, which has its handicaps in modelling. good luck with your choice friend. later.

wow an unbiased review by salty!!

yeah even though I have a gravity feed Eclipse, I am still wanting a siphon feed (besides the Paasche H that I have).

The Paasche airbrush hanger is real cheap. I got dixieart to send one of those when I bought the Iwata. It fits the Iwata fine plus it's bendable. For the Iwata's Paasche hanger, I covered the hanger with adhesive felt It just seemed like the Eclipse deserved better than hanging on a bent piece of bare metal heheheh