Stand for Paasche HO414

 

I thought I'd make a stand for this Paasche single-action external-mix airbrush. I seldom use it; it's very limited in its application, being little more than a spray-gun. However, external-mix brushes have the advantage of being able to move thicker paint than internal-mix types, so it's good for spraying varnish or PVA for terrain flocking and stuff like that. It's also good for covering large areas fairly quickly.

The stand is a Flintstones-ish sort of thing, and it's intended to be screwed to a piece of wood or something, though it would probably be adequately stable just on its own.

I actually spent a lot more time creating the digital model of the airbrush than the stand, a lot more time and effort than I really needed for what was really just a measuring maquette. I got a bit distracted though.

The STL is up on Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4819867

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And fourteen hours later (plus a couple because I slept in), here's the actual physical result.

The Art of Appropriate Frugality

I've learned a valuable lesson today about stinginess.

I really like Vallejo polyurethane acrylic surface primers, and a while ago I bought several shades in 200ml bottles, as the paint works out a lot cheaper that way than buying it in smaller 60ml or 20ml bottles.

However.

If you're not using it fast enough — finishing a bottle within, say, a year or eighteen months — it starts to thicken in the bottle, and worse, it develops crumbs of sediment, presumably from paint drying on the inside of the lid and so forth, which will gum up your airbrush and force you into an emergency cleaning session, along with a constant stream of swearing.

Now I have a clean airbrush, and I've filtered and thinned the remains of the bottle of surface primer, and my hands are entirely black, and I've got black smears all over my workbench. But at least the rest of that particular bottle is usable again.

In future, I'll probably stick to buying the 60ml bottles. It will cost more money in the long run, but I think it will be less troublesome.

Note: I once was in the habit of always decanting paint intended for my airbrush through a filter, to avoid this very issue. The reliability and ease of use of Vallejo paints has really made me lazy in this respect... not too difficult, since laziness is my natural base-state.

Thankful For Small Blessings

Shock news! The shonky airbrush supplies company I ordered a Badger Sotar 20-20 from way back in January have finally broken down and sent me an airbrush.

Not the version I actually ordered, mind — I ordered the Fine needle/tip, and they sent me a Medium — but at this point I'm prepared to call it a partial victory and just close the book.

Somehow I don't think I'll be doing business with Midwest Airbrush Supply again any time soon. Maybe this is an indication they're getting their act together, maybe it's because I demanded a refund, or maybe it's just a response to the fact that I was making my displeasure known across a range of internet platforms where airbrushery types hung out. I don't know, and at this point I don't much care.

I do have to say, even though they sent me the wrong version, the Sotar 20-20 is a stunningly fantastic airbrush. I'm almost afraid to use it, it's so gorgeous. The finish on all the parts is beautiful, and the action is the smoothest I've ever felt on an airbrush.

I shall have to put some paint through it and see how it sprays.

I knocked up a stand to fit it in Blender.

The STL can be got at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3205896

Here's the very first output from the Sotar, with its Medium tip and needle set installed. this is all freehand airbrushing, no masking. The model is a Zvezda 1/100 scale Jagdtiger, it's about 70mm long (not including the gun barrel).

Airbrush Stand – Complete

Here is my airbrush stand, in all its 3d-printed and wooden glory. The next thing will be to get quick-release hose couplings for them all, though that may be a while away.

Airbrush Stands

The STL for this one, for the Badger 105, is at
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3135372

I have several airbrushes, each of which excels in their own particular realm, but swapping from one to the other is slightly inconvenient.

They're stored safely in a nice rosewood box, which is attractive, but doesn't keep the airbrushes easily to hand.

So, I'm in the process of designing and printing stands for them. Each one has a slightly different geometry, so a one-size-fits-all solution isn't going to work all that well.

This is the first one off the printer, for my Badger 105 Patriot, the workhorse of my stable. I'm just waiting for some replacement parts for it at the moment, but normally it's the brush I go to for just about everything.

So far I have designs for the following:

• Badger 105 Patriot at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3135372
• Badger 200 Single-action at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3135516.
• Badger Krome at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3137556

Badger 200

Badger 200

Here's the stand for the single-action Badger 200.

I don't use this airbrush a great deal, but it's a good example of its type, and quite cheap. It would be a good airbrush for a beginner who's a bit intimidated by double-action brushes.

Here's a stand for the Badger Krome, a truly superb airbrush, though possibly not the best choice for a beginner.

I've enlarged the nose of the stand slightly to fit the ugly rubber cap that is supplied with the airbrush, the only thing about it I don't like.

Badger used to supply very nice nickel-plated brass caps for their airbrushes, which both looked nicer and stayed on better. However, this horrible thing is what we get these days, so I've accommodated it.

The cap can be left on the airbrush, or it can be pushed into the nose of the stand and just act as a soft collar within the stand to further protect the tip of the airbrush when it's not being used.

The STL is available at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3137556

It might also fit the Sotar 20:20, but I don't know for sure because the Sotar 20:20 I ordered and paid for from Midwest Airbrush Supply* more than a year and a half ago never arrived, and they've been pretty much uncontactable about it. (Do you detect just a teensy hint of bitterness?)

* NOTE: I'm not going to link to the bastards because I don't want to inadvertently send any business their way. Fuck them.

This is the last of them, for the moment at least, a stand for the Paasche Talon.

I seldom use this airbrush as I've found it to be something of a disappointment in terms of its build quality. Its trigger and valve tends to stick, and the cup is so large that it obscures the view if I try any close-in work with it. If I use it at all now, it's just for coarse work like broad terrain painting.

The STL for this stand is on Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3141265

Renegade Krome — first outing

Some time ago, I ordered a Badger Sotar 2020-2 airbrush from a US company. That airbrush has disappeared into the mail-service void, and I don't know at this stage if I will ever see it (or my money) again.

Badger Renegade Krome

So, I bit the bullet and bought a Badger Renegade Krome from MightyApe instead. It's the most expensive airbrush I've ever bought, but since it came out of my Shapeways loot, it sort of feels like free, which is good.

Expensive it may be, but it's also hands-down the best airbrush I've ever used, even on the very brief acquaintance I've had with it so far. Which is very brief, since it only arrived this morning.

This model is an old 15mm (1/100) plastic kit from Battlefront, a StuG IIIG. It's one they put out with a beginner's box for one of the editions of Flames of War, and it's not a great model. Though, having said that, it's enormously better than the Sherman that came in that same set, which currently hold the record for the worst plastic tank kit I've ever encountered.

I'd given it a pretty basic paint job before, so I just went over the top of that to try out the lining and dusting capabilities of my new airbrush, and I am more than happy. It handles Vallejo paints, both VMC (thinned) and VMA (straight) very well, and it allows me to get in closer, with less spidering or splattering, than any other airbrush I've used. It lays down a very fine mist coat as well, for broader coverage. It points very intuitively, and the paint goes pretty much exactly where I expect it to, which is a very good thing.

I think this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Here's the airbrush in its holder, mounted on a block of kwila, a very dense tropical hardwood.

The holder is 3d-printed, and the file is available on Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3137556

Badger 105 Patriot - review

I took an opportunity to get myself another airbrush from Chicago Airbrush Supply (no longer in business, alas), an airbrush I've wanted for a while now, the Badger 105 Patriot. It was on special at CAS, and thanks to one of their periodic holiday vouchers I got it even cheaper. So, score! It got here very promptly too — just five days from ordering to appearing on my doorstep here in New Zealand.

The stand doesn't come with the airbrush. That's a soldering-iron stand.

 It's a double-action gravity feed brush with an integral paint cup. It also comes with a plastic push-on cap for the paint cup, for those who are likely to be moving the brush around a lot while they're painting, though that's not likely to be much of an issue for me.

It's roughly equivalent to the Paasche Talon I bought a while ago, but so far I'm finding it superior in almost every way. The machining of the components is excellent, the action of the trigger is smooth and easy, and the open tip makes it easy to get in very close without back-scattering air and paint from the painted surface into the tip cup. The Talon uses a skeleton tip shroud to achieve the same thing, and that does work OK, but I still found myself having to be very careful about the amount of air and paint I put through in close-up work. The cup of the Badger has a lower profile than that of the Paasche, so it interferes less with one's sight-line while working in close — for my purposes, it could be even lower. The weight and balance in the hand is very nice, and the skeleton back-cap gives instant access to the needle for pre-set paint flow adjustments and the like. Plus, for maintenance, you can dismount the needle without having to disassemble the whole brush, which is a bonus.

I've added a converter to this airbrush's valve stem so that I can use it on my Paasche hose.

Speaking of the Badger's open tip, here it is right here. And this is one place where one has to be a bit cautious: the needle stands proud of the tip, and like all airbrush needles it's a delicate thing, easily damaged. You do need to take care not to ram it into your paint surface, or inadvertently drag it across your sleeve or anything. It is often possible to re-straighten a bent needle tip, but it's not all that easy.

When not in use, the tip is protected by a spring-fit metal cap, which you can see in the first photo. It goes on and off very smoothly, and stays on firmly. It's nice.

Badger claim this as a "universal" brush, that will paint a line from pencil-thin to broad, heavy coverage without the need for changing tips and needles. That seems to be true, up to a point. It will certainly paint a nice fine line, but I find the spray pattern to be a bit more granular than that of the 150 or 200 with XF (extra-fine) tips and needles mounted.

Overall, I like this airbrush a lot. It's very flexible, and it's easy to clean and maintain, which I appreciate a lot. I think it'll be my go-to airbrush for just about everything bar ultra-fine or super-broad painting.

Badger 250

While I'm talking about airbrushes, I suppose I should mention this in passing. It's the Badger 250, and it's really about as basic as you can get. It's not really an airbrush, but a small spray-gun.

I very seldom use it; in fact, I can't remember the last time I did. I have much better tools for the job.

I should note that Badger don't make any pretence that the 250 is anything more than what it is, and what it is is a cheap tool for spraying paint without any particular precision.

Paint flow is governed by turning the nozzle rising up from the paint reservoir. In theory, you can moderate the amount of paint being squirted out, but in practice I've found it to be pretty much either on or off. Air flow is set at the compressor.

You can pick one up for about $25, but even if you don't want to go the whole hog into airbrushing, I'd really recommend spending just a little bit more and getting a decent single-action airbrush — it will be a lot more useful to you in the long run, and it will only set you back another twenty bucks or so.

Badger 200 - first impressions

I just bought another new airbrush, as usual from Chicago Airbrush Supply, who have yet to fail me. They rock.

This time it's a Badger 200GF, a single-action gravity-feed internal-mix airbrush. I bought it with the Fine (F) head/needle, which will do lines down to less than a mllimetre thick.

Paint flow is adjusted via a knurled knob on the end of the brush, while air flow is controlled directly from the compressor's regulator.

Thus far, I've only done a quick test-sheet in watercolour on 300gsm laid paper (see below), but already I can tell that this airbrush and I are going to get along swimmingly. It's my favourite brush of all that I've tried so far, and even though it's a humble single-action, I doubt that that will often be any kind of issue.

Even at very low air pressure (I went as low as 6psi for my test-sheet) its spray is fine and even, and its lines are pretty even and regular.

The only serious problem I've noted so far is that my hands are revoltingly unsteady, so straight lines are more a matter of fluke than intention. I can't reasonably blame that on the brush though.

It cost me about $45 from Chicago Airbrush Supply, which I consider to be a very good price indeed.

Paasche H-Series single action airbrush — first impressions

Without paint cup

With paint cup in place

This is a relatively cheap, well-engineered, basic airbrush. It cost me about forty bucks from Chicago Airbrush Supplies.

It's fitted with the .55mm head and needle, and is capable of painting a pretty fine line.

However, like most (but not all) single-action brushes, it's an external-mix design. The paint is drawn up through the conical assembly you can see hanging under the front of the brush by suction from a stream of air rushing past its nozzle. It's a simple and well-tested spraying method, but it does result in a grainier spray than an internal-mix brush in which the paint and air are both squirted out through the same nozzle.

You can suppress the graininess of the spray to a degree by increasing the air pressure, but of course this will make fine-line work difficult, if not impossible. If you want a grainier, spatter spray pattern, you can achieve that by dropping the pressure right down.

A benefit of the external-mix model is that it generally allows one to spray paint of a somewhat heavier viscosity than an internal-mix brush will cope with.

The paint flow is controlled by turning the conical knob clockwise (to increase the flow) or anti-clockwise (to decrease it). Air flow is either on or off; any adjustment has to be done via a regulator at the compressor.

The small metal cup shown in these photos is easy to get on and off the brush, but one must be aware that because of the angle of the pipe that goes into the brush, if you fill it more than about half way when it's not attached to the brush it will dribble paint all over the place.

There are other paint bottles available, up to 8oz in size, which is quite a lot of paint for modelling purposes.

This is a good, well-engineered device for someone who is beginning airbrushing and wants to ease into it before tackling a double-action brush. I'll be using it primarily as a spray gun (with bigger paint bottles) rather than as an airbrush, due to its ability to get a whole lot of paint out on to a surface — it will be a lot more useful for terrain-painting than either my Badger 150 or Paasche Talon.

New and shiny vs. old and busted (not really busted)

I've bought myself a new gravity-feed airbrush, a Paasche Talon, to complement my ancient Badger 150 that has served me loyally and well for near enough to forty years. The Badger is at the top of the image, the Paasche is at bottom.

Thanks to the internet making it so cheap and easy to buy things from overseas, this new airbrush only cost me about $75. When I bought that Badger, it was near enough to $200, and that was in the mid-1970s; I'm not sure what that would be equivalent to now, but it would be a lot.

I elected to go for Paasche this time around because I'd used a couple of Paasche brushes at polytech, and found them generally smoother of action than my Badger 150. It meant having to fiddle around with thread converters to attach it to my compressor and what-not, but I thought it would be worth that small trouble.

Alas, this Paasche does not live up to the standard set by those I used at school. Its double-action air/paint trigger is rather abrupt, and quite difficult to use with any delicacy of touch. I've lubricated it as far as I can, but even so it's not nearly as smooth or gentle an action as the old Badger.

I think the issue lies with the machining of the trigger shaft; there are visible machining marks on the sides, as can be seen in the hugely bloated image to the left, and I think these striations are catching as the trigger is depressed, resulting in the brush's jerky and rather clumsy action.

I'll see if I can polish them out, and we'll see if that makes any appreciable difference.

The new Paasche isn't wholly unsatisfactory, by any means. I do like its system for limiting paint flow, which is easier and more accurate to adjust than that of the Badger. The top-mounted gravity feed cup is more convenient for very small volumes of liquid too; there's less wastage as it doesn't need to keep a siphon working. I'm hopeful that if I can ameliorate the trigger action, it will prove to be a very useful tool.

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Addendum:

The Talon has become my default brush over the last couple of months, mainly because the gravity-feed makes it a breeze to clean, and being able to use just a few drops of paint at a time is very convenient. I ordered the super-fine (0.25mm) and heavy duty (0.66mm) heads and needles as well, and the .25mm needle has ended up being the one I use all the time. It is quite fragile though; I've already bent its tip once, and although I managed to get it straightened out again I don't think it will take too much more of that sort of abuse.

The trigger is still somewhat problematic, but I no longer think it's to do with the trigger itself, but with the return valve — it has a propensity to stick in the "on" position, especially if being used at low air pressures.