Badger 250: A debate for 6 decades and counting

tatocorvette

Mac-Valve Maestro!
Hello,

Walter Precision Company moved from been a supplier to airbrush manufacturers to become Badger, a full blown (pun intended) airbrush manufacturer with its own product line in 1964. Despite the high quality of their initial products like the Badger 100XF and the 150 IL Poster, the rather conservative market was slow to adopt a new player. Walter Schlotfeldt, founder of Badger, had a neighbor who worked at Testors, the hobby company. This neighbor suggested and eventually helped him to cater to the hobby industry, where Badger eventually found great success. Following this suggestion, Badger released 2 models around 1966 (both still in production today) aimed at hobbyists: The mid-tier Badger 200; a single action internal mix airbrush (similar in design to the Thayer & Chandler Model E) and the inexpensive Badger 250 mini-spray gun.
The Badger 250 is a basic external mix mini spray gun. The question that has been a debate to this day is: Is it an airbrush? Some airbrush purists say it is not, others say it is ([whisper]Psst, I'm in the second camp!). While the endless and pointless debate continues, an army of thousands of these have been busy spraying paint for almost 6 decades. I've seen people spraying even Latex paint thru these!
The 250 is a bare bones basic gun, not much more complex than a spray can. Advertised to be easy enough for children to use, it was not a new design. The basic design principle has been around forever. Blow air over a tip to create suction and draw paint that is pushed into the air stream.

Why do I even bother? Well, there is a small chapter of my personal story involving one of these things.
I discovered airbrushing about 30 years ago, thanks to my friend Carlos and his Badger 150. Before getting my own "real" airbrush, I bought one of these. I don't remember if it was a Badger or any of the dozens of knockoffs out there, but it was cheap.
Now, like any other tool, it takes skill and practice to master. These are designed to operate at higher pressures, like 40-50 PSI or more. I did not have a compressor at the time so I tried to run it from my car's spare tire. A small 13 inch wheel/tire starting at 25-30 PSI and dropping fast. And I was spraying thick hobby enamels. You see where this train wreck was heading. It was awful!
During the pandemic my sister found a box of scale models I built decades ago. I thought they were long gone. I spent some months restoring them to their original state without improving on them.
While these are recent pictures, I believe this 1/48 scale Gee-Bee Racer is the only surviving model I have that was painted with that spray gun, circa early 1993
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The red paint is uneven and very thick, to the point it is cracking near the wheels. But this is not just history, it is my personal history. This is 22 years old me entering the world of painting with the help of air.

Fast forward to 2023, I found and bought a very cheap Badger 250, just for the fun of it. It was only $10. I believe this is an early model from the late 60's early 70's because of the color and the vertical air valve. It later changed to a slanted valve. It also has no breather hole. It relies on the tiny gap between the body and black lid.
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Quick cleanup
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Ohhh shiny!
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I'll try it someday.
I hope you like it. As always, your comments and questions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Ismael
 
Well I've never done any modelling (only airbrush pictures), and so during my early airbrush beginnings, I would have scoffed at this tool. Now I see it's value. The simplest of concepts developed with precision. It's wonderful.
 
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