Fell off the wagon

[2Diverse]

Until recently I have been staying away from searching eBay for ABs as I am a recovering brushaholic. Well, I did my usual search and found one that piqued my interest.

It is a Revell of Germany FLEX. From what I know RoG is the European market for Revell USA. Besides the scale models they offer they also sell airbrush sets. I am fairly certain that Thayer & Chandler had the contract back in the day. I have a soft spot in my heart (or is that in my head?) for T&C airbrushes.

This is what I believe to be true. T&C came out with the Vega line not long before they closed their doors in 1999. This AB was part of the Vega line. It is now what would be a Badger Universal 360. It is siphon and gravity feed as the head rotates.

The reason I bought this one is because it has the hole drilled in the shell. T&C did that, Badger does not. I am pretty sure this is a T&C brush. The box shows a date of 2002. This would be after Badger bought T&C. My guess is Badger was shipping old T&C stock to fulfill the contract order.

Finding Revell ABs isn't easy on this side of the pond so when I saw it I wanted to try to get it. I made an offer to the seller on it that was accepted. I gotta get back on the wagon.

 

[Kingpin]

Looks to be in great condition, great find

 

[2Diverse]

Looks to be in great condition, great find

It has not been used. Most times it helps to know more than the seller.

Had it been a Badger brush I would not have bought it. I will not buy another Badger AB as I have a beef with them. And the beef is over a Vega 1500 nonetheless.

 

[SiRoxx]

Nice find buddy. That’s a great looking brush for the collection.

 

[DaveG]

Badger 360 branded for Revell... so, you bought another Badger brush

 

[2Diverse]

Badger 360 branded for Revell... so, you bought another Badger brush

Crud, so much for the hole in the shell then. Just when I think I know what I'm talking about... I thought that with the hole it was a T&C shell, at least. I can see the rest of the set is made up of Badger stuff.

NBD, I'll either sell it or give it away. I have given ABs away as a "Pay It Forward" type thing as I do have quite a few.

I'm back on the wagon. Think I'll look for more $20 vintage sewing machines. I've been doing well with those.

 

[DaveG]

Pretty much if it is a Model A, or the Elite models (A and AA) they were Thayer Chandler. The Vega was designed by (or for) Thayer Chandler, but I am pretty sure by that time it was Badger that was either doing, or contracting the actual build - or, they were at least using the same job house. By this time, the Thayer Chandlers were not what they once were...

 

[2Diverse]

Thank you so much for the clarification Dave. I learned something.

I have a couple Vega 2000 sets, a NailAire and the afore-mentioned 1500. Being they all have the hole drilled in them I bought them as I thought...well, you know. I like them and I plan to keep them, Badger or not.

 

[JackEb]

"hello, my name is 2Diverse and I have Airbrush Acquisition Disorder"

 

[2Diverse]

"hello, my name is 2Diverse and I have Airbrush Acquisition Disorder"

Yes I do and it was extreme. I've been good at not looking for them til now and then it blows up in my face. Live and learn.

I do have a project I'm working on. I'm trying to decide which brush to use. I'm going to dig out the Eclipse Takumi side feed tomorrow as I'm thinking it may be my best choice. Too many to choose from.

 

[JackEb]

Yes I do and it was extreme. I've been good at not looking for them til now and then it blows up in my face. Live and learn.

I do have a project I'm working on. I'm trying to decide which brush to use. I'm going to dig out the Eclipse Takumi side feed tomorrow as I'm thinking it may be my best choice. Too many to choose from.

I feel your pain and I have nowhere near as many as you !

 

[2Diverse]

Thank you DH, I appreciate you can commiserate with my folly. It's no big deal. As I said, I'll sell it, give it away or perhaps I may use it at some point. Right now I'll toss it on the pile. At least it will be a reminder.

And my project is the SpaceBrush. It's going slow but I have started working on it. I'm torn between using the Eclipse Takumi or the H&S Infinity CR Plus with the #4 N/N. I'll be throwing lacquer at it. I will probably try both on practice material just to see which I like better.

 

[palk]

Just show this world is 2 Diverse. You fell off the wagon onto a Badger that pulled a 360 on you,, thats a flex no one would Revell in

 

[SiRoxx]

It has not been used. Most times it helps to know more than the seller.

Had it been a Badger brush I would not have bought it. I will not buy another Badger AB as I have a beef with them. And the beef is over a Vega 1500 nonetheless.

I’ve tried to not be nosey. But I need to ask what the beef with Badger is? I have no horse on the race as I’ve never tried any badger brushes so I am neutral . Just interested what you’ve been battling.

 

[2Diverse]

I have no problem explaining it Simon. If, by chance, I am wrong I will be the first to admit it and will change my opinion. I know DaveG will know.

Early last year I wanted to build my own airbrush. At the time I was spending a lot of money buying Badger items from www.usaairbrushsupply.com

I had bought a Badger Renegande Krome and a Patriot 105 off eBay. I wanted a "C" cup so I chose the Vega 1500. I built it as I wanted it, with spares. It cost me around $125 US as I had to buy all the parts separately from USAAirbrush.

When it arrived it looked like the attached pics. I contacted USAAirbrush and asked if I had gotten an "Irregular" or "Factory Second" as the finish was poor. The Customer Service Rep CC'd me on the email she sent to Ken in regards to the finish. His reply to her was that the marks were from the "tinning" process of mating the cup to the shell. Perhaps I'm wrong, it seems to me that the Patriot and the Krome are made the same way. They seem to have *perfect* finishes.

I've never chromed anything but I believe that items are sent through a bath of some sort to remove the tinning before they are sent to chroming.

It's the poor finish on this brush, and the lack of Badger standing behind it, that caused me to stop buying from Badger. The shell was around $25, my cost. How much would it have cost them to send me one in good condition?

 

[DaveG]

A while back I watched a live feed where it was plainly stated that (paraphrasing here) "the goal was to produce affordable brushes that work, and that imperfections where acceptable". "If you need a perfect finish, you would have to pay more..." I won't say what I thought of those comments, but will say I was surprised by them. I continue to buy Badger product (on occasion), but usually try to do it through other retailers or online sources.

 

[2Diverse]

So for the sake of keeping their cost down, and increasing their profit, sending out inferior product is acceptable. Good business plan.

Badger did me a favor really. It opened a whole nother world for me. I had pretty much stuck with the US brushes at that time. I did have an Iwata or two but that was it, IIRC. I had about 35 brushes then. I've almost doubled that since. Until the one posted above none were Badger. Except for a few Paasche's and a Binks I added brushes from Japan and Europe. Aerograph, DeVilbiss, Gabbert, Hansa, Harder & Steenbeck, Holbein, Olympos etc. I have a dozen Iwata's.

I don't mind paying more for better quality. In reality you expect to.

And unless I'm way off base about the chroming process I will still not buy Badger brushes (now that I've learned more from the post topic 360 not being T&C). If/when needed I will purchase parts for the few I do have. I'll find an alternate parts source too.

 

[Electric Cat Dude]

A while back I watched a live feed where it was plainly stated that (paraphrasing here) "the goal was to produce affordable brushes that work, and that imperfections where acceptable". "If you need a perfect finish, you would have to pay more..." I won't say what I thought of those comments, but will say I was surprised by them. I continue to buy Badger product (on occasion), but usually try to do it through other retailers or online sources.

Or possibly something designed along the same lines of how Russia designs military aircraft or other military hardware on. That is, refine an airbrush where it absolutely needs to be refined and do not do so where it doesn’t in order to save costs. So a lot of attention to detail on the machining and finish of the internal parts and interfaces, the needle taper, the regulator and the nozzle throat, while eliminating additional finishing and refinement on the exterior.

 

[Electric Cat Dude]

Or possibly something designed along the same lines of how Russia designs military aircraft or other military hardware on. That is, refine an airbrush where it absolutely needs to be refined and do not do so where it doesn’t in order to save costs. So a lot of attention to detail on the machining and finishing of the internal parts and interfaces, the needle taper, the regulator and the nozzle throat, while eliminating additional finishing refinements on the exterior.

 

[2Diverse]

Or possibly something designed along the same lines of how Russia designs military aircraft or other military hardware on. That is, refine an airbrush where it absolutely needs to be refined and do not do so where it doesn’t in order to save costs. So a lot of attention to detail on the machining and finish of the internal parts and interfaces, the needle taper, the regulator and the nozzle throat, while eliminating additional finishing and refinement on the exterior.

Well they lost me. If Badger's plan is to go as cheap as they can I'll be sticking with the companies that are trying to improve their products, the Takumi for example.

I'm embarrassed to show the Vega 1500. If nothing else people might think I don't know how to take care of an AB. Some may think I left white paint to dry around the cup/shell seam. It looks like a POS.

At the time I built it I had planned on making it my "Go To" brush. The spares I bought included all the needle/nozzle parts I would need to change to the 1, 3 or 5 combination.

I've sold almost all my Badger branded brushes. I used those proceeds to fund some of the other brands I listed above. I still have the Renegade 3 piece set I'd like to get rid of that is listed in the For Sale section of the forum. Anyone?