What airbrush for Badger 180-12?

K

Kcole777

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Hello,
I am entering the airbrush world. I just purchased a Badger 180-12 compressor. What airbrush and accessories would you recommend to get me started?

Thanks, Kevin
 
Hey, Kevin. Be glad to help with what I can. In the meantime, please pop over to the Introductions section, http://www.airbrushforum.org/introductions/, and start a new thread there. Tell us what equipment (besides the air compressor) you have or are planning to get, paints, etc. What you plan on using the airbrushes for and also whereabouts on the globe you're located, roughly. We have members from all over the place, so there may be others with similar interests close by or near the same time zone, who can offer help.

That out of the way, your compressor is fairly small. It may be too small depending on what your plans are airbrush-wise. It also has no tank so there will be some pulsation to the air supplied to the brush. The compressor will be running constantly while you are operating it which is an overheating concern. No regulator to control pressure will lead to wildly inconsistent results, too. You may want to consider returning or exchanging it for something with a tank and regulator. Anyway, that's my two cents.
 
Yes, depending what you hope to do in this crazy world called airbrushing, will make it easier to advise. Hellbird is right that compressor may not keep up with the amount of air you need and could struggle and burn out the motor. Could you return it? A tanked one would be best. If not then it might do just to give you a taste, and you could maybe add a tank to stop pulsing. The inconsistent airflow of pulsing will make learning a tricky business.

Without knowing your AB goals, check out the Iwsta eclipse. A bit pricey, but a perfect allrounder, great to learn on, but you wont outgrow, long lasting parts, so a good long term investment. Non branded brushes, though cheap, are generally made of soft metals and are poorly manufactured and finished. These are precision instruments and cheap ones dont perform well, or only work for a short time, or sometimes not st all. Replacing them is a false economy, and def slows down your learning.
 
I am just looking for something to work on base coating ect instead of using spray cans. Very simple stuff on small scale that will not take long at all. Is the Iwata neo any good? would it work with this compressor?
 
I am just looking for something to work on base coating ect instead of using spray cans. Very simple stuff on small scale that will not take long at all. Is the Iwata neo any good? would it work with this compressor?
An Iwata Neo will work just fine with that compressor, If you're just doing base coats. Get the siphon feed model, I believe it's the BCN.
 
Alright sounds good. Will the siphon work well with the lower air pressure (30psi) or should I go with gravity because it works better with lower pressure? also what hoses do I need?

Thanks for your help :)
 
A siphon feed should work just fine at 30psi. At least mine does if I remember correctly.
 
As far as hoses go, what kind of output does the compressor have? You would need an Iwata (1/8 bsp I think) compatible hose going to whatever is on your compressor. There are many ways to skin that cat.
 
Are you going to do lots of colour changes? People like siphons for that as they can change out the bottle quick.
 
Not a ton, probably just 2 colors per project. Although I guess it could be helpful to have a siphon but maybe more complicated for a beginner im not sure? It outputs 30psi cannot be changed as far as I know.
 
Its not really any more complicated. A little bit more work to clean is the main difference. You have to clean the bottle out as well as the airbrush. Another factor to consider is what quantity of paint are you going to spray? Base coats typically suck up volumes of paint, so having a big bottle works. If you are doing fine detail work, you wouldnt want to clean a 3 oz bottle that you used 6 drops of paint from.
 
Not much paint because the items are very small. They are 1/45 scale helmets so very small really. So I guess go gravity.
 
Sooo we're talking what... Cocoa Puffs size helmets? Yeah you could get away with a gravity feed for that. You're probably going to want a thin paint for that as well right?
 
I want to paint them with chipping effects, and other type of worn techniques. Also I may use the airbrush for minatures like war hammer or bolt action, just to base coat.
 
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Oh cool! Hmm, I never thought about painting Lego figures! As far as paint goes you'd probably want a model paint. There are several brands that have specific colors meant for military modeling.
 
I used that exact compressor model for years before I cot my current CAT compressor. It'll work fine for most brushes, but there are two accessories I HIGHLY advise to make the most of it.

1) A length of shop coil hose. Even if you're using this compressor right next to you on a bench. Attach the coil hose directly to the compressor, and attach your regulator/moisture trap to the other end, then run a regular AB hose from there to your brush. The coil hose will act as both a small tank and a surprisingly effective pre-condenser for the moisture trap.

Without the buffering "tank" volume of the coil hose, the compressor will transmit air to the brush in noticeable pulses, and more importantly the internal cutoff switch will make it CONSTANTLY flick on and off every two seconds while you're holding down the airbrush trigger. The coil hose will provide a buffer volume that smooths out the airflow, and provides enough consistent static pressure for the cutoff switch to behave as intended rather than spastically.

2) An external on/off switch (the modular sort you just plug the power cord into). This model of compressor has no on/off switch other than the internal pressure-based shutoff switch, so if you leave it plugged in (like at a hobby bench), the air line will always be pressurized, and the compressor will always kick on any time you detach your brush or a hose coupling (or at random times if your air line isn't 100% leak-proof). An external switch (I used a foot pedal switch, but you choose whatever's most practical for your workspace) makes operations that much neater, safer, and less annoying.

If I had caught you before you purchased it though, I would have recommended the compressor in my signature over this Badger compressor. The price is nearly the same, and the CAT compressor is superior in every way and doesn't need any accessories to "fix" (a separate moisture trap and more precise step-down regulator is still good, but that goes for nearly all compressors).
 
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