Badger Airbrush Co.

Patriot Model #105

Stock Number: BAD105

Reviewed By  Pablo Bauleo, IPMS# 46363

MSRP: $119 from webairbrushes.com (There are discount coupons in the website) Website: www.badgerairbrush.com/ I had heard very good things of the Badger Anthem 155. Then I've heard that Badger went the extra mile by redesigning the Anthem to be gravity feed and named the new airbrush "Patriot". Being fond of gravity feed airbrushes; I was really excited when I knew I would be able to review this airbrush. So, what is all the fuzz about these airbrushes? It all goes down to simple, solid and brilliant engineering of the unit. The heart of the airbrush is the head design. In this airbrush the tip sits in a tapered seat in the airbrush body. The tip is kept in place by screwing the airbrush head into the body. The tapered seat makes the tip to self-centered when tightened by the airbrush head and there is no need for a washer. Besides, all the parts just need to be finger-tight to work to perfection. Within minutes of starting my first airbrushing session with this brush, I was able to cover large areas (about 2 inches wide) very easily, working at 15 psi. Then I was able to get lines less than 1 mm wide at 5 psi without any problem and with minimum overspray. With a little bit more of familiarity with the brush, I expect I will be able to get very thin lines in a consistent way. The paint cup is large (1/3 of an ounce). It will let you do large paint works without having to stop to refill the cup. An excellent detail is the paint cup lid, with a tiny hole to equalize pressure. It prevents having that dreaded spill of the gravity feed airbrushes. I wonder if my wife provided feedback to Badger about adding a lid to the paint cup. The balance of the brush "feels right" in my hand. The paint cup, despite its large capacity, does not get in the way and you can approach your target very closely for that detail work at low pressure. Actually, you can get close enough to the target, that you could touch the model with the needle before you touch it with the paint cup. Be careful not to drag the airbrush needle along the model! The trigger moves very smoothly along its slot. The tension on the trigger is light, but firm. It is very easy to keep the trigger in place for a constant spray width. Disassembling and cleaning is trivial and straight-forward. Just un-tight the needle chuck, remove the needle by the back of the brush and then you can unscrew the spray regulator, head and tip. It takes about 30 seconds to have all the main parts ready for a soak in cleaner. The paint cup is large enough that cleaning of it with a rag is simple. There are no difficult to reach points in the airbrush body. Reassembly of the brush is also trivial. The self-centering design of the tip makes thing to go fast and easy. The easiness for cleaning and reassembling this airbrush has to be highlighted. I did a test and I was able to paint 5 different colors -for different parts of a kit I was building- with full disassemblies and cleaning in between colors in just 25 minutes. And that time includes the time needed to thin the paint. This airbrush is easy to control, easy to clean and maintain, very reasonably priced and many parts are interchangeable with other Badger models, making it easy to find spares. In a few words, this is a wonderful airbrush. Recommended to modelers of all skill levels that are looking for an all-around airbrush. I must confess I might be a little bit biased. I own five airbrushes and all of them are Badger. Between the quality of their products and the outstanding customer service they provide, I've never felt the need to shop anywhere else. I would like to warmly thank Badger Airbrush for providing the review sample.