Badger Model 200-20 Airbrush

Sometimes things go better the second time around.

I bought a cheap (and I mean cheap) airbrush kit at a model railroad show about 10 years ago just to give airbrushing a shot. Well the “shot” was blank. The airbrush didn’t work and that was the end of that.

When Ron recently pitched the idea of reviewing the Badger airbrush I figured it was about time for me to re-visit the subject. I haven’t regretted the decision.

The Badger Model 200-20 is a single action, internal mix airbrush designed for detail work…at least that’s what I’ve been able to glean from the web. Since I’m a NOOB I wasn’t going to let my ignorance on all the “technical” jargon get in the way of diving into the world of airbrushing (“Instructions? I don’t need no stinkin Iinstructions!”). Now, I don’t want to re-invent the wheel here by spending time (and bandwidth) defining all the airbrushing terminology so here's a link to a good resource on the subject: How to Airbrush.

I had to make the capital expenditure and get a bunch of accessories so I could use it. Fortunately I was able to justify the expense to my better half since I was asked to do the review and I just "had to have" all this extra stuff....

Well, on to the review.

Here are a few close up shots of the airbrush.

The airbrush seems well built and has a good "solid" feel to it. The three "O" rings in back are there to improve your grip and they do the job just fine. One of the first things I did when I got the brush was to take it apart to see how easy it would be to clean. I was surprised to find how few parts there were to this airbrush. This next sequence of photos shows the brush fully disassembled and how easy it is to put back together.

A disassembled airbrush...

...put back together.

I like the fact that the spring assembly for operating the piston is one self contained unit. I seen diagrams of other airbrushes where the assemblies were splint into several parts (spring, a couple of washers...ya da, ya da, ya da). I figure the fewer the parts to lose the better.

So now that I and torn this airbrush apart and put it back together It was time to take it outside into the garage to try it out.

I decided my first airbrushing victim would be a piece of Atlas Code 55 flextrack. I first gave it a good scrubbing and trying to clean off any residual oils from handling and manufacturing.

Once I moved my operations out to the garage I decided to get a feel for how the airbrush worked on some paper before I started weathering the track. The images are kind lame since I pulled them off a video I was taking at the time.

Wow! What a blast. I had to restrain how wildly I moved my hand around since I was using the paint cup and did want to end up with paint all over myself.

Adjusting the width of the spray was a breeze. Turning the knob at the end of the airbrush clock-wise narrowed the spray pattern, counter clock-wise widened it. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Oh by the way, did I mention that airbrushing is fun.

So now it was time to weather the track. I used my own brew of Floquil Rail brown, Grimy black and a touch of Rust.

Here is the end result:

Given it's capabilities and solid construction the Badger Model 200-20 is a bargain on the web. I've seen it for sale in basic kits as low as $51.60. Just Google "badger model 200-20 airbrush" and you'll get a bunch of links to places where you can buy one.

I'd like thank Badger for manufacturing a solid airbrush that made my second trip to the world of airbrushing a pleasure.

FYI

If your interested in seeing my adventures in airbrushing, I taped my whole experience (including my mistakes) and placed them below.