Fish Carvers, What's the best Badger Airbrush?

[Lazy Ike]

Wondering what may be the best model of Badger airbrush for painting fish carvings and fish decoys? I'm looking at the 360 Universal. Looking for a little advice from experienced users before I lay out the cash. How about paint and gloss sealers? Any info. appreciated. Thanks. Lazy Ike

[AlArchie]

I don't have Badgers, but make sure you get at the very least a double action brush. That's the type that has the paint fed and the air feed searately......either down-button for air with back-button for paint or down for paint and back for air. This allows much better control of the color application, than the single action types. It also demands a bit of practice.

There are also "turbo" models that have an air powered turbine to better atomize the paint. They are a bit more expensive, and I have not tried them, but several of our carving club instructors have them and are sold on the concept.

There are also small "spray gun" types for quick even coverage of larger areas. These are fairly reasonable and easy to use....kinda like a can of spray paint with a trigger!

If you go with the air brush, make sure your compressor has an adequate cfpm rating and a GOOD presure control valve, along with an in-line filter and drier. All compressors put moisture into the output air, and this condensate will spatter through your brush and dilute the paint mixture. The filter-drier will remove contaminants and make your brushing much more enjoyable.

If you use lacquer or other aromatic based paints, make sure you have good ventilation and even if using water based paints, wear a mask minimally rated for particulates.

I prefer to use seme-gloss or matt finish for most of my fish. Most carvers and taxidermists use a high gloss. If you do any snorkelling or scuba, you know that when underwater, fish are NOT glossy. That appearance is only there when a fish is removed from the water and the slime covering becomes shiny. That's a matter of preference, though!

Al

[David_Aaron_Sercel]

I am not a fish carver (I carve birds) but I have owned the Badger 360 Universal for about a year and am very happy with it. I like the versatility that it has, as it can be either top fed from a paint cup of bottom fed from a jar, and it can do anywhere from a very wide spray pattern down to about a 1/16� line. I don’t know how it would handle gloss sealers (as I have never tried any), but it can handle pretty heavy paint so it might do just fine.

David

[Lazy Ike]

Thanks guys for the info. Think I'll give it a try and spend the $. Lazy Ike

[fishcarver2004]

i use the aztec 3000 and the 470 had them since 1993

and they still work great!!!!!!!!!
they are the easest one to use
Stacey

[AlArchie]

If "Stacey" is Stacey Mitchell, I'd pay attention to what he has to say regarding fish! One of the best in the country.

Al

[fishcarver2004]

hi Al, you are too kind. I just try too do the best thati can, sometimes they work
sometimes they don't
Stacey

[AlArchie]

Stacey, years back Nancy turned me on to your site http://www.royannbaum.com/skwildlife/s&k/gallery.htm ,
and you gave me some advice when I was starting carving fish (don't even remember exactly what it was now), but it helped at the time. A delayed thanks for that and hope to see more of your input here. Maybe I'll even be prompted to do a few more fish!

Al

[Nancy-G]

We are fortunate to own a Stacey Mitchell trout that sets in a place of honor ... right beside an Al Archie crawdad ... not far from a pair of Charlie Joiner green wing teal.

Oh -- I don't own an air brush. I don't recall ever SEEING one.

[Donna_T]

I like the water based air-brush paints that WASCO (one of several taxidermy suppy sources) has. You can get them in water base or petroleum based and you can get them for taxidermy or wood projects. They have specific fish colors in addition to just regular colors AND they have good glass eyes and even airbrushes in their catalogue. I wouldn't put cheap eyes into a fish decoy--a couple of extra bucks here will make a big difference in how a fish carving looks.

There are several other suppliers, but I've used WASCO the most. Another plus is that you can get their paints in small containers (1/2 ounce) or graduated larger sizes. I get big bottles of superhide white and high gloss

Donna T