Badger "Rage" airbrush guns review

Airbrush review

I do a lot of art with my airbrush, be it detail work on cloths or airbrushing in a sky. Lately I have been airbrushing a lot of forests, I cut the stencils and freehand shields my self and I have been using my Badger airbrush.

When I started out airbrushing I have tried several brands and none brands as well. My very first set, I still have it, was a Harbor Freight airbrush set. The tank is still what I like using because it’s quiet and portable. The gun it self I use for big rough tasks. Then I bought a Paasche. For the low price they do work fine, then I bought a Badger airbrush.

My choice was the Bottom Feed R3-R Rage. I had a knock off from Amazon and I liked it but it had some issues that I feared the Rage would have to. When it came to me the first thing I noticed was the weight. It felt solid and the action was smoother then I’ve ever felt.

The hose from my airbrush is not the latest and it went on perfect and I was ready to use. Only when you are ready to use it you tend to hold it as you would normally and again I was pleasantly surprised. See I am a big guy, I have big hands. As soon as I held it, it felt good, not to small at all. Before some guns just simply were too small for me, even though they seem to fit ok at first, the trigger was hard to reach and there for hard to control.

I use Createx paint and it works great. The feed was good, no stuttering on low PSI , I started out with paint straight from the bottle. Then I added a reducer and a higher PSI, this was to see if it would sunburst or spit paint where it shouldn’t from the gun, yes this has happened to me before. The Rage works great, perfect control on very small detail , that to me is an important part, I airbrush eyes and clothing a lot and its perfect for that.

After a small project it was time to clean it. Because I used water based Createx I have developed a way of cleaning my guns. I have a bucket with water and window clearer and just stick the gun in there and turn it on. Yes not the best way but it is the fastest way, and sometimes I need to change colors fast and a lot so I need a gun that can handle the abuse and the Rage can.

Over time I’ve dropped it and semi cleaned it after a long night and had to hand clean it. Badger designs are easy to dissemble and more important, they go back together easy and smooth. They are sturdy and very important it is very well priced for the quality you get. The model I bought you can buy around a $150 and it does everything you will need, from rough background work to fine detail. This gun, or any Badger for that matter is not just great for the fine artist it’s a perfect tool for model painters to seeing the amount of control you have with them. For me Badger wins over all airbrush guns.