Badger 200NH airbrush

After using car primer, decanted from a rattlecan, through my airbrush recently I decided that a 'brush dedicated for use with primer might be a good idea. Although auto primer sprays well when used in an airbrush its a pig to clean so rather than make a mess inside my Badger 150 double action 'brush I cast around for a single action job. I found just what I wanted on eBay, a secondhand 200NH which came with another airbrush (an Aerograph), a pair of hoses, and various bottles and colour cups. None of the bottles or colour cups fitted the Badger, however the 150 and 200 share the same fittings so I can use what I already have. Buying a secondhand airbrush sounds like a risk, but Badger spares are readily available and they are easy to strip and service.

Externally it looked good. The head on the NH is different to other versions of the 200, which share the same head as the 150;

NH I believe stands for New Head, and the tip is the same as used in the medium Crescendo.
As this is a single action 'brush the needle needs to be set to give the correct spray pattern for the job in hand, this is done by moving the needle back and forth using an adjuster on the rear of the handle;

The larger adjuster moves the needle, the smaller screw locks it into the adjuster. These needed a little persuasion to undo...
I gave it a quick test just with air before cleaning it, which showed that the air valve was working as it should.

Stripping one of these down is easy, just unscrew everything. The needle needed a good clean, but looks to be ok, and the rest of the parts cleaned up well, despite there being traces of paint left inside the body. I wasn't sure about the condition of the tip, so that's been replaced. A little Regdab needle juice was smeared on the needle and thumb adjuster on re-assembly.

The needle and tip before cleaning;

I've fitted it with a quick disconnect fitting, making attaching it to my compressor a moments work. Here it is next to my trusty 150, note the different heads;

It feels better balanced than the 150 due no doubt to the shorter distance between the head and the trigger.

I've tested it with some Tamiya paint and everything works as it should. The paint flow is easily adjusted by moving the needle screw and altering the air pressure. Quite fine work is possible, not as fine as with my 150 but good enough for what I want I do with this 'brush. And I've had the enjoyable task of cleaning up and making good an old tool.

Paul.