Paasche H Review
6/2010
What's this? Something besides a Badger airbrush on Wheeler's website? Heresy!
Well, curiosity killed the cat, and curiosity made me spend $30 for a Paasche H airbrush with the number 3 medium tip and needle. I've read so many comments recommending this airbrush by happy owners, I just had to check it out myself. And, I've seen some beautiful work done with it. Besides, I wanted to learn more about external mix brushes. Of course, Harder & Steenbeck and Iwata also make good airbrushes. But my curiosity has a limit, and it's about 30 bucks.
Here it is. I bought the airbrush only, so I got no tools, bottles or cups. But the Badger 50-483 cup works OK.
I also bought an adapter for my Badger hose for $2.50, which you can see attached above.
First Impressions
The H has a real quality feel. The chrome is beautiful and the plastic handle has obviously been polished. The needle and tip are not chrome plated and appear to be stainless steel. The trigger has a snappy feel. I understand that earlier versions of this brush had some control over air flow by varying trigger pressure. They even had a small knob to limit trigger travel. That is no longer true. The trigger is now strictly on or off. The brush feels heavy to me. It weighs 87 gr. without a cup, which is one gram lighter than the Renegade Rage. But the Rage feels lighter. I think this is due to the difference in the center of gravity. The Rage balances right about at the trigger. But the center of balance of the H is about 3/4 inch in front of the trigger. Another reason is that the distance from the trigger to the tip of the nozzle is about 2 3/4 inches. On the Rage it is one half inch shorter. The H is noticeably nose heavy. And, there's something antique about it. The design is pretty old. You can see a 1938 catalog page of the model H here, and it hasn't changed all that much.
What makes an airbrush external mix?
Here are pictures of the business end of the Paasche H and the Badger Patriot.
Notice that both airbrushes have a needle inside a tip, and paint comes out around the needle and atomizes when it reaches the end. The only difference is the way the air passes over the needle and tip. In an internal mix brush the air comes out around the tip, in line with the needle. In the Paasche H, the needle and tip are at an angle of about 30 degrees to the air flow. So, does that make the H more of an external mix than the Patriot? The industry seems to think so. In the Patriot, the needle moves to control paint flow. In the Paasche, the needle is stationary and the tip screws in or out to accomplish the same thing. Also, in the Patriot, paint travels through channels within the body of the brush. In the H, the paint has an entirely separate path.
Tear Down
Practicing what I preach, the first thing I did was to take it apart.
I'd advise you not to take the air valve apart if you don't have to. That little square nut is a bugger to start. There are threads on the four corners, and it's difficult to get them all aligned at once. It would be very easy to cross thread and damage something. I found that sticking a round tooth pick in it was the best way to hold it. It has a screwdriver slot, and acts as a tension adjust on the trigger. That's my Paasche to Badger adapter at the bottom of the picture. Notice that the white needle bearing has an adjustment nut. It was pretty tight, and I re-adjusted it to what felt right to me. A standard screwdriver won't fit the slot in the nut. I used a tool called a screw starter that has a very fine blade. You could also grind or file down a cheap regular screwdriver. The Instruction sheet says to put a little Vaseline on the needle threads. I put a tiny bit of Chapstick.
I measured the opening in the tip, and it is about 0.6 mm. This is just a little larger than the 0.5 mm Patriot tip and smaller than the standard 0.75 mm tip in the Badger Anthem. Here is a comparison of the H and old style Badger 200 needles.
The main taper of the H needle is about 15 degrees. There is a tiny secondary taper on the end. Paint travels up the hollow portion of the needle and exits the hole to enter the tip. The needle bearing prevents it from leaking out the rear of the tip. The needle gets pushed into the ball on the body as far as it will go and is held in place with a set screw. There are 3 grooves on the needle, tip and head that probably indicate that these are the number 3 size.
Trying it out
I found that the stand that I made for my Badger siphon brushes wouldn't work for the Paasche. So, I made a new one. It will also hold the Badgers.
I did my usual doodle with black ink on paper towel. The instructions say to use 20 to 30 psi for ink. I started with 20, but found that 25 worked better. As I've said before, this is about the limit of my little compressor. I think it did pretty well. I'm sure someone with a steadier hand could do better. It doesn't match my internal mix airbrushes, but I wouldn't expect it to. It's certainly good enough for most model painting. Spray adjustment was very smooth and easy but sensitive. It will put out a lot of paint if you need it. I thought the spray might be unsymmetrical because of the angled needle, but round dots came out nice and round. Atomization seemed very good. The instruction sheet said basically, to clean, flush with thinner. So I ran soapy water until it came out clear, both from the cup and directly into the bottom feed hole. Then I put some alcohol through it for good measure. Then I removed the needle and tip and examined them. I found what I expected; spots of black ink. So, using some paper towel and alcohol, I wiped out both parts and flushed them again with an eyedropper. I think this is necessary if you want to keep it really clean. Removing the needle and tip is a little clumsy because of the set screw and the way they fit in the head, but not that bad once you've done it a couple of times.
Things I didn't care for
The raised pattern on the top of the trigger is totally unnecessary and bugged me. I'll fix that with a leather patch. The trigger is a little firmer than I like, and I may mess with the spring. The long snout seemed strange at first, but I soon got used to it.
Conclusion
I can see why a lot of people like this airbrush. It works fine. It's well built and rugged and should last forever, and parts are cheap and readily available. You can get the brush with two spray heads, a cup, two bottles, a hanger, a hose, and wrenches for $46. I'm not going to throw away my Badger airbrushes, but I'd have no problem recommending the Paasche H for painting models.
Postscript
I still wasn't real happy with the feel of the trigger, so I decided to see if I could improve it. When I examined the air valve plunger with a magnifier, I noticed something strange.
The finish was very rough. So I tried polishing it with some very fine polishing film used wet. It made some improvement, but then it dawned on me. The roughness goes all the way through. Even where it's threaded, you can see it. It appears to be sintered metal, and you could never get it smooth. The picture above is after my polishing.
If anyone has a clue why they would have used this, please let me know. In the meantime, I put a little Chapstick on it and put it back. It feels better. It's still a bit rough, but I guess that's just the way it is. It certainly doesn't affect its operation, and it's still a nice airbrush. I wll e-mail Paasche about it, and if I get an answer I will post it here.
Well, I e-mailed Paasche several days ago and haven't heard back, so I decided to see if I could make any improvement.
Note: I am not recommending that anyone do this. For all I know, it could permanently damage the airbrush. Besides, the brush works perfectly fine as it is. I'm just nuts enough to try it.
After cleaning off the Chapstick with a little acetone, I applied a thin layer of super glue to the shaft, trying to get thin even coverage all the way round. I let it sit until it was dry to the touch, and then carefully wet sanded it. I tried to keep it straight and round. The idea was to just leave glue in the pores. Eventually, I got it to where it would fit in the brush again. Then I applied another dab of Chapstick and re-installed it. I'm sure this voids any kind of Paasche warranty, but it does feel pretty good now.
If Paasche does get back to me, I will add their response.
#1 Size Tip and Needle
I was able to get a number one size needle and tip on E-bay for 99 cents. So, I spent another $3 and got a matching air cap. The tip opening measures about 0.5mm, or 0.1mm smaller than the #3 tip. There is a very subtle difference in the needle. The #3 has a tiny secondary taper on the end, but the #1 comes right to a point. The hole in the #1 air cap is about 0.64mm vs. 1.0mm in the #3 air cap.
I repeated the doodle shown above, but I won't bother to show it here, because to be honest, I couldn't see any difference. I put them side by side and the line widths were the same. I expected to see finer lines, but in my hands at least, they just weren't there. The best results were again at a pressure of 25 psi.
So, I don't know why, but for me a #1 set up had no advantage over the #3. If you've had a different experience, please let me know and I will post it here.
Balance
An online friend named William has pointed out that there is an optional metal handle for the H that gives it a much better balance. It is part number HVL-203. I did a quick Google search and found this source and there are probably others. Also, I see no reason why you couldn't load the plastic handle with lead shot or something else heavy if it makes the brush feel better to you.
Thanks for the tip, William.
Feedback
I got an e-mail from Patrick Stack. Here is what he wrote:
You asked if anyone had input, about the perceived lack of significant difference between the #1 and #3 size heads, and I mostly agree there is very little difference, unless the mixture is thinned a great deal. I tend to use mostly gloss enamels, then flatten it to the desired effect after spraying the camo pattern. Gloss paint has fewer solid particles, compared with flat paints, hence they can be reduced a great deal and then pass through the #1 head quite easily and extremely fine in line width. In those cases I do find a real difference between the #1 and #3 heads, otherwise not.
I also find the layers of finish in camo patterns to be smoother using the gloss finishes, so the divisions between colors is less of a factor. Properly thinned paint leaves next to no definable edge, when the spray angle is aimed to the inside of the subsequent color. That's also when I find the added "heft" of the Paasche H to assist me, I think it helps me hold the gun a bit more steady, as opposed to the lighter and smaller Wren.
Patrick says that when he wants really fine edges, like on 1:72 aircraft, he uses his Paasche VL or Talon.
Thanks, Patrick.
I got an e-mail from Panagiots Kourlos, who said he found that the rear end of a #11 X-acto blade was just the right thickness to fit the Paasche H needle seal adjust. So, I tried it.
I heated an old #11 blade in a candle flame to anneal the metal and make it softer.
Then, using two pairs of pliers, I broke off about 1/4" of the tip. Watch your eyes if you do this.
I dulled the remaining sharp edge of the blade with a file.
Then I installed it tip first in a large X-acto handle.
Using the file, I narrowed the rear of the blade until it would fit in the H nozzle.
Here it is. It works great.
Thanks for the tip, Panagiots.