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2/2010
Ken Schlotfeldt offered to let me try out a couple more airbrushes. Well, it took me about 2 nanoseconds to accept that offer. But it took a little longer to decide which ones I wanted. I knew I wanted one of the Renegades, but which one? Finally I decided on the Rage for a couple of reasons. First, the Velocity and Spirit have .21mm nozzles, and can go from a hairline to 1 inch, whereas the Rage has a larger .33 mm nozzle and can do a pencil line to 1.5 inches and handle slightly thicker paint. There's no way I'm ever going to need to do a hairline, pencil width should do fine. Secondly, I wanted to see how the Rage would compare with my Anthem with the fine needle. And lastly, the Rage seems to me to be the neglected sister of the Velocity. I've seen a number of comments from Velocity users, but almost none about the Rage. My second choice was the Thayer & Chandler Vega 1000, which I'll review next.
One guy wrote that the Renegade is a nice airbrush but really ugly. Well, like the saying goes, it's in the eye of the beholder. I don't know if Badger chose this finish to keep cost down or if they wanted to make something unique. I suspect it might have been a little of both. It definitely stands out. It has a utilitarian, some might even say a sinister look. If Batman had an airbrush, it might look like this. But I like it. I think it looks sharp.
Here is a parts breakdown of the Renegades. Notice that the rocker is attached to the needle tube. This is like the Thayer & Chandler airbrushes.
Here is a picture of the rear portion. Part R-0019 holds the trigger assembly in place and also allows adjustment of trigger tension.
The Renegade head assembly appears to be similar to the one in the expensive Sotar model. The tip is free floating, like the Anthem and Patriot, but much smaller. The tip on the right is from the Anthem, and the Renegade tip is on the left. You don't want to sneeze when you're cleaning this thing. To be fair though, a lot of other airbrushes have tips just as small, and they are threaded, meaning that they must be unscrewed for cleaning. With this tip, you won't have the possibility of stripped or broken threads.
Here is how the head goes together. The arrow is pointing to the tip housing. Badger says don't try to remove this part. If you do remove it, you void the warranty. It looks like it's brazed on, so I don't know how you could remove it without a torch. I suspect the factory has special tooling for this. In the Sotar, this part is removable. The head assembly in front of the tip is actually two pieces threaded together. You can swap the front piece for one that leaves the needle fully exposed, but allows you to get closer to your work. The opening in the tip housing is large enough to insert a pipe cleaner for cleaning. The Renegades have a knob on the back that allows you to limit trigger travel. It works well and is handy if you want to make consistently fine lines. But, I suspect that many people who buy the Renegade won't need this feature.
The Velocity and Spirit have an adjustable O-ring needle seal, while the Rage has the simpler standard Badger Teflon needle bearing. I would never try to change the bearing on this brush. The O-ring in the other two models is user changeable.
Without a cup attached, the Rage weighs 88 gm vs. 78 gm for the Anthem. I suspect the difference is due to the lack of a cut-out in the handle and the added knob on the rear. With a 1/4 oz. cup attached it goes up to 103 gm. But it is well balanced and comfortable to hold.
Here is how the needles compare:
The upper needle is from the Rage, and the lower one is the Anthem fine needle. The Rage needle has a slightly longer taper and has obviously been polished. Both have tiny secondary tapers on the end.
Below is a picture of the Rage needle next to the needle of my old style 200. Except for the polish, I can't see any difference. The upper needle is the Rage, and the lower one the 200. I don't know what the discoloration is on the 200, but it doesn't come off with lacquer thinner.
Trying it out
The Rage trigger appears to be the same part as used on the Patriot and Thayer Chandler brushes. This means my rubber caps won't fit. This time, instead of a plastic bumper, I taped a piece of suede leather on the top of the trigger. It feels good, and gives me the traction that I missed from the Anthem trigger. Backflushing was a bit of a problem. I'm used to holding a folded paper towel over the tip to backflush. With the two prong design of the Rage head, I couldn't get a good enough seal that way. The only thing that worked was to either pinch hard with my bare fingers or place the plastic protective cap over the head.
Here are samples done with black ink on paper towel. On the left is with the Rage and on the right, the Anthem. Each one was the result of many tries, and they are the best I could do. Air pressure was set to 20 psi for both.
As you can see, for me it's pretty much a wash. I'm sure the Rage could do finer lines, but I don't have the dexterity to produce them. I was able to get this good by using the adjustable needle stop. Of course, there is more to an airbrush than the ability to do fine lines. But here again, the Rage and Anthem seemed pretty equal to me. I also sprayed some Floquil paint on a plastic bottle and it went on just fine, although the pattern was a little narrower than what I like for general use. From 3 inches back, it covered about a 1/2 inch swath.
Conclusion
In the right hands, I'm sure the Rage is a dynamite airbrush. But in my clumsy fist, it does no better than the Anthem with the 3155 tip and needle. The Renegade series is clearly aimed at the experienced user. Here is a quote from the Renegade website:
Badger Air-Brush Co.'s new American made Renegade Airbrush Series is developed and designed for the very specific and intricate needs of custom graphic artists who have chosen the automobile or other hard surfaces as their creative canvas.
So, why would you want a Renegade Rage instead of an Anthem? Well, both are nice airbrushes, but the needle limiting knob on the rear of the Rage could be real handy for fine work. The Rage is heavier, but has a comfortable feel to it. The Rage's smaller tip and shallower needle angle should make finer lines if you have the skill to make the most of them. And, maybe you like the way it looks. There is not a huge price difference. So, if you're not put off by the extra care needed for the tiny tip, maybe the Rage is the airbrush for you.
A big thank you to Ken for the sample.
Feedback
I received an e-mail from Stefan Sjoberg. He has a Rage and he heard about an upgrade package that Badger is offering for the Renegade models. So, he contacted them and ordered one. The charge was just $10 plus shipping. What he got was a new rocker/needle tube assembly, a trigger, and, for some reason, a Teflon adjustable needle bearing which doesn't fit the Rage but is used on the Spirit and Velocity. The rocker and trigger have the new anti-friction coating that Badger calls Glydecoat. The rocker also has a slightly different shape, and it sits higher on the needle tube. Stefan says that he was very happy with the feel of the trigger before, but now it is really smooth. Apparently, the package is only available direct from Badger at this time.
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