Badger Air-Brush Co. 105-2XR Patriot Arrow Fine Gravity Airbrush, Small Cup

This is my first airbrush, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I will clarify a few things that are not detailed well in the item description:1) Mine came with the Badger "Fine" needle/nozzle, which is roughly 0.5 mm (blue knob on the back). It did NOT come withe the 0.7 mm as stated in the Amazon description. (I don't know why you would want a 0.7 mm with such a small paint cup on a brush designed for close-in detail work?)2) The cup is small! I'm not yet sure if this is good or bad? I thought it would be good. It definitely makes it easy to see what you're working on, but it feels like 1/2 a cup of paint is too little, and filling it any more will make it prone to spilling. ...pretty sure it'll be fine unless I'm working on a very large model (I'm working on 25 mm and 28 mm miniatures, very few vehicles or large figures).3) It comes with a cap for the cup. But, because the cup is so small that paint will come in contact with the cap and get in the rim such that when you remove the cap it drips and makes a big mess. Don't use the cap.4) The cutaway in the handle does NOT have an adjustable needle stop (I guess you have to go up to the Sotar 20/20 for that?). The cutaway contains the needle chuck screw, so while I was disappointed there was no needle stop, I'm super pleased with how easy it is to remove the needle and give it a quick wipe every few colour changes, or as part of a full clean after a session, or to check for bends or burrs.5) Cleaning is VERY easy. No tools needed. Very little disassembly required.6) There is a spare nozzle. There is NOT a spare needle. I ordered the "Fine Conversion Kit" (because I thought this brush came with a 0.7 mm) so now I have a spare needle too. That's probably a good thing since there is no needle guard on the head, so bending a needle if you drop or bump the brush is a distinct possibility.Note, while I did say that some of the features are not as expected (or as described on Amazon), I do think this is a great brush, especially for the price. It's also really easy to get parts, and "conversion kits" (which contain needle/nozzle/regulator sets) are only about $15 on Amazon, and those are the bits you'll mostly likely need to replace. (A conversion kit for a Sotar 20/20 is over $50, so the Patriot Arrow is much more economical for a beginner/hobbiest).

I love Badger and wanted the original 105 Patriot, but the arrow was next day. Smaller cup, but still workable. Happily, they sent me the regular Patriot 105. Both are great brushes.

This is a great little airbrush from Badger. This is basically the Patriot 105 airbrush with a smaller cup. Already owning an Extreme Patriot 105, I was able to switch needle /nozzles between the two, because the No 5 needle/nozzle that the Arrow came with is a better match for the 105 with the bigger color cup. I now have the No 3 needle/nozzle on the Arrow. Easy to clean, smart design, American made. I think it's worth mentioning that Badger customer support is excellent. Badger is a family owned business headed by long time owner Ken Schlotfeldt, and they pride themselves on great customer service and product innovation.Absolutely recommended!

I'm getting back into airbrushing after a short 30-year break :) and I decided that I want a dual-action to start with. I'm doing N scale model trains, very small work, so a small paint cup is fine. This brush has done a decent job for me so far, and I suspect I'll add a few more paintbrushes to my arsenal but this one should be able to hold its own.I chose Badger primarily because they're made in the USA. I have a lot of train stuff made in China and other countries, of course, but if I can find an American-made product at a reasonable price I'll always prefer that. The 105 is a popular model, and this particular variant has the small paint cup for "Close detail" work.Cleaning the brush is... well, it's easier with acrylic paint than with lacquer, that's for sure! But it's still a process. I've found that I need to allocate a solid 15 minutes to cleaning once I'm done painting, so I make sure that time is budgeted. If you let the brush sit without cleaning.... it's going to be a lot harder to clean!I'm hopeful that as I get more experience with cleaning it I'll cut the time required down to just a few minutes. But overall, it's been doing a good job with painting so far and it's going to be the cornerstone of my painting kit for a while.

So far, so good! Cleaning after each use will be key to keep the air rush from performing flawlessly!

Please read to the end (it has a happy ending)This airbrush arrived and was completely unusable. I thought it had been damaged in shipping so I returned it for a replacement. The replacement arrived and had the same problem, useless, would not work at all. The issue, with both, was that the needle was not seating in the tip like it should. It was also too short. I reached out to the manufacturer, badger Airbrush, and they sent me a replacement needle. Now the airbrush works great and has since become one of my favorite to use. Apparently, according to badger, they had a bad batch of needles that went out to Amazon sellers, mine was one of the effected ones. I have other Badger airbrushes that are all amazing so I was surprised when I received one, or two, that didn't work. Badger made it right and this is definitely an excellent airbrush.

For a first airbrush, this product is built like a tank. It's well-made, easy to take apart & reassemble, and the finishing is clean & tasteful.As for the spray, this is a general purpose sizing - for the needle, and it should serve any basic priming & detailing needs. I've used this for some zenithal highlighting for primers (black & white) using miniatures, and it's very nice.I would recommend, and this is the best pricing I've found online - ~$70-$85 depending on the seller. At that price, it's a definite deal!!!