Badger Patriot 105-1 Fine Gravity Airbrush

Let me start by saying I love badger airbrushes. I own 9 badgers and will buy another sotar soon. My patriot 105’s are the workhorse and they do it all well. I can throw in a .7 conversion kit pretty cheaply and paint the really thick stuff, use the supplied .5 for general purpose and throw in a .3 conversion for the finer stuff. It’s an extremely versatile ab. I really like the atomization and the trigger response of badgers. That’s the good stuff. Now let me tell you about the not so good.
Since the plandemic, I have purchased 5 badgers. Every one of them has had issues out of the sealed badger box. Either they had missing parts or damaged parts from Badger that did not occur during shipment. No, I am not talking about a bent needle that I can straighten. Badger is hard to reach on the phone. They don’t respond well to emails, and you will more than likely have to leave a message. They will call you back after several days. With that said, once you have a live person on the phone, they will help you sort things out and send you replacement parts. I would not recommend badger to a beginner unless you are willing to learn proper oiling and maintenance like beeswax on the head. Badgers will leak air at the head unless addressed. They also require more oil than my japanese ab’s which have always been great out of the box with no issues. Badger qc and pride in their manufacturing takes a very distant second to the japanese brands. The roughly finished paint cups causes more paint to stick inside the cup and makes for harder cleaning. Fixing air leaks and replacing damaged parts from the brand new badger ab has become common with me now. You may be thinking that you get what you pay for. Not really, gsi creos is actually less expensive now than badgers. Gsi creos will probably come to you in perfect working order and no issues. Badger manufacturing and qc has gone way down in recent years. If you are willing to sort through these headaches you can certainly have an ab that can perform with the best of them. Another thing good about Badger is the cost of parts is much less expensive than the japanese ab’s. They are also more readily available. That’s a good thing because you will need more of them. Still, when i have a Badger ab sorted out, it performs great. They just require more attention than their japanese competitors. With a japanese 75-80 dollar ab, you will marvel at the fit, finish, and quality control. It will also perform well out of the box. With a badger, you will be stunned by the mediocre fit, finish and lack of quality control. I will continue to use and enjoy Badgers but I have come to realize it’s more than likely going to initially be a headache right out of the box.

Great brush. Parts are also very well priced and available. Best value in airbrushes. Badger responds to customers and will stand by their products. Try that with most chinese ab.

Im a model car builder, and this this is perfect for me. Sprays beautifully and is very easy to clean because of the nozzle design. This is the second one I bought because my first one is now just being used for 2k clears on my models with the .7 needle combination. This one is perfect for badger primer and the Laquer base that I use. So good, I bought 2.

This feels like a solid tool. This is my first air brush and was heavily recommended. It feels easy to work with and does it's job smoothly. I've done a lot of research on how to keep it clean and cared for and my experience so far has been great.

I have to say this is my favorite airbrush to use. I first purchased it just for primer applications, but it sprays everything very well. I have an Iowata HP-CS, and a Creos 289, but find myself always reaching for the Patriot 105.