Not sure which of the forums I'm on will have the most airbrush guru's, but since some of you use them when detailing customs, lets give it a shot! I inherited a few Airbrush's with my Dad's old leather tools, and have picked up a couple myself over the years. He had them from back in his Hollywood days doing props and special effects. He often was given antique leather goods that he had to make 3 to 10 copies of so they didn't destroy the original, and an airbrush was one of the tools he would use to detail stuff with paints and dyes to make it look authentic (I find that whole industry fascinating, as those craftsmen will regularly make convincing works of art that are often destroyed during or post filming). We've also used them detailing other projects over the years, and even for touch-up paint on equipment. He mainly used Badger 150 airbrush's, as well as a couple of imports (same design as the Badgers). I've also got a couple Binks Wren brush's that I like. While I'm sorting stuff out I'm thinking I'll pass the import airbrush's on to a couple of his more artistic grandkids to practice with. They were mainly used with the shops air supply and a regulator, so I'm going to get a couple little hobby compressors to run them with. So, first question: Does anyone have experience with the hand-held airbrush compressors, like pictured below? Will typical airbrush's thread onto them, or do they use their own thread size? It seems like a bulky, but simple wireless way to go, but if it won't work with the sentimental brush's I'll just get a typical 110v compressor. 2nd Question: Dad also ended up with kind of a rare bird. It's a Binks Raven airbrush, which is already one of the higher-end vintage airbrush's, but on top of that he bought it from a Ron Gress who did background scenery and modeling and apparently developed an attachment for it that Binks produced, the Chameleon 59-250 system. You can load it with 9 or so different paints and change them on the fly, like painting off of an artists pallet instead of out of a single paint jar. I can't find ANY info on this system online, other than an ad for it and some obituary entries for it's creator. I contacted Binks, who sent my case to a local Binks dealer, who unfortunately was more interested in trying to sell me new guns than helping me find any information. I'd love to find a manual for it or any other documentation related to it's existence. I plan to clean it up and test it out, but I expect that it'll require some diligent cleaning. I think if you were airbrushing multiple colors at once though (like those Hollywood guys), it wouldn't be any more cleaning than having 9 different airbrushes loaded up to use. And last Question: One of My Binks Wren's is missing some pieces. I've got most of it on order, but one piece is apparently no longer available. It's part 59-20, which they're calling a "Wren Gun Housing", but it's a round air fitting that fits into the bottom of the gun. Is buying a more complete gun or a parts gun the only way to find this piece, or does anyone know of an airbrush supply shop that might have some parts for sale? The gun in question is the "A" size for fine work. I use a "B" size for most stuff but am hoping to put the old "A" back in service. The "A" and "C" sizes are discontinued, but you can still buy the "B" some places for $300-$400, which is crazy as used ones pop up for $20-$60. I'm just stubborn wanting to fix what I've got rather than replace it.
A couple updates: I bought one of the hand held compressors like the blue one in the first post, but without the spray gun. The threads on top were not "standard" in that they did not match any NPT or metric threads or any of the proprietary hose threads, but I was able to turn down and re-thread a fitting to be an adapter and now the M5 thread hoses like Badger uses will fit it. My daughter has it now to play with along with a couple of my Dad's old Badger 150 clones. I also ended up buying another Binks Wren for parts. It was cheap enough for me to swallow my OCD and now I've got a complete Wren 'A' and some extra pieces. Still hoping to find more info on the Binks Chameleon. I downloaded the patent for it, but still no info on who used them, why, when, etc.
Fascinating stuff. You have a lot more info than I can help with, but saw this post had over 300 views without a comment and only 4 likes. You might reach out to movie FX artists and see if any can help you out. I'd guess there are various companies who have a talent pools on call. You will probably get more offers to buy (for pennies) than info, but you might get lucky.
I have nothing of value to add, but thanks for the interesting history lesson. I've just been bouncing between various regular Badger models for the past thirty years or so. I love my 150's.
I'll jump in here. Unlike you, I'm not a coinsurer of airbrushes...but just consider them another tool. I've spent my entire life using just Badger "double action" airbrushes and Craftsman small airbrush compressors. The hard part isn't finding the "right" airbrush, it's the years of learning the art and tricks of using one. Good luck with your endeavor. 12 foot mural for a local business. A couple of flame jobs I did with airbrush "fade" detailing.
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