Karl Hoy provides a review of the new airbrush from Badger, the Renegade Krome.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

James,

I have one of these (actually, I wound up with a few Renegades!) and it is, for me, the finest airbrush I've owned.

I've always preferred Thayer and Chandler airbrushes. I owned a model C and a model 100. They finally came out with the Vega, which was revolutionary! I purchased one of the first ones with the screw-style jars (as opposed to the friction fit.) After that, they came out with the Omni airbrush. Then they were bought by Badger.

The Krome is patterned off the Omni airbrush. It has very similar parts, but a better needle chuck that couples the air valve (the trigger.) As opposed to the Velocity, which has a round-bottomed cup, this one is tapered. It also has the Renegade-style tips with a teflon bushing to guide the needle to the center of the tip.

I purchased a Renegade Velocity when they first came out and I could paint 1/35 figures, shade their faces, with that airbrush! It WILL paint down to a hairline.

I purchased mine through MidTenn Hobbies. I understand they were resonsible for the airbrush. It has a little dial on the needle regualtor so you can remember what setting you set the needle stop at. You can use the cap with the two prongs (which protect the needle) or it includes the regular cap which allows you to get up close. You have to be mindful of the needle with this cap.

The Krome includes the Velocity needle and tip, and the Rage needle and tip, which is a little larger. You cannot dowse a model down with this airbrush, it is definitely for detail work! But I couldn't believe the control and fine lines I got with it.

You can get these for just over $100, it's a better buy than an Iwata, and it comes in a cool case!

My opinion, hope someone else has tried one!

Bill B.

Thanks for another thumbs up on this brush, Bill. After reading Karl's excellent review I've been seriously considering picking one of these up. A couple of items concern me though, one is replacing the packing nut. On a previous Badger brush I've owned, that was either highly recommended or required (can't remember which) that the brush be sent back to the factory to replace the packing nut. Granted, it's rare that these really need to be replaced under normal conditions, but it just bothered me that it wasn't user serviceable.

The other concern is how tiny the tip is, I can see myself losing that (although it's probably no smaller than the Tamiya Superfine tip).

Again, thanks Bill.
And thanks Karl for another fine and very informative review!

Having just had my eyes opened to the benefit of the gravity fed airbrush I have taken interest in this review, and like James the part held on with a magnet bothers me as I am not the tidiest modellor in the world, and it does sound as if the carpet monster will love this airbrush.

Hey guys, thanks for taking a look at this, much appreciated.

The nozzle tip is very small and it is easy to knock off but only when fully exposed. You can remove the paint tip for cleaning without removing the hold down ring, which will keep it in place. The only time you'll really need to remove the hold down ring is when you are giving it a very thorough clean or changing needles. Having said that I've dropped mine several times and found it. In any case spares for Badger's are easy to find and quite well priced so I now have two nozzle tips just in case. My advice though is when removing the nozzle to do so leaning over a table/model bench, close to the table surface with a paper towel directly beneath.

Once the nozzle is actually off its no easier to loose than one that has been screwed off.

Another part of this that concerns me is how easily that part could be damaged.

Not that hard to break a nozzle really. I did it with my Iwata- dropped it and it landed right on the nozzle, denting it slightly but ruining paint delivery. You just gotta be careful with wee bits like that I guess.

Karl I did damage that part on one of my Badger airbrushes, and I don't know how I did it to this day. I am sure this is a very good brush and the inclusion of an extra spray asembly for other purposes is a big plus in its favour. Due to how easy it would appear to be to damage that part it seems odd to me to leave it free as such and I would rather have a secure fitting, but that said this airbrush is still worth of consideration.