Badger Universal 360 Airbrush

Badger airbrushes have been around for quite some time, and I would be willing to bet that a great number of modelers got their first airbrush experience with a Badger airbrush. Like other companies, Badger has not rested on its past achievements, though, and they have continued to explore new avenues in the airbrush world. Their latest innovation is the Universal 360 airbrush. No other airbrush has the unique feature that the Universal 360 has: a rotating front head that switches from a cup to siphon feed. This feature allows you to spray large amounts of paint from a jar, or just a little bit for touchup work. A simple twist of the front switches from one to the other. In speaking with the people at Badger, this joint has been exhaustively tested and is easily as durable as the rest of the airbrush, with no need for user intervention.

Okay, so the airbrush has this neat feature. It means nothing if it doesn’t paint well, right? So I filled up the paint jar and ran it through its paces. The Universal 360 is a double-action airbrush with a well-balanced feel, both with the jar and without. The trigger has a nice spring to it, and although the button itself is small, there is a rubber head that is contoured to fit your finger nicely. My first test was to lay down a solid color, and this brush put out a fine mist of paint that covered very well. The large jar is ideal for those big projects, or for primer duty.

With a solid base coat down, it was time to try the top feed option. I rotated the front piece, mixed up a bit of paint, and tried some fine lines. As a precision brush this does quite well, and I was able to hold a line fairly well right off the bat. I had no problem freehanding a 1/72 camouflage, and for larger scales it will work even better.

With the initial test run over, I broke the airbrush down for cleaning. This was surprisingly easy to do, and the dual feed mechanism had no problems in cleaning. The needle has a large ball on the end, allowing for an easy grab while it’s on the table. The tip removes easily as well, giving access to the cone for better cleaning. Once the bits and pieces were wiped down, the airbrush went back together quickly, and I had everything done and finished in only a couple of minutes.

Overall, this is a solid airbrush with lots of potential. The dual feed means that you can use one brush for a wide range of subjects, easily spraying primer on that 1/24 Mustang and freehanding Luftwaffe mottling in 1/72. My thanks to Badger for the review copy.