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I just bought and returned a badger 105. It was my first airbrush and I didn't like how for the first 1/3rd of the pull there's no paint, then suddenly all the paint. The best way to describe it is it felt like my car where 1st through 3rd gear are only used for about 3 inches of driving then you jump to 4th. I found some mentions of this being a common issue due to a double taper on the needle. Outside of that one issue and the unit I got coming with the head basically welded on and impossible to remove for cleaning, I really liked the build quality and the weight distribution.
I'm looking for help figuring out what to get instead. I know reviews are all over the place but frankly most of them say no brainer things like "it's dual action and gravity feed." Which is kinda useless and obvious. The rest either start with "this was sent to me free" or ambiguous brand loyalty like "badger is the best" "no iwata is the best." Neither of which are actually saying anything.
So after that overly long intro, since I did like the construction, and I do like knowing I can ship it locally for service are there any badger brushes that aren't so on/off with flow due to the needle geometry? Or other brushes in that price range that are a good first buy with a long life span? (Between $100 - $150)

My uses are wanting to learn airbrushing on a new tyranid army so lots of organic blending and shading. My main wants are paint flow that's linear and begins, albit lightly, as soon as I pull back. Not too finicky since I'm a beginner and don't want to have to do repairs and tweaks more than actually painting.

Currently I'm looking at a Krome or renegade velocity and wondering if it has the same issue of no paint until the trigger is most of the way back.

*also I know the problem isn't paint thinning because I tested it with straight water and still don't get any material until the trigger is most of the way back.

What you are describing with your 105 is not normal and shouldn't have been happening. Regardless, the Krome is a great airbrush and it's been my go-to brush for over five years.

Got Krome myself just to replace my first cheap airbrush(Well that can still be used to basecoat first layer for larger areas as it has bigger hole). Haven't used yet much but so far I like it. Just need to improve my skills for something more than just base coating.

The krome is a good brush to learn on.

You WON'T get a non-biased recommendation about airbrushes, because which one is best for you is a very personal choice.

ALL airbrushes have their own idiosyncracies. Even two otherwise identical brushes from the same maker. Also what works for someone else, may not necessarily work for you.

Me, I'm still using a venerable Paasche NK double action brush I've had for over 20 years. That said, it's also only one of my brushes (I've got a VL I use for terrain. It's a DA syphon feed and the larger reservoir is something you need for terran more than individual 28mm models.).

 chromedog wrote:
The krome is a good brush to learn on.

You WON'T get a non-biased recommendation about airbrushes, because which one is best for you is a very personal choice.

ALL airbrushes have their own idiosyncracies. Even two otherwise identical brushes from the same maker. Also what works for someone else, may not necessarily work for you.

Me, I'm still using a venerable Paasche NK double action brush I've had for over 20 years. That said, it's also only one of my brushes (I've got a VL I use for terrain. It's a DA syphon feed and the larger reservoir is something you need for terran more than individual 28mm models.).

That's what I meant by unbias. I'm not looking for " Tell me the best airbrush." I'm looking for differences. Basically every review is either saying how good a brush is with no reasons or how to disassemble it. Almost none comment on a brushes particularities or how it handles. Like you said personal preference is key, but if reviews talked more about how they each handle and operator differences the reader could assess if that fits their preferences more than something else.

Like I know after trying 2 different airbrushes for even just a few minutes could tell what I prefer is a brush that has very little to no lead up on the trigger before paint is applied and prefer a linear feel rather than stepped. I've just go no idea which brushes have which because all I can find is "this good, this brand the best." Lol

Yeah good luck finding objective reviews of airbrushes, they just don't happen Most people don't even know what objectively makes one airbrush different to another, they can just tell you "feels good to me". At best you might get a "is good for XXXX task" without them telling you why

As for your problem with the 105, I have never used the 105 but one of my airbrushes is dual taper and it didn't have the problem you describe, you sure the nozzle wasn't flared and thus the needle seating too far in to it? Or maybe not completely clean so that the needle had to move further back to allow paint to flow? Or maybe your paint being too thick?

Or maybe the dual taper on the badger is just so aggressive that it does feel like an on/off switch, I dunno, haven't used one.

I actually prefer the trigger behaviour of my dual taper brush because it seems to have a faster rise in flow rate, because acrylic paint is so prone to tip dry when I'm doing fine detail stuff with my other brush, which is single taper, I find it more prone to getting a bit of paint build up on the tip before I reach the actual working paint flow rate.

There's no such thing as a non-biased opinion.

That said, I own a Krome and I rarely use it. It's a solid airbrush, but the front has parts that are too fiddly and tiny for my liking (as are most airbrushes). If you look closely at the front of a disassembled Krome, you'll also notice that the seat for the nozzle is proud of the front of the airbrush. This drives me nuts because I prefer to clean the body of my airbrush by standing it on end (nozzle side down) in an ultrasonic cleaner.

My workhorse airbrush is an Iwata Eclipse. The nozzle is a much larger part, so it's less likely to vanish during cleaning and is less fiddly to handle in general. The front of the airbrush is flat, so it sits well in the ultrasonic cleaner (which gets paint out of every crevice without damaging the finish on the airbrush). Parts are also available locally from Hobby Lobby. Given that they routinely have a 40% off coupon, accidentally damaging an airbrush needle is a quick and cheap fix when compared to the Krome.

Don't get me wrong, the Krome is a quality product and Badger's customer service is legendary. In my opinion, however, the Eclipse is simply a more user-friendly design and it's an absolute joy to use.