Thread: Your Thoughts On The Harder & Steenbeck Evolution X Solo

Just wondered if any of you guys have used the Harder & Steenbeck airbrushes in general and the Evolution X Solo in particular, and what your thoughts are of them are compared to say the Badger 150.

Thanks,

Steve

I've used a Colani, and I own and use an Infinity, both spray nicely, however the Colani was so small it was cumbersome for me to use. I have big hands.

The Infinity sprays nicely, and it gives you a wide variety of needle and nozzle size options, from .15mm up to 0.6mm and maybe larger. It is a gravity feed brush with remarkable detail capability, and for the most part it seems to be well made. It has some neat bells and whistles, however, I would purchase separate needle caps if you want to be able to switch out the styles. Their crowns snap onto the needle cap itself, and allow it (the crown) to swivel to the desired angle. But the snapping on and off of the crowns is a pain, and it makes them looser and looser as time goes on.
The price for parts is nice, I can get replacement needles and nozzles for a whole lot less than I can for my Microns. I purchased mine because it looked like a good alternative to the excessive costs on parts for Micron replacements.
I only use my Infinity for doing fine detail, so it doesn't get switched out to other sizes.

I have had an Evolution Two in one bought it from Obeeliks years before you could by them in the States. Mine is the gravity feed version . The Evolution very well made; love the trigger feel and design. It sprays well and is very easy to clean and maintain. The handle has orings which will not stand up to solvents if your using Urethanes or Lacquers although the airbrush will spray those paints fine. The orings are a visual thing. It uses the same hose fitting as Iwata, olympos. I would rate it as a much better airbrush then the Badger 150.

The problem for you is that it probably makes more sense to go with the Evolution just because the cost of Badger airbrushes are more than double of what we pay for them in the states.
john

Meerkat, what kind of work are you looking at doing with the Badger or the H&S Evolution?
For many of us when we were learning or early on in our painting careers, we bought something similar to what we had or learned on or used rather than than stopping to see what it was we actually needed the brush(es) to do. For some of us that was a very costly mistake, both financially and usability wise. The same kinds of mistakes were made when people bought the big brand name or model because "It's what everybody uses." or "It looks really cool.".
I had a student about 10 or 12 years back who came into the first day of class with a Micron A model, and proceded to learn to hate the brush over the next several weeks. He asked for an airbrush for Christmas, and told his parents the brush he wanted, and that's what they bought him. He went to the art supply store, and picked the most expensive brush on display, he thought it looked cool, and figured he couldn't go wrong. He wanted to do textile (T-shirts, etc.) and murals, and found that that brush was a pain to learn on, difficult if not impossible to use with the heavy paints, and it wouldn't do the area coverage he wanted or needed when he finally got it to spray paint. He didn't even think about the cost on replacement parts, and in the first week of owning it, he lost the fluid nozzle and trashed the needle.
His parents were not happy with his choice of brushes.