So I'm moving house on Monday and whilst I have only just started this blog, I've been religiously posting as much as I can. Obviously with this impending move the frequency of posts will be effected a little. Especially as I will not have any internet at home for about a week. I'm going to try and conclude my airbrush tutorials on here by at the latest this Sunday. After that I will be busy for awhile and will try to get another post out to you within a week after that.
Also Happy Thanks Giving to all my American friends, I hope you have a great day.
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Sunday, 24 November 2013
A New Army and a Fresh Start, Matching Colour schemes.
A new army, a fresh start and matching colour schemes.
This post really is just about how we can paint our armies and have them look like they belong together on the table.
One thing that I often see with armies is a mix and match of colour schemes. Different hues of colour where one units chosen colour just doesn't match another. I think you guys know what I mean. The Ultramarines armies we've all seen with one dark blue squad and a lighter blue squad next to it. They just don't match, the basing is usually different and I think it lends an untidy appearance to an army.
If you want to have a good looking army that's cohesive in its colour scheme then you need to work out your colour scheme "recipe".What I mean by this is once you've decided on your next army and you've painted your trial model (we all do this right ?) then we need to write down and keep safe a list of paints we've used. You could as I do and separate the colours you have used from the rest of your collection and keep them together. For example the paints I am using for my Iyanden army are all kept in a plastic tupperware box. In that box is my recipe.
Of course you may need to use these paints on another project, no problem. Because you've written down what your recipe is you can happily grab what ever you want without the worry of forgetting which "red" or whatever colour it was you used as your highlight.
I speak from experience. As many of you know, this years project for me has been an Iyanden army. As like me many of you have busy lives, it can be days or weeks before you get another chance to paint. This summer was exactly the case for me. I hadn't painted for quite some time and decided to paint some Wraithguard. Grabbed my paints and started. I didn't check my recipe and just got stuck in.
It wasn't until after I had finished painting, and put these guys along side the rest of my army that I realised they were a different shade of yellow and really didn't match the rest of my army, Was it the end of the world ? No. Was I disappointed ? Yes.
What I realised I had done was I had used the wrong red/brown pre shade colour. This basically changed the colour of the yellow going over the top enough that it was noticeable. I should have used "Red Clay" I used "Blood Stained Mud" instead.
Here's a picture of the two different units.
I usually write everything down in my hobby diary and I encourage you guys and girls to do the same. I use it for getting my ideas and plans down on paper, keeping a track of my progress and making lists of recipes, techniques and just general reminders of what I use on each army I'm painting. Even how I do my bases and the materials used on those. It all goes in.
I know there are some armies that are a bit more flexible in paint schemes, Eldar as one example with all those Aspect Warriors. But guess what I would keep a note for each and every colour scheme used for those as well. You may start off with five Warps Spiders, but if you wanted 5 more 3 months later, well with your notes you know you will be able to get them to match.
There are other areas I don't think this is so important, Flesh tones is one area I just go with the flow really. We all have very different skin colouring and I think the same would be said of the various races that inhabit the galaxy of 40k. Not just humans either but Orks, Eldar, and Tau would all have various shades of skin tone in their races. Tyranids not so much and Necrons really benefit from looking as uniform as possible.
Some of us who are so dedicated to one army (not me) that they have been adding to it for many many years will say that their painting skills and styles have changed quite a bit since they began. That's great and it's nice to see how we improve over time, but stick to your recipe of colours and even if the painting styles changed you will still have that cohesive look that benefits any collection.
Here's some pictures of a Salamanders army I painted a couple years ago, this will show what I'm talking about. It was painted during the time I was just getting into airbrushing and so I went from blending to airbrushing. But I stuck to the same colours for the armour and it helped them look like they belonged together. I did play about with the thunder hammers, power weapons and eye lenses but for the most part they looked nice when I played them. Looking back had I stuck to a detailed recipe they would have looked so much better.
Obviously fingers crossed GW won't decide to throw a spanner in the works and completely change it's range again for some time.
So when you next embark on your new army, please keep this in mind and either give it a go and be pleased with your results or just mix it up throw caution to the wind, use all the colours of the spectrum and ignore my rather OCD approach to painting.
Cheers
Joey.
This post really is just about how we can paint our armies and have them look like they belong together on the table.
One thing that I often see with armies is a mix and match of colour schemes. Different hues of colour where one units chosen colour just doesn't match another. I think you guys know what I mean. The Ultramarines armies we've all seen with one dark blue squad and a lighter blue squad next to it. They just don't match, the basing is usually different and I think it lends an untidy appearance to an army.
If you want to have a good looking army that's cohesive in its colour scheme then you need to work out your colour scheme "recipe".What I mean by this is once you've decided on your next army and you've painted your trial model (we all do this right ?) then we need to write down and keep safe a list of paints we've used. You could as I do and separate the colours you have used from the rest of your collection and keep them together. For example the paints I am using for my Iyanden army are all kept in a plastic tupperware box. In that box is my recipe.
Of course you may need to use these paints on another project, no problem. Because you've written down what your recipe is you can happily grab what ever you want without the worry of forgetting which "red" or whatever colour it was you used as your highlight.
I speak from experience. As many of you know, this years project for me has been an Iyanden army. As like me many of you have busy lives, it can be days or weeks before you get another chance to paint. This summer was exactly the case for me. I hadn't painted for quite some time and decided to paint some Wraithguard. Grabbed my paints and started. I didn't check my recipe and just got stuck in.
It wasn't until after I had finished painting, and put these guys along side the rest of my army that I realised they were a different shade of yellow and really didn't match the rest of my army, Was it the end of the world ? No. Was I disappointed ? Yes.
What I realised I had done was I had used the wrong red/brown pre shade colour. This basically changed the colour of the yellow going over the top enough that it was noticeable. I should have used "Red Clay" I used "Blood Stained Mud" instead.
Here's a picture of the two different units.
I usually write everything down in my hobby diary and I encourage you guys and girls to do the same. I use it for getting my ideas and plans down on paper, keeping a track of my progress and making lists of recipes, techniques and just general reminders of what I use on each army I'm painting. Even how I do my bases and the materials used on those. It all goes in.
I know there are some armies that are a bit more flexible in paint schemes, Eldar as one example with all those Aspect Warriors. But guess what I would keep a note for each and every colour scheme used for those as well. You may start off with five Warps Spiders, but if you wanted 5 more 3 months later, well with your notes you know you will be able to get them to match.
There are other areas I don't think this is so important, Flesh tones is one area I just go with the flow really. We all have very different skin colouring and I think the same would be said of the various races that inhabit the galaxy of 40k. Not just humans either but Orks, Eldar, and Tau would all have various shades of skin tone in their races. Tyranids not so much and Necrons really benefit from looking as uniform as possible.
Some of us who are so dedicated to one army (not me) that they have been adding to it for many many years will say that their painting skills and styles have changed quite a bit since they began. That's great and it's nice to see how we improve over time, but stick to your recipe of colours and even if the painting styles changed you will still have that cohesive look that benefits any collection.
Here's some pictures of a Salamanders army I painted a couple years ago, this will show what I'm talking about. It was painted during the time I was just getting into airbrushing and so I went from blending to airbrushing. But I stuck to the same colours for the armour and it helped them look like they belonged together. I did play about with the thunder hammers, power weapons and eye lenses but for the most part they looked nice when I played them. Looking back had I stuck to a detailed recipe they would have looked so much better.
Obviously fingers crossed GW won't decide to throw a spanner in the works and completely change it's range again for some time.
So when you next embark on your new army, please keep this in mind and either give it a go and be pleased with your results or just mix it up throw caution to the wind, use all the colours of the spectrum and ignore my rather OCD approach to painting.
Cheers
Joey.
Getting into Airbrushing Part 7. Airbrushing Infantry.
Airbrushing Infantry.
I was going to get into cleaning an airbrush next but I have just had this question sent to me via PM. I thought it would be good to share with you guys how I airbrush infantry models and answer the question at the same time. Here's the question and my reply.
Hello!
I have been following your airbrushing tutorial with more than a little interest. I bought an airbrush a couple years ago (Badger I think?) but then burned out before I got a chance to start trying it.
I have been an Eldar player since 91ish and seeing someone airbrushing Eldar has given me a bit of a spark again because I have LOTS of unpainted models hehe...
So I guess my question is this, have you airbrushed the infantry at all? How does that work? I definitely want to use it on my new Wraithknight, Crimson Hunter, and my plethora of Serpents and Fire Prisms that I never painted.. but I have lots of unpainted foot troops also and was wondering how I might be able to "catch up".
My answer is this.
It sounds like you have a little experience with you airbrush but your just a little rusty. Painting foot troops is not different than painting tanks really, it's just a bit more fiddly. I've painted space marines of all sorts of chapters with my airbrush and I have recently just painted my Iyanden Wraithguard with my airbrush too. It's not too difficult at all.
Using my Wraithguard as an example. I used a similar technique to how I painted my Waveserpants. 1st you need to decide if your going to fully build your guys or gals 1st or if like these models the helmets a different colour then it's best to paint those separately.
With marines I usually leave off shoulder pads, guns and heads as these are usually different colours. If not then leave them on.
If your models are fully assembled then it's no big deal, but your really better off painting the bits that are different colours by hand.
I follow these basic rules when airbrushing anything, infantry is no different.
1. What colours going to be the dominant colour your painting. Once you decide this you then want to pick a darker shade as your preshade. It can be a different darker colour but personally I go for a darker shade.
2. Grab your model and if it's already based, blu-tac the base to a cork or if it's not then you can blu-tac the feet of the model to the cork instead. I sometimes go with this second method as I usually airbrush my bases separately.
3. If your painting a lighter coloured model then your best priming in light grey or white, I prefer light grey. However if your painting a dark model like a Dark Angel then prime in black and forget about any pre shading. You won't need to (kind of).
4a If you've primed in grey or white, now it's pre shading time. In this case my Iyanden are pre-shaded using Minitaires bloodstained mud. Try and be careful and paint anywhere you think would be darker or in shadow. Between the legs, under armpits, the gap between a back pack and the back of the armour. Anywhere you think your armour should appear darker. It does take a bit of trial and error but keep at it. Then switch to your main colour and paint your model. Once dry you can then go ahead and hand paint any details you need to. Mine looked like this
And once the arms had been painted on corks in the same fashion, the guns painted by hand and attached they ended up like this. Obviously the heads were painted separately then attached.
4b If you've gone for a black undercoat then now you need your pre shading colour, for example if your wanting a deep rich red colour. Prime black, then go for either a darker red than your final colour or even a dark brown. This should be painted using a technique called "Zenithal highlighting"
What this means is your going to spray your next coat of paint down onto the model from above and at an angle which paints most of the model but leaves areas like under the arms and between the legs still dark. This will lighten the upper areas of the model mimicking a light source. The final colour will then be sprayed on once the second colour is dry. You need to paint from an even higher angel above the model leaving some of your "pre-shade in the darker areas.
You will have something looking like this.
Which once finished off being painted by hand will look like this.
This technique works with all colours and even metallics. I use a wash by a company called secret weapon called "soft body black" and I paint this into the recesses of the armour and joints. I don't slap it on but go carefully.
This technique works on all colours. Here is the same technique but with blue.
Just experiment with some duff or old models 1st.
I hope this helps you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will go into shoulder pads, guns and heads and faces at a later date but I hope this gives you some idea on how to tackle airbrushing infantry.
I was going to get into cleaning an airbrush next but I have just had this question sent to me via PM. I thought it would be good to share with you guys how I airbrush infantry models and answer the question at the same time. Here's the question and my reply.
Hello!
I have been following your airbrushing tutorial with more than a little interest. I bought an airbrush a couple years ago (Badger I think?) but then burned out before I got a chance to start trying it.
I have been an Eldar player since 91ish and seeing someone airbrushing Eldar has given me a bit of a spark again because I have LOTS of unpainted models hehe...
So I guess my question is this, have you airbrushed the infantry at all? How does that work? I definitely want to use it on my new Wraithknight, Crimson Hunter, and my plethora of Serpents and Fire Prisms that I never painted.. but I have lots of unpainted foot troops also and was wondering how I might be able to "catch up".
My answer is this.
It sounds like you have a little experience with you airbrush but your just a little rusty. Painting foot troops is not different than painting tanks really, it's just a bit more fiddly. I've painted space marines of all sorts of chapters with my airbrush and I have recently just painted my Iyanden Wraithguard with my airbrush too. It's not too difficult at all.
Using my Wraithguard as an example. I used a similar technique to how I painted my Waveserpants. 1st you need to decide if your going to fully build your guys or gals 1st or if like these models the helmets a different colour then it's best to paint those separately.
With marines I usually leave off shoulder pads, guns and heads as these are usually different colours. If not then leave them on.
If your models are fully assembled then it's no big deal, but your really better off painting the bits that are different colours by hand.
I follow these basic rules when airbrushing anything, infantry is no different.
1. What colours going to be the dominant colour your painting. Once you decide this you then want to pick a darker shade as your preshade. It can be a different darker colour but personally I go for a darker shade.
2. Grab your model and if it's already based, blu-tac the base to a cork or if it's not then you can blu-tac the feet of the model to the cork instead. I sometimes go with this second method as I usually airbrush my bases separately.
3. If your painting a lighter coloured model then your best priming in light grey or white, I prefer light grey. However if your painting a dark model like a Dark Angel then prime in black and forget about any pre shading. You won't need to (kind of).
4a If you've primed in grey or white, now it's pre shading time. In this case my Iyanden are pre-shaded using Minitaires bloodstained mud. Try and be careful and paint anywhere you think would be darker or in shadow. Between the legs, under armpits, the gap between a back pack and the back of the armour. Anywhere you think your armour should appear darker. It does take a bit of trial and error but keep at it. Then switch to your main colour and paint your model. Once dry you can then go ahead and hand paint any details you need to. Mine looked like this
And once the arms had been painted on corks in the same fashion, the guns painted by hand and attached they ended up like this. Obviously the heads were painted separately then attached.
4b If you've gone for a black undercoat then now you need your pre shading colour, for example if your wanting a deep rich red colour. Prime black, then go for either a darker red than your final colour or even a dark brown. This should be painted using a technique called "Zenithal highlighting"
What this means is your going to spray your next coat of paint down onto the model from above and at an angle which paints most of the model but leaves areas like under the arms and between the legs still dark. This will lighten the upper areas of the model mimicking a light source. The final colour will then be sprayed on once the second colour is dry. You need to paint from an even higher angel above the model leaving some of your "pre-shade in the darker areas.
You will have something looking like this.
Which once finished off being painted by hand will look like this.
This technique works with all colours and even metallics. I use a wash by a company called secret weapon called "soft body black" and I paint this into the recesses of the armour and joints. I don't slap it on but go carefully.
This technique works on all colours. Here is the same technique but with blue.
Just experiment with some duff or old models 1st.
I hope this helps you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will go into shoulder pads, guns and heads and faces at a later date but I hope this gives you some idea on how to tackle airbrushing infantry.
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Putting it all together.
If you follow my forthcoming tutorials you can achieve the same level of painting quite easily with your own projects.
When painting this model I used various techniques including,
Zenithal Highlights
OSL
Masking
Pigments / Weathering powders
Oil Washes
Subassembly
There is no technique used on this model that the majority of painters couldn't do. It's just bringing a number of techniques together, having the right materials and tools and a little bit of patience.
As I promised a little while ago, I will be showing hobbyists how to airbrush and paint various space marine chapters. Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Imperial Fists will each get a turn. If any of you guys have a chapter or paint scheme you would like me to have a stab at then you can post your request below or you can find me lurking around the BoLs forums.
http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/forum.php
Getting Started With Airbrushing Part 6. Painting a Model.
Painting a model.
We're going to start off with something large and flat with this. We all know painting tanks is a pain in the bum. Not with an airbrush. Something that could take you hours will take far less time, when you have practiced airbrushing you can do the main bodywork of a tank to a good tabletop standard in minutes. No I'm not joking either.
We're going to be using various colours here so between colour changes, a quick drop or 3 of water into the airbrush, spray onto kitchen towel until clear then add your next colour. Always test on paper 1st to make sure your paints running nice and smoothly. Always give your paints a good shake too.
If you've read my Iyanden painting posts you will have seen these pictures before. I think they are good to demonstrate painting a tank, and also a technique called pre-shading.
You will notice I didn't completely build these wave serpents before painting, sub assembling your models when airbrushing is crucial really and makes life a whole lot easier.
Right then, these 3 Iyanden wave serpents were primed in Vallejo grey airbrush primer. I then grabbed a colour darker than the yellow I would be using to "pre-shade" or paint the areas I wanted to appear, where shadows would be or recesses in the lines of the armour plates. You could use black or dark grey but I felt with yellow a dark brown red would be better. In this case bloodstained earth by Minitaire.
Once that was done, I then grabbed some white paint and airbrushed the areas I wanted to appear slightly lighter. Some of the edges on the top of the wave erpents. "Pre-highlighting" it's subtle but the hulls then looked like this.
Now the yellow, called Craven by Minitaire. Airbrush your paint in smooth even lines all over your tanks surface, don't paint in one place for any length of time or you will get a build up of paint, we don't want that. We want a nice smooth even coat. Imagine your watching car sprayers and how they go back and forth. Do the same with your airbrush. Also keep checking for build up of paint on your needle and occasionally give it a test on some paper. Once you have done some nice even coats you will end up with something like this.
I should add never, never spray over a wet layer of paint, it gets nasty and you will lose you smooth finish. If your in a rush and can't wait for your model to dry between coats, a hair dryer will help speed drying time up. However to be honest airbrush paint usually drys so quickly it won't be an issue for you.
Once your models dry you could start to use masking tape and airbrush templates to create stripes and patterns on your models, masks areas off and have some fun. Don't forget that airbrush over spray though, make sure you cover anywhere you don't want getting contaminated with other colours. I use a low tack masking tape by tamiya. It comes in various widths and won't peel paint of your models. Just make sure the areas your sticking the tape to are completely dry. Have fun with it and see what you can create. I should add as with any painting, if your trying to paint lighter paint over a dark base it will effect your colours. Like painting yellow over blue will get you green etc etc.
Eventually my Waveserpants ended up like this. Still need a little work but here they are 95% done.
I sub assembled all three, painted parts as I went along and then used humbrol clear red to tint the glass. I even masked off the gems and airbrushed those too. All in all from start to finish these 3 took a morning. Sure they aren't golden daemon or anything like that but as gaming pieces they do the job.
Maybe I shouldn't tell you this but I have sold tanks painted to a similar standard on eBay for a £100. Not bad don't you think. Oh and don't ask me for commissions, get airbrushing and you will have cool looking minis too.
Next up, Cleaning and maintaining our Airbrush.
Getting Started with Airbrushing Part 5. Practice with Airbrush.
Let's Paint
Right then all the previous posts have been leading up to this. The fun bit.
Before we start painting we will need to connect the airbrush to your compressor. What ever type you bought it should come with instructions on how to do this. If you can tie your shoes then you can do this. One end of the hose screws onto the compressor, the other to underneath your airbrush.
It will look something like this.
Now sit down at your painting area and lay out you paper in front of you, have some paper towel, cotton buds, water, maybe a brush, airbrush holder or cleaning pot nearby and of course some paint. Stick on your mask and open that window.
Switch on your compressor and you will hear it start to pump air into the tank. Look at the gauge on the top of your compressor and set it to 30 to 25 psi. Wait for the compressor to stop ticking away and your tank is full.
Right then 1st I would flush your airbrush out. It's new and it's best to do this and it takes no time at all. Pour a little bit of water into the airbrush and either spray the water out onto some paper towel, or into your cleaning pot. Once you stop seeing or hearing the water come out, lower your psi to 20ish and grab your paint or primer, give it a good shake then add to your airbrush, 2-3 drops will do.
Grab that paper and practice on it.
Just play with it, draw lines and patterns and see how the airbrush works for you.
Something like this.
If you bought a dual action airbrush you will see the further back you pull the trigger, the more paint will come out and the thicker the lines. We don't want to go mad, less is more. Remember just like normal painting, thinner multiple coats of paint are better than one thick one. Some of the practice numbers and letters on this paper have a "spider" effect around the edges. We don't want this. This is caused usually by having your paint too thin and or water still in the airbrush from the previous clean or flush out. If this happens to you don't worry just spray out the remaining paint in your brush and start again. This is where having paints already premixed for airbrushes is a distinct advantage, they won't be too thin. If you start to notice a splatter effect in your paint, have a quick look at the needle of your airbrush. Your most likely to see a build up of paint. Cotton bud in water, give it a wipe to get rid of the build up and your good to carry on.
As your playing don't be surprised if you hear the compressor come back on again, that's normal. It's just topping up your tank to keep your psi at your set level.
If it switches off entirely then you've been painting for ages and overheated your compressor. Don't worry it will sort itself out. Go make a cup of tea or cup of coffee, have a biscuit and wait for it to cool down. To be honest this rarely happens. But always good to take a break every now and then.
Congratulations, your airbrushing.
Next post were going to actually paint a model :)
Getting Started With Airbrushing Part 4. Painting Area.
Painting Area.
So now I've talked a bit about Airbrushes and the different types available, different air sources and paint choices. I'm now going to talk about where we're going to paint and some of the things that will make our airbrushing that much easier.
1st off if your going to airbrush inside your home, it has to be very close to a window. You need ventilation when airbrushing and please no kiddies or pets nearby when you do. My set up is a desk directly under a window which gives two advantages. Great natural light and ventilation. Never airbrush with the window shut, it's bad for your health. You can buy airbrush booths, with extractors. I don't have one. Open windows good enough for me. Obviously you want to be facing said window.
So we have decided where our painting area will be, what else could we use to make things go easier and safer for us.
1. Paper, this is to test your airbrush on as you paint. Whenever your painting away you will get used to having to give your brush a quick blast on the paper to make sure your paintings flowing nicely out of your brush. I always test my airbrush on paper before painting anything.
2. Airbrush stand or cleaning pot. When your not holding your airbrush, where are you going to put it ? You don't want to just lay it down as any paint still in the airbrush will pour out and make a mess. Some compressors even come with a place to put your airbrush when your not painting. Some don't. Get a stand or even better an airbrush cleaning pot. They look like this.
As you can see you can stick your airbrush securely in the rubber ringed hole nice and safe, and if you need to flush out your airbrush you can use this pot too. Just add water to your airbrush insert your airbrush into the hole and spray out any paint and water before switching colours.
3. Latex Gloves, not really necessary but handy to have. I wear one to hold the piece I'm painting on its cork (see below). Airbrushing does produce overspray and your hand will end up getting paint on it, I call it Goth hand, especially if your painting black. Fortunately the paints we use are easy to wash off but these gloves are good.
4. Cork caps like this
and some blu-tac. I use these to put models on when painting. Use anything really, old paint pots or anything you have to hand. I use these because you can also stick paper clips in them. If your airbrushing say a space marine bolter. You can stick one end of the paper clip in the cork, the other to the bolter and airbrush it without getting your fingers in the way.
I should add that if you embrace airbrushing as I have you will start clipping your smaller model parts like heads and guns out of the sprue thinking about how you can leave it partially attached to some sprue for you to hold whilst painting.
Here's a picture of how I used cork caps to mount my Blood Raven Stern Guard
5. Desk lamp, self explanatory for any miniature painter really.
6. Clean water, to flush out your airbrush when switching colours. Not difficult. Just pour the water into the airbrush, place in your cleaning pot and squirt until clean.
7. Face mask, this is a must. Breathing in all that paint is bad for you. Wear a mask. Plus they look cool and you won't get multicoloured bogies or snot.
Doesn't have to be a fancy one like this, but get one.
8. Cotton buds (q-tips) and paper towel. You will find as you airbrush you will accumulate rather quickly a build up of paint around your needle tip. This can cause paint to splatter onto whatever your painting. Keep an eye on your needle and give it a wipe every now and then to prevent this.
9. Obviously your paint of choice.
Other things like masking tape, airbrush cleaner and lube, patterned templates and more come later. They aren't 100% important to have yet. We're just starting out.
Next post, were going to talk about actually using our airbrush connecting to the compressor and having some fun.
Getting Started with Airbrushing Part 3. Paint.
Paint
Right then I've talked about airbrushes and compressors, next we need to think about our paint options, where we're going to paint and other bits and pieces we could use to make our airbrushing easier and fun. Here I will talk about paint
Now we really can use any of the paints we already use when we paint by hand.
GW paints can work in your airbrush but do need to be thinned. The problem I have found with GW paints is the pot and getting the paint from the pot into the airbrush. It's messy and a pain in the bum. I have seen some tip paint from the GW pots straight into the airbrush, add water (50/50) mix with a brush and start painting. Didn't work for me. If you insist on using GW paints I would buy some of these
You can add the paint into these dropper bottles, add your thinner (water or even a proper airbrush thinner) mix it in the bottle and the squirt your paint into your airbrush. Mess free and ready to go. You can even make enough to last some time and if your mixing your own colours this is a great way to do that too. I bought mine off of eBay and they are very cheap.
But there are 2 brands of paint I really like for airbrushing. Vallejo Model Air and Minitaire by Badger. Both are ready to go straight into your airbrush and don't require any thinning. They also come in dropper style bottles which is an even bigger bonus.
The Vallejo model air
This is really geared towards the scale modeller. The colours reflect this and so if your looking for bright purples or really vivid colours you won't find them in this range. Realism is what you get with this range of paints. I would think for an Imperial Guard player they would be fantastic. Some space marine chapters like Raptors or any of the black armoured chapters could be painted with this range very well. I should also add that if your looking for metallic airbrush paints, these are the very best. Very fine paint. Here's a chart of the colours available
Badgers Minitaire paints.
This range is quite new and again come in dropper bottles. I think I discovered them around march time and they are really very good. Geared more towards the fantasy / sci if market this is where you will find some very bold colours. The names are really fun too. Bloodstained mud as an example. I really enjoy these paints and they fill a gap Vallejo's model air paints can't. Bright yellows, purples, reds and blues. Really any colour you could need is here. I don't rate their metallics though. The Vallejo ones are far better. But generally these are the paints I use primarily and the Vallejo model air paints are my back up paints.
Minitaire also do "Ghost" paints and these are a bit different than standard paint. Ghost paints are also referred to as "Candy" paints. We don't use these in the normal way for painting models and I will cover these in a later post as they really deserve their own section.
Here's the Minitaire chart
So that's paint, if your thinking of using GW paints then you will need to thin them, people say "consistency of milk" but I found that rather confusing. I found 50/50 is usually good enough as long as your paint hasn't begun to dry out. Don't mess about with old paint though, you will curse yourself silly after you clog your airbrush up and have to strip and clean it.
Last but not least we need primer. If you have an airbrush, why bother with expensive cans of paint, Vallejo airbrush primer is fantastic, I use white, black and grey. It's about £10 a bottle on eBay and I have managed to prime 4000 pts of Necrons and 2000 pts of eldar without going halfway though the bottle.
I repeat what I said before though, if your priming with an airbrush, up your psi a bit (30 is what I use) and remember you don't have to absolutely flood the model with the primer, a light coat is good enough for your paint to adhere to.
Any questions on paint don't be afraid to ask here on here.
I will cover our painting area next and some safety tips we should all follow.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Getting Started with Airbrushing Part 2. Compressors.
AIR SOURCES.
Right then let's talk about our compressed air supply. There's quite a number of ways of getting air into your airbrush. Canned pressurised air is one option, Badger do various sized cans and whilst starting out to begin with this option may look cheaper than buying a compressor, it's not. When you start out airbrushing and really start enjoying the results your getting, what can be worse than running out of air. This will happen if your using canned air. And if your planning on doing lots of airbrushing (it's addictive) you will spend a lot of cash on canned air. Don't do it.
Other options I have heard of are air tanks and even air filled tyres, I don't know about you guys but me that all sounds like a pain in the bum. If your really serious about airbrushing get a compressor.
This is a pic of an Airbrush starter kit from eBay, it's what I started with and cost me about £65. With that I got a compressor with a tank and 2 airbrushes and all the air hoses I would need. Not the best brushes in the world but good enough to start with. Ones a gravity feed and ones a bottle feed, both are dual action.
Now be careful when choosing a compressor. You want one like this that has a tank, the reason being you will have a steady stream of air coming though your brush. What happens when you turn on the compressor is that it will fill the tank with air. As you use your brush and the pressure starts to drop your compressor will kick in and start adding air to the tank. Giving you uninterrupted painting with a constant flow of air. If you buy a compressor without a tank your airbrush will "pulse" as the air pressure drops and rises as you paint. I'm sure you can imagine the problems this can cause with painting.
Another thing to note is that with too much use, compressors can overheat. When they do they will switch themselves off. The 1st time this happened to me I thought I'd broken my compressor. 5 minutes of cool down time I was ready to go again. "Phew". So if this happens to you don't worry just be warned that your compressor needs a rest. Also take care it will be very hot to the touch.
All compressors (that we should be using) will come with a pressure valve, this is where we adjust our PSI. The higher the PSI, the more high pressured air and paint will come out of your airbrush, too high and you will explode paint everywhere you don't want it, too low and the paint will pool on your models and may even run. 20psi is good to start with, but play about with it to see what suits you.
So basically my advice when starting to airbrush is to get a kit like this one. It's cheaper than a wraithknight and you will be well on the road to getting started.
Next post I will cover setting up your painting area, paints and some safety tips. Talking of safety do please make sure when airbrushing your in a well ventilating area and your wearing a mask. I will cover this too in my next post.
TTFN.
Right then let's talk about our compressed air supply. There's quite a number of ways of getting air into your airbrush. Canned pressurised air is one option, Badger do various sized cans and whilst starting out to begin with this option may look cheaper than buying a compressor, it's not. When you start out airbrushing and really start enjoying the results your getting, what can be worse than running out of air. This will happen if your using canned air. And if your planning on doing lots of airbrushing (it's addictive) you will spend a lot of cash on canned air. Don't do it.
Other options I have heard of are air tanks and even air filled tyres, I don't know about you guys but me that all sounds like a pain in the bum. If your really serious about airbrushing get a compressor.
This is a pic of an Airbrush starter kit from eBay, it's what I started with and cost me about £65. With that I got a compressor with a tank and 2 airbrushes and all the air hoses I would need. Not the best brushes in the world but good enough to start with. Ones a gravity feed and ones a bottle feed, both are dual action.
Now be careful when choosing a compressor. You want one like this that has a tank, the reason being you will have a steady stream of air coming though your brush. What happens when you turn on the compressor is that it will fill the tank with air. As you use your brush and the pressure starts to drop your compressor will kick in and start adding air to the tank. Giving you uninterrupted painting with a constant flow of air. If you buy a compressor without a tank your airbrush will "pulse" as the air pressure drops and rises as you paint. I'm sure you can imagine the problems this can cause with painting.
Another thing to note is that with too much use, compressors can overheat. When they do they will switch themselves off. The 1st time this happened to me I thought I'd broken my compressor. 5 minutes of cool down time I was ready to go again. "Phew". So if this happens to you don't worry just be warned that your compressor needs a rest. Also take care it will be very hot to the touch.
All compressors (that we should be using) will come with a pressure valve, this is where we adjust our PSI. The higher the PSI, the more high pressured air and paint will come out of your airbrush, too high and you will explode paint everywhere you don't want it, too low and the paint will pool on your models and may even run. 20psi is good to start with, but play about with it to see what suits you.
So basically my advice when starting to airbrush is to get a kit like this one. It's cheaper than a wraithknight and you will be well on the road to getting started.
Next post I will cover setting up your painting area, paints and some safety tips. Talking of safety do please make sure when airbrushing your in a well ventilating area and your wearing a mask. I will cover this too in my next post.
TTFN.
Getting Started with Airbrushing Part 1. Airbrushes
Some of you may know me as Deadlift over on the fantastic site, Bells of the Lost Souls. I originally wrote this series of articles to help my friends on the forums. It then made it to the front page and I guess this gave me the kick to actually start a blog. Here's the 1st part.
With this series I'm going to post my experiences of painting with an airbrush over the last 18 months. I hope I'm able to pass on a little bit of help to those who are thinking about giving airbrushing a go, and give a little confidence to anyone who (like I was) maybe a little daunted about having a stab at an alternative way to paint our models
CHOOSING AN AIRBRUSH.
1st off let me stress, whilst some armies and models really lend themselves to being airbrushed not all do. You can get some really nice results but I find a mix of airbrushing and painting by hand is what gives me the best results I can achieve at the moment. Also before I go any further I would like to stress I'm no expert either. I'm a novice but just decided to give airbrushing a go.
Right then, 1st thing we need to start airbrushing is of course an Airbrush and an air source. 1st the airbrush.
I have tried 2 types of airbrush. Gravity feed and bottle feed. A gravity fed airbrush has a little pot on the top or side of the airbrush where you pour your paint directly into.
This one as you can see is also a double action airbrush. I will explain later what this means and why it's best for us in our hobby.
The second type of airbrush you generally see is a bottle feed airbrush. You place the paint your going to use in a glass jar that's then attached to the airbrush underneath. As you pull back the trigger the airbrush sucks paint fron the jar.
They generally look like this one.
Now I have tried both and I can honestly say for us a gravity fed airbrush is the best choice. The cup in the top is easy to fill and there is much less wastage of paint. Also I have found this type of brush doesn't clog up as easily. Also having an underslung bottle is a pain and can really get in the way when your painting. However some airbrush starter kits do come with one of each type of airbrush. I used to use the bottle fed one for priming and the gravity fed one for actual painting. Me now I use just a gravity one for everything.
Another thing to look for when choosing an airbrush is needle size, most are either 0.4mm (great for priming or large stuff) of 0.2mm (better for more detailed painting). Starting out I suggest sticking with a 0.4mm. Sure your not going to get anything fancy done but you will be able to do some blending and get a few overspray effects. I will explain more as I go along. The reason I say go for a 0.4mm 1st is to practice with the larger size.This won't clog as much and it will give you a "feel" for how the paints you use and your airbrush work. Some airbrushes actually allow to switch sizes of needle very easily. Whatever you choose though, please go out and buy some cheap paper or card to practice on before you start on any expensive models. Take your time and get a feel for your airbrush.
Earlier I mentioned 2 other options to our airbrushes. Single action and Double action (sometimes called dual action). Single action is basically you push down the button, pull back and paint comes out. Basically it's the same result you would get from a can of spray paint. Ok for priming but not enough control for what we want. The second and better option is a double action airbrush. What this means is more control. The further back you pull the trigger on these types of airbrush, the more paint will come out. This is great for extra control and allows us to paint with more confidence, knowing we're less likely to accidentally cover our models with loads of paint.
So to recap on what kind of airbrush I think is best for us. Gravity feed double action. That gives us an airbrush with nice control, no jars getting in the way and easy to clean.
That's it for now, don't rush out and buy anything yet though because in my next post I'm going to talk about my experiences with different air sources and what deals we can find thst give us the best flexibility.
One last thing, those of you who have the GW air gun thingy. That's not an airbrush, it's ok for priming and base coats. But that's about it really. It's got its uses but it's not an airbrush.
If anybody has anything to ask or add (I'm no expert so please if you spot a mistake don't be afraid to jump in) fire away.
I would also like to add, I'm not looking to plug my blog (I don't have one) or a painting service (I'm far to busy).
Until next time.
With this series I'm going to post my experiences of painting with an airbrush over the last 18 months. I hope I'm able to pass on a little bit of help to those who are thinking about giving airbrushing a go, and give a little confidence to anyone who (like I was) maybe a little daunted about having a stab at an alternative way to paint our models
CHOOSING AN AIRBRUSH.
1st off let me stress, whilst some armies and models really lend themselves to being airbrushed not all do. You can get some really nice results but I find a mix of airbrushing and painting by hand is what gives me the best results I can achieve at the moment. Also before I go any further I would like to stress I'm no expert either. I'm a novice but just decided to give airbrushing a go.
Right then, 1st thing we need to start airbrushing is of course an Airbrush and an air source. 1st the airbrush.
I have tried 2 types of airbrush. Gravity feed and bottle feed. A gravity fed airbrush has a little pot on the top or side of the airbrush where you pour your paint directly into.
This one as you can see is also a double action airbrush. I will explain later what this means and why it's best for us in our hobby.
The second type of airbrush you generally see is a bottle feed airbrush. You place the paint your going to use in a glass jar that's then attached to the airbrush underneath. As you pull back the trigger the airbrush sucks paint fron the jar.
They generally look like this one.
Now I have tried both and I can honestly say for us a gravity fed airbrush is the best choice. The cup in the top is easy to fill and there is much less wastage of paint. Also I have found this type of brush doesn't clog up as easily. Also having an underslung bottle is a pain and can really get in the way when your painting. However some airbrush starter kits do come with one of each type of airbrush. I used to use the bottle fed one for priming and the gravity fed one for actual painting. Me now I use just a gravity one for everything.
Another thing to look for when choosing an airbrush is needle size, most are either 0.4mm (great for priming or large stuff) of 0.2mm (better for more detailed painting). Starting out I suggest sticking with a 0.4mm. Sure your not going to get anything fancy done but you will be able to do some blending and get a few overspray effects. I will explain more as I go along. The reason I say go for a 0.4mm 1st is to practice with the larger size.This won't clog as much and it will give you a "feel" for how the paints you use and your airbrush work. Some airbrushes actually allow to switch sizes of needle very easily. Whatever you choose though, please go out and buy some cheap paper or card to practice on before you start on any expensive models. Take your time and get a feel for your airbrush.
Earlier I mentioned 2 other options to our airbrushes. Single action and Double action (sometimes called dual action). Single action is basically you push down the button, pull back and paint comes out. Basically it's the same result you would get from a can of spray paint. Ok for priming but not enough control for what we want. The second and better option is a double action airbrush. What this means is more control. The further back you pull the trigger on these types of airbrush, the more paint will come out. This is great for extra control and allows us to paint with more confidence, knowing we're less likely to accidentally cover our models with loads of paint.
So to recap on what kind of airbrush I think is best for us. Gravity feed double action. That gives us an airbrush with nice control, no jars getting in the way and easy to clean.
That's it for now, don't rush out and buy anything yet though because in my next post I'm going to talk about my experiences with different air sources and what deals we can find thst give us the best flexibility.
One last thing, those of you who have the GW air gun thingy. That's not an airbrush, it's ok for priming and base coats. But that's about it really. It's got its uses but it's not an airbrush.
If anybody has anything to ask or add (I'm no expert so please if you spot a mistake don't be afraid to jump in) fire away.
I would also like to add, I'm not looking to plug my blog (I don't have one) or a painting service (I'm far to busy).
Until next time.
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