So I usually get bored painting miniatures on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th coats.  The priming is easy, but it is the base coloring and such that drives me crazy.   Way back when I was a kid and doing model cars and such, it was a pain then.  But a friend of mine had an airbrush and never had the same problems.  So why did I.   So I always thought about getting an airbrush, and one time I did.  The kind that took a can of compressed air to work.  Just cumbersome and a pain to use.

So in 2026, I am using an airbrush.

Watched lots of videos on how to use an airbrush, how to clean an airbrush, best lessons and any tips they might have.  It really helped.  

Been using it for a bit, and man, it's a game-changer!  

• Priming
  • Normally, I would buy 2-3 cans of primer at $25 and plan a day to go outside and prime.   Far from the house to avoid the smell getting into the house, and then leaving the minatures outside so they don't smell.
  • Now I prime with my airbrush inside.  Yes, inside!   It is a bit different, as I do two coats, but that is fine, I can prime the painted minis without them shooting all over the place.
  • It was an adjustment on how much paint to use, but it is so much better.
• Base coating
  • Painting:
    • So here is where i usually would end up bored.  Painting and painting and painting minis to get the base colors down.  So much so that I would be tired of painting and not looking forward to do any more.  I usually would be done at this stage.  You can see it in my scouts and my genestealers.
  • Airbrushing
    • Just like priming, I can now just paint away.  10 miniatures a night.  And it is teaching me color theory.  What color you prime matters, are you doing contrast paints vs layer paints.  Why start with a purple or red if you are doing yellow!   Zenanthol style of painting.  Cool things to learn.
• Detailing
  • Assembly line painting
    • I try to do assembly line painting.  I miss a lot, but it works better for me to get a color out, and do all the same spots on the minis at the same time/session.  Start off with rank and file so I can get my confidence up and then take a break.  Come back from the break and do a character model.  With the wet pallete, I don't have to worry about the paint drying right away.
  • Contrast paints are really cool—something new to learn.  Obviously, I painted with paints that were too thick before, but I learned to thin then down. I went with a wet pallete 2 years ago and have kept using that.  That is so much better than the paint drying in the pots.  A lot more fun to paint with.
  • Not touching the minis.  I use toothpicks so I can paint the minis without the paint wearing off.
  • Sealing is so much easier with the airbrush.  Every now and again, I just seal the miniature.  Really a cool step.
  • Lighting
    • When I get to the terrain, I will try the lighting techniques.  Watched some videos about it, so really going to try to step up my game.

What I bought:

I started with an Inkcraft compressor and bursh off Amazon.  About $110

Works well.  Came installed with a smaller nozzle, so put the bigger one on for priming/base painting and it was great.  Issue is the nozzle is hard to get off with the little wrench, and then I lost the wrench.  Also the way it is set up (standard for most air brushes it seems) is the nozzle gets clogged, so taking it on and off was a pain.

So I bought a $100 airbrush

It is nice as it has a thing at the back "color control" that you can set, and you can't put out more paint than you mean.  A problem I was having.  So it is a safety net for me!

Then I bought a mask.  I was using a cardboard box to paint in and was seeing the paint vapors float around me!  So I figured I didn't want to be breathing in paint.  Then I read that the paint is still going everywhere and a paint booth would be a good idea.

So a Paint booth I got, a small one.  The fan is a bit loud (it has 2 fans, and LEDs).   It is nice as I can paint in the box, use the LEDs for lighting and vent the airbrush exhaust out a window (or into another box with another filter.   

You can see it in lots of my images of the models.

All in all about $300.   I bought some airbrush cleaner, some airbrush primer and air brush matte and gloss paints.   The rest I use airbrush thinner to do the priming and base coats and it has been smoot sailing.  That and I did 27 models, which is more than I usually do in a year.

I have also practiced primed some other ideas and projects.

And finally I have a Reaper Cthulhu model that I got for Christmas, and I didn't want to brush paint it.   So now I can mostly air brush paint it (again watching videos) and I feel that I can accomplish that.

So all in all, really glad I went the airbrush route.  Otherwise, I would have stalled out already.