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Army Painter: Pure Red, GW Equivalent


TrentL

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So I've started painting some of my vehicles with Army Painter Pure Red, and while I'm not 100% happy with it (It can definitely ruin a mini, cakes in detail,a and sometimes leaves a grainy surface) it does speed things up.

 

And there are some things I don't mind using it on, but when it comes to things like my Land Raider with Forge World doors etc, I don't want to run the risk of the grainy surface, I've watched video upon video, read article after article...

 

But I do own an air brush I'd like to use it but I need a color that is very close to Pure Red...so my vehicles aren't all different shades.... as well sometimes I need to make touch ups on somethign sprayed with Pure Red, I'd hate to have to respray the model...

I use this stuff quite a bit, and i have found that it does a decent job IF you apply it right.

 

First: Shake the bejeezus out of the can, minum 1 minute of vigorous shaking. (I actually time this and typically go 2 minutes for good measure)

Second: apply from more than 12 inches away in very short bursts, the key is control of amount of paint that gets applied.

Third: as soon as a light coating appears, stop, give it time to dry and then check it. your first 2 applications shouldn't be opaque, I typically dont have a solid coat untill about the 3-4th application.

 

May take 3-5 applications till you have a solid red, but it shouldnt obscure detail, and if you shake it enough, you shouldn't get graininess.

 

I know, doesnt really answer your question, but i just wanted to incourage you to not give up on army painter just yet, as I think it works great provided you apply it correctly. Good luck!

I am still working on the perfect application, especially when it comes to marines. (all those nooks and crannies are hard to get painted without applying to much spray) When it's done right though, the model looks like it is made of red plastic, without any loss of detal. The only hard part after that is making mistakes, as its not always easy to achieve the same red color using GW paints.

 

Unless your going for Golden demon/'eavy metal quality, i think it really speeds up the painting of vehicles and large numbers of marines. I dont think i would use it on characters though. For those i suggest thin layers of 2:1 blood red/mechirite red, seems pretty close, just play with the mix.

Yeah, I've also found that Pure Red does match pretty closely with Blood Red.

 

It's a good product, but very unforgiving and it's easy to obscure detail if you spray too long bursts or if the distance isn't right. I'm moving on to using Citadel Spray Gun for my base coats, I have better control over everything with that product.

Yeah, I've also found that Pure Red does match pretty closely with Blood Red.

 

It's a good product, but very unforgiving and it's easy to obscure detail if you spray too long bursts or if the distance isn't right. I'm moving on to using Citadel Spray Gun for my base coats, I have better control over everything with that product.

 

I have an AirBrush while not the "GW" Gun the badger isn't bad but cleaning it is a pain when using foundation paints

Yeah, I've also found that Pure Red does match pretty closely with Blood Red.

 

It's a good product, but very unforgiving and it's easy to obscure detail if you spray too long bursts or if the distance isn't right. I'm moving on to using Citadel Spray Gun for my base coats, I have better control over everything with that product.

 

I have an AirBrush while not the "GW" Gun the badger isn't bad but cleaning it is a pain when using foundation paints

 

Yeah, I'll prolly get some proper equipment too once me and the missus move to a bigger apartment. As of right now, the Citadel Gun is the choice for my needs. :tu:

 

But I'm sure you'll do just fine with Blood Red, I'd reckon a Black Primer + Mechrite Red + Blood Red will get you a similar result to Black Primer + Pure Red. Be sure to test it first though!

The Army Painter Dragon Red makes good basecoat for painting over with Blood Red, just down that with my Storm Raven and very pleased with result. Although I agree that you can obscore detail, you can with any spray, it is a lot better to spray a couple of thin coats rather than one thick one! ThArmy Painter sprays do seem to stick and cover better than the GW sprays and are less prone to flaking off.
For an AB I'd use Vallejo model air color Italian red. It's actually closer to Blood Red than to APs pure red color, but very close. scarlet red may be a bit closer to pure red as blood red is just a bit too orange to match exactly. APs Droagon red is more similar to Red Gore.
I use this stuff quite a bit, and i have found that it does a decent job IF you apply it right.

 

First: Shake the bejeezus out of the can, minum 1 minute of vigorous shaking. (I actually time this and typically go 2 minutes for good measure)

Second: apply from more than 12 inches away in very short bursts, the key is control of amount of paint that gets applied.

Third: as soon as a light coating appears, stop, give it time to dry and then check it. your first 2 applications shouldn't be opaque, I typically dont have a solid coat untill about the 3-4th application.

 

May take 3-5 applications till you have a solid red, but it shouldnt obscure detail, and if you shake it enough, you shouldn't get graininess.

 

I know, doesnt really answer your question, but i just wanted to incourage you to not give up on army painter just yet, as I think it works great provided you apply it correctly. Good luck!

 

I agree and I've tried all that, I've done so much with the stuff its crazy... maybe I'm priming in poor lighting but that stuff gets everywhere so its not like you can prime in your basement easily.

 

Another problem is 12" this may seem funny or possibly rude, but one man's 12" is another mans 8" or maybe 16" ... its hard to guestimate unless you had a 12" stick to tied to the can.

I too shake the heck out of the can and don't have problems with loosing details. You don't start spraying directly at your model do you? Always start to one side and move smoothly across the model and past it before stopping the spray. Take your time and work around the model until you have full coverage giving the coats time to dry in between. An airbrush will give more control but to ge the best out of it will take time to learn how to use it and really needs a compressor and not the air cans. The pressure loss on a can while spraying is a pain and can result in a horrible finish plus it gets really expensive very quickly as the cans don't last long at all.

Yeah I've read all those techniques, I've watched all the video's that the vendor supplies, watched Jawaballs video's on how to use the stuff, shaken the holy heck out of the cans to the point that if it was a can of Coke my house would explode like on the Simpsons... As well I never start spaying on the model no matter what I'm doing (Even priming with GW Black) I've tried different cans to see if it was just that one batch, different vendors in different Cities, all have similar problems, I'm sure its great stuff I'm not knocking it, I'm not trying to bash it, I'm just trying to move away from it for my expensive pieces, so I'll try and get the topic back on track:

 

I do thank you about the color suggestions, I think I'd like to try that one Vallejo model air color Italian red.

 

Mainly because its made for Airbrushes which is good... because I find even in a 1:1 ratio (Paint:Water/Windex mix) in it, mixing the GW paint leaves my Airbrush pretty "gunked" up after awhile where using Tamiya airbrush paint I get much less build up. Does a good job though very smooth no problems etc.

I've found the Army Painter sprays are incredibly sensitive to humidity (all sprays are to a degree, but AP more than most)

 

you have to be real careful with relative humidity between 30 and 50 percent by spraying very close and light. Over 50% RH is a death knell in my opinion.

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