Air Brush Question

[Rik84]

Hi, i just got an air brush to get an even coat on my large models, like tanks and stormravens

 

my question is, what do i do with the paint, can i just put GW paint in the pot and spray it or do i need to mix alittle water with it?

 

cheers

rik

[winterdyne]

How much to thin the paint (yes, you need to) depends on the kind of airbrush and the pressure you want to work at... more information required.

[Rik84]

its a cheap revell airbrush, it uses the cans of air

[Tanhausen]

Cans usually don't pump out air in a consistent way.

 

If you are talking about a spraygun (basically, you push down the trigger, air+paint comes out, but you cant only shoot air... that being a double action AB), usually 1:1 paint:water ratio is enough.

 

Also, the needle size is important... I'd say most sprayguns are .5, so you shouldn't have much problems to prime/basing.

 

Important: get a compressor ASAP. With the price of air cans, you'll probably break-even with 8-10 cans... and the quality of air is MUCH better.

 

Hope it helps!

[Rik84]

cheers thanks alot

 

its only to base coat my drop pods and 2 stormravens blood red, to get an even coat

 

i'll give that ago later, thanks again

 

rik

[Tograth]

airbrushing isnt a cheap hobby to get into, not if you want to do it seriously.

 

 

as has been said already, you want to avoid using the canned air. Its hellish expensive for what it actually does.

 

If you are looking for a compressor, I would recommend getting a small desktop model with a moisture trap, stop valve and a tank. A good quality one can be picked up for about 120 pounds.

 

 

After that, your airbrush is the next big spend. In general you want a dual action airbrush, as it gives you much more control over spray area and spray amount. You also want to consider what sort of feed mechanism to use - do you want gravity feed or siphon feed?

[Captain Psycho]

Hey Rik84, I did pretty much the same thing - I picked up a Badger 350 single action AB (which is basically the same thing as a spray gun) and a couple of cans of compressed air for basecoasting my Blood Angels. With some practice I've been able to use a variety of paints and get a smooth and even basecoat on my minis.

 

I think I will pick up a compressor eventually but I've actually been able to basecoat a lot of figures and I still have half a can of air left.

 

A couple of observations that might be helpful:

 

You will need to thin your paints. There's no hard and fast rule as the consistency of paints vary and it depends on the type of thinner you use. You'll need to play around with the mix each time, your goal is for a consistency similar to skim milk. If you use water I would suggest at least 2 parts water to 1 part paint. I actually use a mix of Vallejo airbrush cleaner, Vallejo thinner and Windsor & Newton flow improver (my airbrush "gunk" as I call it) and I usually just mix it 1:1 with thick paints like P3 or VMC. There's a few different brands of airbrush thinner out there for acrylic paints that you can try.

 

Also make sure you dissasemble and clean your AB after using it - you can use airbrush cleaner or even windex and water. Main thing is keep it clean.

 

Last point - don't use a paint bottle / tube (like the one on the Citadel spray gun) unless you're basecoasting an entire tank. Get a small metal cup for doing day to day as the paint bottle needs to be at least 1/3 full to feed paint.