An onslaught of questions- Mostly about a finnicky airbrush

[S.k.i.t.t.l.e]

Yeah me too. Which is why I might hang on til crimbo.... Hahaha. I've seen the patriot for £90-ish, inc. delivery. So it's not ridiculous.

[Lorenzen]

i do hope that the replacement serves you better.. im a big advocate of airbrushing as you know and its disheartening when people get put off by bad brushes and the such.

 

the primer issue is baffling, did you ever have a go at just leaving a model for an extended period of time? the only thing i can think of is that the paint has "gone off"

 

S.k.i.t.t.l.e as far as badger goes i love my krome.. but i'd advise making sure you can get replacement parts etc without much hassle.. badger offer a lifetime guarentee on things, but if something goes wrong due to you dropping the thing or whatever (bent needle, damaged thread etc) then you may end up stuffed.. same goes for harder & steenbeck and iwata.. i did a lot of checking to make sure that i could get krome parts without too much trouble before i made my purchase (iwata is more abundantly stocked round my area.. but i prefer badger personally)

[Firepower]

Yep, I left a primed model for over a week, came back, scratches right off. I've just about written off the Vallejo primer altogether, but I will still use the colors- my test models came out sweet, aside from the peeling.

 

I have some gray spray paint from Walmart (cheapo stuff) that doesn't peel, but it rubs off after a while. I have a couple of old models I used it for lying around though that were varnished, and I would have to use a knife to scratch it. Seeing as all the things I am painting are pinned to corks and such, I don't have to worry about rubbing anything off prior to priming.

 

Airbrushing primer would just be loads more accurate and efficient. If the end result doesn't work though, that's the end of that.

[Lorenzen]

any chance you could get the primer refunded/exchanged? because where ever sold it should be aware of their duff stock (as should vallejo tbh)

[Firepower]

I got it from thewarstore, and the bottle now has a copper bb in it from when I suspected it was just poorly shaken. So no returns there.

 

But like I said I went to another store and checked theirs, and at least in the consistency test it seemed the same. The issue there is the raves about how it is ready for airbrushing straight out of the bottle. Neither bottle was even close to that thin consistency.

 

Dunno if it would have the same peeling issue as my current bottle, but I am reluctant to gamble money on it. But when I searched the net, lots of folks reported this problem, and all the recommendations were the same (of which I have tried all).

 

There were just as many folks singing its praises and saying it was tough as nails, so, well...dunno what to make of that.

[Lorenzen]

ah well.. ive been on the same bottle for ages and its always served me well.. i originally thought it seemed thick, but it always airbrushes on nice and thin and goes through fine.. really out of suggestions on that one though as its not an issue ive come across :(

you got any pics of any done models yet that didnt go onion esque? would like to see how your final results come out. :)

[Firepower]

I haven't taken a pic yet, but I got a torso and legs that I finished before realizing the primer was screwed. I'll take a pic when I get the time.

[DarkMark]

Shame about the primer problem and AB. I've read upping the psi to about 35-40 may help, might be worth a punt. I use the regular Vallejo Model Air Grey primer and its given me zero problems tbh.

 

Sounds like you were unlucky with your AB, but I still stick by my 'buy an entry level named AB first' comment. Hopefully all will be sorted asap.

[Firepower]

So here are some pics of the original test model. It should show quite clearly my lousy camera skills

And to demonstrate the primer issues,

All those streaks of gray are the plastic underneath what should have been a solid priming :verymad: None of those scratches took more than a very light scratch of my fingernail.

The gradient of the lightening shades seems a bit washed out in the pics (and I had to brighten them up in Photoshop to even get them this good) but the cam I'm using isn't made for this sort of thing. I need to find a finer brush to do those arrows too so they don't look so clumsy

But what I really love is all the black lining. It's all oil wash, didn't affect the colors, and took hardly any time at all. The Aquilla was just a solid coat of Chainmail before washing, and with a quick highlight it would be solid. So at least one new trick is working as it's meant to.

This was the only one that made it so far along. The rest of the pieces I have just finished their colors, and now I suppose I'll have to strip them and start over. At least I only did 2 models' worth. That's the beauty of test models I guess.

[S.k.i.t.t.l.e]

Sucks that you are having issues with the primer, I got 2 bottles on their way.... Dammit. I like the color scheme by the way. With the blue they are very striking. :)

[Lorenzen]

well at least when you get things sorted you know your colour scheme is going to turn out well, i quite like oil washes (i use them on my death guard) although ive been turned on to enamel washes recently as a biproduct of starting to use ak interactives paint effects.. im going to see if i can cut a few stages of matte varnishing out of my dg via using an enamel wash of "streaking grime" if it goes well ill keep you informed.. id be suprised if they didnt do a black version.