SW Primer Spray

[Sohail187]

Hey guys, i was wondering if any one has used this item. 

http://tinyurl.com/lb24pp8

At the moment i am currently undercoating my models in black and building up with 2 layers or so. Very time consuming but looks fairly decent. However i was tempted to purchase that spray and it would save me alot of time if i was able to undercoat with this spray. 

However before i go ahead and purchase this wanted to know if any one has used this? does the colour look good? is it to bright? to dark? do you need to undercoat black before using this spray?

[Wulfebane]

It supposedly matches shadow grey pretty reliably. Could base a model using that to test.

[PupLord]

It supposedly matches shadow grey pretty reliably. Could base a model using that to test.

Not exactly Shadow Grey. The spray has a more blue hue than Shadow Grey but it is much lighter than the Fang base paint.

 

I use the spray all the time when undercoating my minis and there are two things to keep an eye on:

 

Firstly the spray goes on VERY thick even when spraying with multiple short passes. The spray drowns the details on the mini if you are not careful.

 

Secondly, the color doesn't match any GW paints exactly but that problem can be avoided by purchasing the Army Painter Wolf Gray paint in a dropper bottle for all clean up painting.

 

My method of painting is

1) spray Wolf Gray directly on assembled minis

2) clean-up with a brush where necessary

3) shade with Agrax Earthshade

4) layer on a 50/50 mix of Shadow Grey / Space Wolf Grey (or Vallejo equivalents)

5) edge highlight Space Wolf Grey and you are done!

 

Hope this helps!

-Pup

[Friz 80]

I use army painter wolf grey also, I love it! Though as pointed out no citadel paints match it so just buy the army painter drop bottle for touch ups. The paint offered through GW "the fang" is so dark in my opinion, however I do like the look of the darker grey armour that some of the boys have on their wolves. I being new tried matching the GW light blue/grey color and realized that I am the only one who did that, most everyone else has the plain grey or a variation of the fang color.

[BennoIsAGeek]

I was tempted to try out their uniform grey spray can to speed up painting, but I still make a hash of spraying my models sometimes as it is without the paint being thicker. Also not sure how it would compare to my Mechanicus Standard Grey and don't want to alter the look of my army now i've started.

[SW1]

I've ended up going for the cheap and cheerful £1 car spray paint and then a double layer of Mechanicus Standard Grey to get the models ready for painting proper.

 

I've got a vast quantity of models to paint up so the savings actually add up quite quickly.

[skeletoro]

It looked pretty tempting when I was researching colour schemes. I think you could get a pretty good tabletop paint scheme very fast with that spray. I think space wolf grey had a pretty good guide for painting space wolves using that as a base. Let's see if I can dig it up...

 

 

http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/painting-space-wolves-space-marines.html

 

There ya go. I quite like the result, but in the end I decided to go with something much more complicated, time consuming, and difficult :)

[Sohail187]

that was my only concern with this spray, that it is to light of a grey. The one test model i did i started with a black under coat >> Fang base coat >> Nulin Oil>> 50/50 Fang and  Russ grey  Highlight with Fenrison grey.  

 

Not to bright not to dark. ill get a pick or 2 uploaded.

 

http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/sohailmadadi/slideshow/

[irwit]

Seriously,  invest in an airbrush and save yourself a fortune in money and more importantly in time.  

 

You'll get far greater looking minis and open up a world of opportunities with varnish coats for oil washes,  chipping effects etc.  

[Sohail187]

I have never air brushed before, and i would not know where to begin! However it does seem like the way to go. It is very scary knowing how long it will take me to get that same colour on 70 grey hunters which i only finished assembling and got an undercoat on. x70 the fang then wash then mix 50 50 next layer then final layer then individual bits, like guns shoulder pads face hair OMG! :(

 

I have looked at some air brush guides for dummies and noobs. I guess it is like anything else practice and patience. However the cost of air brush + the machine to pump the air it is insane. The guide i saw equipment he recommended for a starter came to like £480 quid.... that is outrageous.

[irwit]

I bought this kit

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Airbrush-Compressor-Double-Action-Airbrushes/dp/B004XP7K9W/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_0_1

 

The compressor is very good with a tank and full pressure control.  

 

The airbrushs are good to start with but personally I would try and find a gravity fed one.   You can get Chinese ones for about £20.    Only difference is you put the paint in the top of the brush instead of the side so you need less paint.   

 

Honestly I am so glad I made the investment. I can have a unit of 5 GHs,  with 3 layers of base coat through to highlights,   gloss varnished and then oil wash  ( which is sooooo much better finish and easier to achieve than standard washes )   in no time at all.  

 

Out side of the kit I also bought this.  

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Spray-Booth-Extractor-Fan/dp/B003IJWYFO/ref=sr_1_2?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1372152248&sr=1-2&keywords=spray+booth

 

A lot of people do without though,  depends on the room you use.  

 

Finally you just need some thinner,  flow improver and airbrush cleaner.   Maybe £20 for the lot?  Have a look on youtube,   awesomepaintjob has some good tutorial on airbrush for beginners.   

 

I'll post some pics tonight showing you my wolves pre airbrush and post airbrush.  

[Sohail187]

I look forward to see the pics of the GH you do tonight :D. 

I was just reading the step by step Air brush guide by Iwata. And from the look of what they say their, and from awsomepaintjob this seems to be the good starter brush to go for IWATA HP-C However what you linked everything for £80 quid look like a great deal.

 

I can only imagine the time saved getting the layers or armour done, then only having to spend time on the minor details. From what i been reading the citadel paints are to thick for air brushes. What ratio of thiner to paint is recommended? 

[irwit]

I've done all my wolves with GW paints but they are a pain.   There's no exact ratio really,  you'll just kind of figure one out.  I think I use about 1/3 flow improver   1/3 thinner   1/3 paint.   However I will then do a few test sprays and adjust depending on how it is flowing.   I know this all sounds daunting but it really isn't once you have done it a few times.    Its basically the same procedure you would do when thinning a paint with water for a wash with a brush.  You'll add water and be able to see if it is too wet or not wet enough.  

 

I would hold out on buying a branded airbrush just yet.   They are a huge investment,  £100 or more really.  They will not be hugely more useful then the ones I showed you.  

 

At Xmas I got myself and HarderSteinbeck Evolution airbrush.  Its definitely better but for marines there's not a huge lot in it.   I'm glad I had my practice airbrushes first.   The main advantage to be honest is that it is so much easier to clean,   but this isn't something you will appreciate until you have used a normal airbrush for a while.   Its like a beginner buying themselves a set of Windsor and Newton 7 series brushes.   They are total overkill. 

 

Once you have an airbrush set-up you will have far more fun trying out different varnishes,  hairspray techniques etc than using all you money on a very expensive airbrush but having nothing to go through it.  

 

There is also the Vallejo model air range of paints.  I would definitely recommend these.  I wish I had done my wolves with these paints as they are so nice to use with an airbrush.  I would never start an army using anything else for the base coats.  

[Sohail187]

I agree with what you say now with the airbrush in that bundle. After reading through the comments on amazon seems to be ideal for people switching over fro paint brush. Next payday ill get my airbrush in and play around with it. 

It is a bit daunting, so much you need to learn and know. Correct PSI, cleaning after each colour, taking out the needle and oiling it up or something... some water pressure or build up thingy majig! :D

 

However when i watch these clips on how to paint stuff and i see them airbrushing great effects in minutes... i just fill up with *wish i could do that* :) Well i look forward to seeing what the GH look like. As soon as i get my airbrush I will be sure to get some pics in. Quick question though, i normally use washes after my base coat, but when people airbrush it looks like washing is the last thing they do correct?

[irwit]

As promised :)

Hopefully it is obvious which was airbrushed and which was brush coated. This was my first airbrushed marine.

[Sohail187]

o wow the difference is just insane!! THANKS by the way! quick question. Tips on how you do the chipping effect. i can see your rhino in the back looking very good. I checked out a few methods didnt like any of them, however your chipping looking great.

[irwit]

No worries.

 

That chipping effect is pretty low tech to be honest. Just paint the chip in and highlight below. Its pretty quick with a small brush. If you mess up, it doesnt matter, its just a bigger chip. :). Glad you like it.

[Sohail187]

is it a straight up brown color you used? or a wash and then highlight under it. Ill be giving that a try! 

[skeletoro]

Beautiful, irwit.

 

I'm still practicing my airbrush fu, and although there's definitely a learning curve, am starting to get the hang of it.

 

One thing I've found so far... when diluting GW paints, I've actually found that windex does a better job than airbrush medium (I've been using Golden brand). No idea why, but when I use airbrush medium I find it quite hard to avoid getting "puddles" or "speckles" - windex (in NZ it's mr muscle window cleaner with ammonia D, same stuff though) makes the paint mist on like a dream.

 

Other things I've found that work quite nicely...

 

1) Zenithal highlighting is awesome looking and easy once you get used to it.

2) Masking with tamiya masking tape (or similar... I've found it better than supermarket stuff so far) is good for pack markings... not too hard, not too time consuming, and looks really good once you get a process.

3) Metallic/rusty base coat, followed by masking fluid, then airbrushing base coat seems to work pretty well for weathering. Really, you can do irwit's method and it's a bit easier, though the masking method does have SOME advantages. After having invested in masking fluid, I'd recommend getting an opaque one (if such a thing exists... mine clears transparent and it's a bit hard to tell where I've put it) and if possible, a "thicker" one... you'll have an easier time getting a nice clean edge. Masking tape is better for many uses though.

4) Clean your brush after you use it, but it's worthwhile to double check that the needle is spotless before you start a session, too. I've found that often when I start I get issues (such as an inconsistent, speckly pattern rather than a nice misty spray) that are quickly resolved by carefully pulling out the needle and giving it a quick wipe with windex.

5) Use mask, esp. if using windex.

6) I would not recommend spending a LOT of money on a "hobby" compressor. For realz, I bought an approx $150 oil based compressor and a $10 regular with moisture trap (important, especially if you're using an oil based compressor). The compressor has a decent-sized tank, which is the most important feature (perhaps other than a moisture trap). It means you can get a consistent PSI. The small, silent models meant for indoor use can have issues with a consistent pressure because they're generating your compressed air on the fly. Or at least that's what I've heard. Save a bunch of money. Perhaps consider using some of it to invest in earmuffs, because the compressor I got is NOISY.

7) See if you can inherit some crappy models that you don't mind messing up and practice on those. Your first few attempts will be kinda poor, so write a few models off as practice, technique calibration etc (e.g. how dark do you want the shadows and how light do you want the highlights? What additives work best for you? What PSI? It takes quite a while to get this right, I've found)

 

That's all I've got so far.

 

Love your two guys, irwit.

[Sohail187]

i just cannot get over the airbrushed model how crispy and clean the finish is. No paint streaks marks ect.. jealous much rite now!

[irwit]

Weird how you see your own work so different.  Personally I just see lots of streaks from the washes,  lol.    If I get chance ill post up some later ones I did with oil washes,  they look a lot cleaner I feel.  Also I think one thing that's helps the "clean" look is the varnish.   Varnish coats really do bring a  paint job together like nothing else,  I would say they are as much why the model looks better as the actual paint job.  WinterDyne recommended the WnN Varnishes and they are great,  especially the matt one.  I was using Vallejo but I don't find them as nice to use.  I got one bottle of WnN for like £4 and will last forever basically. 

 

On the windex thing,  I'm not sure the exact ins and outs but have read a few times about that stuff not really being too safe so I have stayed away from it,  which is a shame as I do hear great things.    

 

Oh,  found the airbrush i used before the HarderSteinbeck one.  

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/0-5mm-Dual-Gravity-Feed-Airbrush/dp/B008331TU6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1372240424&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=gravity+fed+airbrush+0.5mm

 

So I would recommend the compressor with this airbrush,  don't bother with the set sent before as the airbrush in the set are not gravity fed and therefore not really great for painting miniatures  ( too much wasted paint.)

[Sohail187]

Well i will be placing an order not this month but next month for that airbrush kit you linked me and i will give it a bash got a few models which are spare i can practice on.

 

At the moment i am still going to have to paint my models, however i think i am going to go with the wolve grey spray method to cut back on time. Never thought about varnishes. Can you varnish through airbrush only? or can you varnish with a standard brush at the end of a paint job? I tried to find WnN varnishes couldn't find the brand.

 

Any chance you have a link? 

[irwit]

WnN = Windsor and Newton

If you want varnish out a can Testors dullcote is supposedly the best for matt finish.  However you don't want to matt varnish the metallics as you'll lose the shine (obviously,  lol)   so you are best painting everything except for metallics,   varnish,  then paint metallics.  

[Sohail187]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Winsor-Newton-Artisan-Matt-Varnish-75ml-3022847-/161048131513?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item257f3777b9

Ill get this and give it a try. I will now paint up a new model wit the grey spray and the varnish finish and see how it looks.

Again i really appreciate the time you took to show me your models and the various links. Will for sure be investing into that airbrush kit you showed at of next month. I only hope with practice i can get a finish close to what you are achieving.