Your Undercoat of Choice?

[xmercx]

I used to go back and forth between white and black spray paints.  I pretty much stick to base coating with my airbrush now though, generally with what I would consider a medium to light grey color followed by a layer of whatever the majority color of the model is going to be.  I was getting far too much of a grainy effect from the canned sprays for my likely.

[shaun03]

 

Have you had any thinning issue with your scale color? I can't seem to get it thin for my air brush, it's either too watery or thick and clogs up my gun. I am running iwata CM-C plus, I spend more time cleaning it than airburshing

 

 

I don't know how much experience you have with airbrushing, so apologies if any of this seems obvious or patronising. You're juggling a lot of variables when airbrushing miniatures, and it took me a while to get a feel for it. This is my current approach with ScaleColor:

 

I use a drop of Vallejo retarder medium and then thin it with Vallejo airbrush thinner until it will leave a thin layer on the bottle when shaken that takes a while to clear (often called a "milky consistency" - just like the residue left after drinking a glass of milk).

 

I run it through an Iwata HP-CH, standard 0.3mm needle/nozzle, at ~10-20 PSI and get more or less opaque coverage with 2-3 coats, even with yellow over black. Higher pressure or getting too close can blow the paint around and off the model, but the MAC valve makes it easier to get it just right.

 

Your Custom Micron comes standard with a high precision 0.23mm needle, so it'll be a bit less forgiving, but I think it should still work.

 

If you're hoping for solid base coat coverage in a single layer, I'd advise a cheap, crude spray gun (like the Citadel one) instead of the brush, and blast it through at high pressure. A precision instrument like your Custom Micron won't put up with treatment like that. I prefer the slow but steady approach of 2-3 thin coats, but if you have an entire army to do in a hurry, it's an option. Then switch back to the airbrush for highlighting.

 

Constant cleaning is a fact of life with airbrushes, but I run 50/50 Vallejo airbrush cleaner and water through it at high pressure between colours, and neat cleaner when I'm done, and it's not too onerous. Allowing paint to dry inside it is the worst thing, so I'm pretty diligent with doing my chores. :)

I just picked it up few months ago, I use the scale color thinner didn't know about the retard medium I'll have pick some up and give a try. I tried my psi at 8-16 like book said and had no luck ( I thinking the paint was too thick) I move the setting up to 20psi ( don't want to go over than and damage the gun) and been having some what better outcome. I use it for base coat, high lights and shading using many light coats as well. I think I still in the trail and erro stages with it. Appreciate the input, as getting consistency with airbrushing is on steep learning curve,