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Advice on painting Imperial Fists with an Airbrush?


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I recently got an airbrush, it's the first time I'll be using one and I'm interested in trying to paint yellow with it. Painting yellow by hand before has always been iffy for me but I'm hoping using an airbrush may make it easier. I'm not sure how to go about it though, I want a clean rich yellow, that's not to orange and is basically what appears in the Extermination book. Do I base coat them in black and then apply flash gitz yellow? I've tried white base coats before but they never seem right, perhaps it'll be different when I use the airbrush. Can anyone point me towards any articles that could help, or perhaps give me some of their own advance?

First don't use Citadel paints in your airbrush use http://www.minitaire.com/ they were made for airbrushes and work amazing. also as far as yellow your first layer should be a mustard color then use yellow. The link I provided has a great range of colors and ghost tints to use. Also Les from AwesomePaintjob has great tips for new airbrush users https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoKJUrISnTo&list=PL4eI2nyTHNCLdeXBYTs7FkvC3xPlxjsBA . Here is his yellow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY2G7SbKfeE&index=2&list=PL6D525083D042D7C1

First don't use Citadel paints in your airbrush use http://www.minitaire.com/ they were made for airbrushes and work amazing. also as far as yellow your first layer should be a mustard color then use yellow. The link I provided has a great range of colors and ghost tints to use. Also Les from AwesomePaintjob has great tips for new airbrush users https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoKJUrISnTo&list=PL4eI2nyTHNCLdeXBYTs7FkvC3xPlxjsBA . Here is his yellow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY2G7SbKfeE&index=2&list=PL6D525083D042D7C1

Thanks but bit difficult to get hold of those paints for me. Also I don't really want to over complicate the process, doing the whole "paint at 45 degree angle" for lightning purposes is a bit to much for me. I'd be happy with a nice crisp straightforward yellow.

Wait for a couple of months - Forgeworld are doing a range of airbrush paints, at a decent quality, with rumours of there being legion specific colours. From what is being said they're of a similar quality to tamiya and vallejo.

 

There's a IF plug on this sub forum which is airbrushed, might be worthwhile checking out.

I recently got an airbrush, it's the first time I'll be using one and I'm interested in trying to paint yellow with it. Painting yellow by hand before has always been iffy for me but I'm hoping using an airbrush may make it easier. I'm not sure how to go about it though, I want a clean rich yellow, that's not to orange and is basically what appears in the Extermination book. Do I base coat them in black and then apply flash gitz yellow? I've tried white base coats before but they never seem right, perhaps it'll be different when I use the airbrush. Can anyone point me towards any articles that could help, or perhaps give me some of their own advance?

I use Tamiya flat red and flat yellow, they should be easy enough to track down but if not Flash Gitz and an a bright red from the Citidel range should do the job just fine (make sure to thin your paints!) the recipe is as follows:

Basecoat in white

Layer 1 - 50/50 red/yellow (all over)

Layer 2 - 25/75 red/yellow (I concerntrate on the armor that is receiving the most light, I think its called pre-shading?)

layer 3 - yellow (all over)

Layer 4 - 25/75 white/yellow (use this to pick out the areas the light would hit most)

Layer 5 - Lemanters yellow (bright yellow) or casandora yellow (darker yellow) *** I used Casandora for the longest time then a while ago I noticed the Lemanters yellow that I had somehow missed upto that point the results are below***

Wash the entire mini with a thinned wash of Agrax and sepia

Sit back and admire the beautiful yellow:

gallery_63665_8309_903295.jpg

*Note: they look an orange tone here but they are distinctly yellow as this photo shows:

gallery_63665_8309_889219.jpg

I recommend a zenithal priming technique for any mono color army like yours. Sounds complicated, but it'll be quick and give you fantastic results smile.png If you want to learn more, I wrote a guide on it for another site... but I've attached it below. Just click the spoiler button.

There are some great tips here for color recipes. My only advice is to make sure you undercoat with a brown color and, after you put down your basecoat, hit the yellow with a light misting of casandora yellow (vallejo transparent yellow). It really brings yellows to life.

Zenithal Priming: Or how to shade + highlight like a BOSS

- - - - -

Ask yourself a question: Do you like saving tons of time while painting? Do you think its impossible to do highlights and sick nasty shadows on your horde army because "it takes too long"? Do you want an easy way to get good effects with little effort? Are you looking at a quick way to improve your painting? Do you hate layering? Well my friends, Zenithal Priming is your answer for fast, easy, great highlights and shadows. Best of all everybody can do it. I seriously can't think of an easier way to get a good looking army tabletop ready than the 100% BULBAFIST approved Zenthial Priming method.

What the hell is Zenital Priming?

Zenithal Priming is priming your model with 3 colors instead of just 1. I mean, if you're cash strapped or lazy you can get away with using 2 colors, but 3 gets best results. You'll apply black, grey, and white primers in a way that creates a gradient effect from the shadows to the upper most areas. Then you'll go over it all with a translucent paint that acts like a filter. After that you can paint the rest like normal.

What do I need?

http://i.imgur.com/S34iYHK.jpg

  • Black, grey, and white primer. You can even use paint instead of primer as long as you prime first. The method is still the same.
  • The primer/paint MUST be applied through an airbrush or rattle-can
  • A filter paint to apply over the primer. This is the color you want your model to be. It can be a wash, glaze, or regular old paint applied from a rattelcan/airbrush
Can you break it down for me?

http://i.imgur.com/PJtZmKG.jpg

Here's what I'm going to do:

  • Prime the entire model black
  • From the very top, spray in a 90 degree cone using grey. Thin layers. Don't go crazy.
  • From the very top, spray in a 45 degree cone using white. Again, use thin layers.
I primed some spare mans I had lying around with vallejo black primer. This is an airbrush primer that's great right out of the pot, but I still thin about 5:1 (primer:water) to make sure I get very thin layers.

http://i.imgur.com/ua5ptnI.jpg

Then I hit the upper 90 degrees of the models with grey primer, thinned as above.

http://i.imgur.com/iZw03k9.jpg

The Zenithal Effect is starting to become apparent- things look different depending on the angle with obvious highlights and shadows taking shape:

http://i.imgur.com/WCx6yUi.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/mK5PWya.jpg[/timg]http://i.imgur.com/N0gbHj6.jpg

The last step is hitting the upper 45 degrees (basically just the very top with a little bit of wobble side to side) with white primer:

http://i.imgur.com/Ixl1CMT.jpg

Looking good!

http://i.imgur.com/4BslQbM.jpg

I bet it looks like crap!

If you're using an airbrush or spray-on basecoat, then you can just spray over the top with a thin layer:

http://i.imgur.com/IuCGF7l.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/JbRVUjp.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/3e7GFb0.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/jeTyAHf.jpg

But I don't have an airbrush or spray-on basecoat!

No problem, just use a wash instead. I actually like these results better, since washes will shade the recesses even more (for xxx pro MLG painting you could use BOTH a spray-on paint and wash. Just make sure all the layers are really thin):

http://i.imgur.com/ddas9Fx.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/fUxJBH2.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/idMFQoV.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/wCzTKUV.jpg

But BULBAFIST! My special snowflake color doesn't have a wash! Zenithal Priming is useless for me!!!!

Then its time to MAN UP and use your paint as a glaze. Seriously, just thin your paint more than usual with water and add some flow improver/gloss varnish (about 4:1) and you'll get fantastic results:

http://i.imgur.com/GdqqfWI.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/CedjTYm.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/uVBxiw1.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/OrQiUyV.jpg

Ok, I am convinced, but what else can I use Zenithal Priming for?

http://i.imgur.com/9M44vRc.jpg

I ordered some Tamiya flat yellow the other day before these posts. Is it necessary to put down a different colour, like a darker yellow before you apply the flat yellow? 

 

This is the kind of shade of yellow I want to achieve:

 

 

http://blog.target-gaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Pre-Heresy-Imperial-Fists-Doubles-Force.jpg

 

 

I did a really easy process. I undercoated the mini with Skull White spray. Thern I gave it 2 to 3 coats of Tamiya Flat Yellow mixed with some thinner in the airbrush. Didn't need the airbrush after that. I then used a thinned seraphim sepia over the mini, with the flat yellow on the raised areas (though this step could probably be skipped). Then I picked out the black, metal etc areas. I sponge chipped the minis, followed by a gloss varnish. After the varnish dries, just use some enamel paint into the recesses, wait 10 mins and use a bit of paint thinner on a brush to remove any excess. Matt varnish et voila! It sounds waaaaay more complicated than it is, and doesn't require 50 coats of yellow or using overly complicated airbrushing techniques. Granted, my paint scheme is a bit over-weathered for some, but I enjoy it and looks effective enough. Also note, the yellow comes out more golden than the photos show!

 

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag332/liam_harrison2/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsdgxrjfhi.jpg

 

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag332/liam_harrison2/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1m2odivj.jpg
 

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag332/liam_harrison2/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsfkwognjm.jpg

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