Painting with Citadel Air series?

[Guest]

I am about to buy a couple bottles of Citadel Air, but I also need the same color for other models that i can't use the airbrush. I am wondering what people thought about using it to paint (with a brush). I have read a couple stories on the net of those saying it acts just like diluted paint  and other saying that it is much to thin to paint with. I really don't want to buy two bottles of the same color but one being an air and the other layer/base, so was hoping to save some money.

[Tyberos the Red Wake]

I use airbrush paint with a paintbrush for some colors. I like it because it's basically free thinning, you don't need to thin it at all if you're using a paintbrush. You do need to thin it a little bit if you are using an airbrush with smaller needles or if you are doing some crazy blending, but generally, it's very watery, very thin, but it's still very much a paint and not just water with flecks of pigment in it, like what happens if you overthin using water.

 

People saying it's too thin to paint with probably are used to painting very fast and not thinning their paint much, OR they are talking about how it's too thin to use as a basecoat. You will definitely need to be more patient with airbrush paint and probably paint at LEAST two or three layers, probably four to get a solid color. I think if you want to save money, you can just buy one pot of paint. Which one is up to you. If you are patient and want perfect smooth colors, get the airbrush version. If you want to thin it yourself so you can be have the option to have thicker paint, get the regular version.

 

If you drybrush at all with that color, you will probably need the non-airbrush version. Airbrush paint is too watery for that.

 

If I could, I would replace all my paints with airbrush versions, because my biggest annoyance while painting is thinning. Often using too much paint, too much thinner, not enough thinner, wasting space on my palette from trying to smear the perfect amount of thinner and paint together and get it off the brush, etc. Airbrush paint is squeeze and go, perfectly thinned. They kind of suck for basecoating though unless you use an airbrush. So any color that you plan on using as your first basecoat color over the primer, I would buy a thicker non-airbrush version. If you use a color spray primer or have an airbrush, this doesn't matter.

[Guest]

I use airbrush paint with a paintbrush for some colors. I like it because it's basically free thinning, you don't need to thin it at all if you're using a paintbrush. You do need to thin it a little bit if you are using an airbrush with smaller needles or if you are doing some crazy blending, but generally, it's very watery, very thin, but it's still very much a paint and not just water with flecks of pigment in it, like what happens if you overthin using water.

 

People saying it's too thin to paint with probably are used to painting very fast and not thinning their paint much, OR they are talking about how it's too thin to use as a basecoat. You will definitely need to be more patient with airbrush paint and probably paint at LEAST two or three layers, probably four to get a solid color. I think if you want to save money, you can just buy one pot of paint. Which one is up to you. If you are patient and want perfect smooth colors, get the airbrush version. If you want to thin it yourself so you can be have the option to have thicker paint, get the regular version.

 

If you drybrush at all with that color, you will probably need the non-airbrush version. Airbrush paint is too watery for that.

 

If I could, I would replace all my paints with airbrush versions, because my biggest annoyance while painting is thinning. Often using too much paint, too much thinner, not enough thinner, wasting space on my palette from trying to smear the perfect amount of thinner and paint together and get it off the brush, etc. Airbrush paint is squeeze and go, perfectly thinned. They kind of suck for basecoating though unless you use an airbrush. So any color that you plan on using as your first basecoat color over the primer, I would buy a thicker non-airbrush version. If you use a color spray primer or have an airbrush, this doesn't matter.

 

sweet well looks like i'm going to save a bit of money and probably start buying air series when my other stuff runs out. Now to continue scouring the internet for some good tau base ideas.

[Dantay VI]

I use my airbrush paints with a brush all the time, and never had any issues at all

[Tallarn Commander]

I have also had no problem applying Citadel air with a brush. It's slightly thinner tham my usual watered down paints, but only slightly. Plus, after about a minute or so, evaporation and stirring with a toothpick on my palette brings the Citadel air back to the same consistncy as my normal paints.

[Major_Gilbear]

Yep: most airbrush paints can be used with a regular old brush - they are just rather thinner than normal and may need a few coats to cover. They are lovely to work with though - no real thinning required, so put some on your palette and paint away.

 

One comment of caution though; if you use a wet palette, airbrush-ready acrylics tend to run everywhere and get a bit too diluted. I'm sure it's possible to do so carefully, but it's really a lot more work than normal.

[Halandaar]

While I use a handful for airbrushing, most of the Citadel Air paints I've bought I just treat like pre-thinned paints and brush on. They are absolutely fine for this but as Tyberos says, don't bother with them for basecoating (unless you are actually using an airbrush for that step).

 

I do wish they'd have the entire range available as air paints though.

[millest]

use it all the time in both airbrush and with a paint brush, the metallics are far superior to normal GW metallics and i use them instead now.