Airbrushing Angels Sanguine and other Half and Half schemes

[Havokas]

So i'm planning to be airbrushing some Angels Sanguine to go with my all blood angels successors with official paint schemes force. 

This will be the first unit where the paint scheme splits down the middle red right black left. What should i use to block half the mini from the other side when spraying? what do other people do when airbrushing multicolor schemes? 

 

with other multi colors usually its parts that can be painted separate but for these boys ive only done it with a hand brush before. 

[Imren]

This:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Masking-Tape-Curves-Tamiya-Japan/dp/B075HJBQY9

 

I'd go for the broader one and then cut thinner strips if needed with your scalpel and cutting board. You could also roll long smooth worms of blue-tack and place it along the vertical axis of the model.

 

If you're planning to paint a whole army like this you are in for some serious patience challenging hours and hours of masking.

 

If you plan to varnish them for gaming then I'd go for black primer, then do your neat subtle highlights (with airbrush on the black half) and then mask off the half and do the red half including airbrushed highlights before removing the mask. Since you will varnish you can use the black primer coat as a black base coat and highlight right on top of it. The varnish at the end will render the base paint layers and the primer the same final surface anyway. This will cut out the another black base paint layer on top of the black primer and make the process a bit more efficient.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Imren

[Arkhanist]

Another time saver is to use low tack masking tape (the tamiya stuff is ideal) for the sharp edge between the two colours, then use masking putty to cover the rest of the mini. Much quicker than tape masking all half a mini.

 

Low tack masking tape is simply that it won't pull up any paint, while more sticky tape - such as ordinary painter's masking tape - might.

 

Similarly, masking putty is low tack and leaves no residue compared to blu tack.

You can get airbrush suitable masking putty, or do like many people and use cheap silly putty which is basically the same stuff!

 

Masking putty can be used on its own, but it tends to leave a fuzzy edge; great for camo schemes, less so for what you're aiming for.

 

Perfectly doable, but I suspect you're in for a small world of pain doing it for a whole army.

[sarabando]

for angels sanquine it should be pretty simple to just focus on the red from one side and then tidy up with a brush/

masking with tape will be pretty tough.

[Rik Lightstar]

All the advice above, plus for the sake of your sanity do heads, weapons and backpacks separately from the bodies.

 

Rik