swarmofseals Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 I took the plunge and purchased an airbrush setup, going for the beginners kit recommended by Vince Venturella (link to kit here). I've played around with it a bit and have gotten the hang of managing the PSI with the compressor and just made my first attempt at priming a model. Fortunately for me, my friend is letting me experiment on his Cthulhu Wars figures (pics of the models can be found here)! I'm aiming to do a basic zenithal prime using the techniques described in Vince's hobby cheating series (video here). I'm using Vallejo German Grey surface primer to start. I'm using the .3 gravity feed airbrush (the one with the larger cup). Initially I put four drops of the primer in the cup along with two drops of vallejo airbrush thinner and tried to mix it by covering the tip and blowing air, but that didn't work. I think the hole at the bottom of the paintcup in this model is too large for that, so I tried mixing it manually. The initial spray didn't seem thin enough, so I mixed the next batch in a second container and did 8 drops of primer to 5 drops of thinner and transferred to the airbrush with an eyedropper. I'm running at about 20-25 PSI for what it's worth. This worked better but I ran into a couple of issues: The paint seemed to come out thicker and wetter than expected. Not sure if I'm describing it correctly but it felt a bit more like a rattlecan spray than what you see on vince's video. Not as messy as a rattlecan but not exactly clean either. This led to the primer pooling a bit in areas. A few surfaces were really tough to get, with the primer seeming to get blown off certain spots. I'm wondering if I might need to do more prep work cleaning the models or something. They are a bit softer plastic than what I'm used to with GW stuff, so that might be part of the problem. Are there any other suggestions you guys might have on how to get a cleaner spray? Also, do you have any suggestions for mixing the primer and thinner outside the airbrush cup? It works fine mixing in a little bowl, but I feel like I end up wasting a lot of primer that way. Any advice would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dez Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 My first airbrush was a Masters G44, probably a similar setup. It sounds like you might be thinning the paint a bit too much, if it's watery and not sticking to the model. My advice is to keep experimenting with the mixture as well as your airbrush settings, airbrushes apply very light layers so you can keep on experimenting with no worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swarmofseals Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Yeah, and the set has a ton of models too! I hadn't considered that it might be *too* thin. I'll definitely play around with it further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dez Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 The other thing to check is your pressure. I usually go around 12-15 psi. If it's too high, you will also have that effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulsmith Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Yeah, I would keep experimenting with the psi. I tend to spray around 15 as well. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyriakin Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I have just started airbrushing too, and have similar problems. The paint inside the airbrush dries so damn quickly, that the thing becomes unusable within 1-2 minutes of dropping it inside. At this point, the only way to get any paint to spray at all is to quickly push forwards on the trigger, rather than gently back like it's meant to be. However, when I add thinner the paint comes out too "wet" (kinda like a splash), rather than the fine dusting effect. Citadel's white air is almost unusable for me, as it just sputters out - even if the airbrush has just been deconstructed and deep-cleaned. I admit I have a Chinese cheapie, but the issues seem like they might be somewhat fundamental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dez Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Something I've found is that white in particular (and gray) are a bit of a pain to airbrush. Some paints don't like to be put through an airbrush either, especially if the pigment is of a rougher grind than something made specifically for an airbrush. So this can change up how you dilute paint, not only with different colors but different brands I've been using Vallejo Game Air, and love it. I have switched over to using it for normal brushwork too. It's the right grind and consistency, not to mention it's in a dropper bottle so I can put it straight into the reservoir on my airbrush. Even their primer and metal works great. Something else I've done is transferred nearly all my GW paints into dropper bottles. I think I've done about 325 of them, and still have about 30 to go. It's a bit of a time sink now, but well worth the effort so I can use it in my airbrush as well as keep the paint...because their pots really suck and the paint dries out fast! I'm actually saving money by buying new bottles to put this stuff in. I'm also wondering why I have 7 pots of Moot Green I hope that helps a bit. Just keep trying, being persistent is what will get you there. You'll find that an airbrush is a great tool to have in your arsenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swarmofseals Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Yeah, I really hate the gw pots. I've been brush painting with Reaper for a long time now but have gotten a small selection of vallejo air stuff for the airbrush (along with fun new things from Badger and Scale75). I'm definitely going to need to fuss around with the thinning and PSI to find the right balance between paint flowing all over the place and spotting! These five guys are my first attempt at airbrush preshading using the techniques in Vince's hobby cheating series. Not totally satisfied but not terrible either, I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dez Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 No they look good, tabletop ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stauderpower Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 A little trick I use sometimes for whites, or other problem paints (each brand has its problem colors) is mix in a tiny amount of dish soap into the paint. It works well for keeping the paint together and stops the thinner from separating the pigments too much. Play around around a bit with the mix to get it where your comfortable with it, but a little goes a long way. Also be careful not to add too much as you will break down the oils on the seals. If you keep up maintenace you should be fine. Your preshading looks good though. Practice makes perfect when learning to airbrush so keep at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swarmofseals Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Made my first attempt at painting these with brush-applied glazing (reaper paints + glaze medium) and ghost tints (badger minitaire) and wow were the results terrible. Blotchy, pooling, and even though the hue is super thin by the time you have enough coats for the hue to be good the undershade is gone. I think I probably need less paint on the brush to combat the pooling, but I'm not sure about the other bit. Yeesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyriakin Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 25 minutes ago, swarmofseals said: Made my first attempt at painting these with brush-applied glazing (reaper paints + glaze medium) and ghost tints (badger minitaire) and wow were the results terrible. Blotchy, pooling, and even though the hue is super thin by the time you have enough coats for the hue to be good the undershade is gone. I think I probably need less paint on the brush to combat the pooling, but I'm not sure about the other bit. Yeesh. I know your pain with this. When I first read about under-shading (i.e. priming black all, grey diagonal and white above) followed by colored washes, I thought it would be the magic bullet for all my painting woes - both in terms of speed and final results. It wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swarmofseals Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Yeah, I'm not expecting any kind of magic bullet. I'd just like to have some more go-to techniques, particularly for areas that don't naturally drybrush well (basically anything that doesn't have a ton of texture), that don't take ages to execute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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