Warhammer 40k Forum and Wargaming Forums banner

Questions about airbrushing

750 views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  Insanity 
#1 ·
Good afternoon chaps and chappettes I was wondering if anyone could help me out here?
I have just ordered an airbrush kit on line and look forward to giving it a good crack when it arrives but I was wondering about the paints I will be using, are wg paints ok to use? Do I need to thin them right down before I put them into the reservoir? Do I have to get special airbrush paints? How do I clean the brush after use? Do I just feed water through it or do I need a special cleaning solution? Any light that you could shine on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you in advance
 
#2 · (Edited)
Congrats on the new airbrush :) It's a great tool to have in your paint arsenal. What did you end up going with?

You CAN use citadel paints, they just need to be thinned BEFORE you put them in your airbrush. I use windex to thim mine. If you have empty paint pots or if you purchase dropper bottles from your local arts and crafts store (way easier), you can pre-thin your paints, making your life way easier. When you thin your paints out, the general rule of thumb is to get your paint to the consistency of milk. This means, picture a glass of milk. After you take a drink from it, you can see the milk still "clinging" to the sides of the glass, but it's also thin enough to see through, THAT is what you want your paint to do when you tip your pot to the side. (Any questions on this feel free to ask).


An alternative to using citadel paint is the Vallejo Model Air paint line. These are paints specifically made for airbrushing and are already thinned, which cuts down on prep time by so much you'll wonder why you weren't using these paints from the get-go. The colors are similar to citadel and are fairly easy to match up.


When it comes to cleaning your airbrush, buy an airbrush cleaning pot, which is a pot that you can spray your cleaning solution into and it filters it so you aren't breathing it in. I use Rubbing alcohol to clean my airbrushes. The have pipe cleaning kits that are fantastic and I highly recommend purchasing one as well. Once you have emptied your pot of paint, use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip inside the pot to clean out the bulk of the paint left behind, I just dump this into a "waste glass" instead of running it through, just so I don't get it all clogged up. After you've cleaned the pot, run rubbing alcohol through the airbrush, make sure you spray into your cleaning pot to avoid those fumes. Clean the tip of your airbrush with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol, make sure your needle is retracted though, you don't want to bend that bad boy. If you want to do a thorough cleaning, use the same process but you also want to break Down the airbrush completely and use your pipe cleaning kit to get all the excess paint off the needle and out of the tip components. I can give you better cleaning instructions if you'd like, just let me know.

Hope this helped, if you have any questions feel free to ask away :) congrats again on the new airbrush.
 
#3 ·
Thankyou swasi, very helpful might have a look at Vallejo now and see if I can get similar paints to the gw ones I use. As for the compressor type , tbh I'm not sure, it's not a terribly expensive one, only cost around £100 my plan is to see how I go with it and if I get any good then I'll purchase a more professional one, got decent reviews on eBay but we shall see, I'm not holding my breath but for what I need it for at my skill level it should suffice, looking forward to experimenting. M.E.K should work as a cleaning agent shouldn't it? I use it to clean aircraft components so I imagine itl work on paint if I get it on there while the paint is wet
 
#4 ·
I use GW paints 90% of the time when airbrushing and I have never had any problem with them. I thin them with Vallejo airbrush thinner and I also add a drop of drying retarder to stop it clogging as much at lower compressor pressures (especially if you have a small needle size like I do). Vallejo air are good if you know which colour are similar to the ones you are already using, especially the metallics. Metallics are notoriously a bitch to use in an airbrush because of the much bigger pigment but Vallejo model air are fine and they require no thinning. I mainly use the primer when painting lighter models or characters to make sure I get it all covered without wasting loads of paint like I would with a spray can. As for the consistency, as mentioned the general consistency is milk, I generally prefer a thin cream but it is a personal preference, I mean I always have a piece of card that I spray on to see how strong the colour is. I find it easier to thin a thicker paint than thicken a thinner paint. If you spray and it makes almost a splat shape (referred to as spiders) then it is too thin. If you are getting little specks all around where you spraying then it is too thick or the pressure could need turning up (depends on what you are doing)

Between colours I blast a bit of Vallejo airbrush cleaner through it just to get the excess colour out, and theny maybe sometimes a bit of water to to give it a quick rinse. After each session though I put isopropyl alcohol through it (aka mineral spirits I believe). and I also take the airbrush apart and clean each bit to make sure the paint is out, which doesn't take as long as you mihgt think. Also the alcohol works on all paint so it works quite nicely on normal brushes too and I have managed to restore quite a few by soaking them along with parts from the airbrush.
 
#5 ·
No problem :) I personally wouldn't use M.E.K., mainly because it's a pretty heavy solvent and if I were to use it I would wear a mask when running it through my airbrush. Honestly I would suggest just grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the drug store and save your eyes and throat the damage, lol.

When it comes to your compressor, the only advice I have for that is just get one that has a cannister and a moisture trap. The cannister compressors give you a constant supply of air rather than the pulse compressors which give you surges of air. When you're paintino an area and trying to get light coverage, a pulse compressor will ruin your day in a quickness, haha. Other than that it all comes down to personal preference. Compressors are generally the same. The same goes with your airbrush, it's all about what YOU'RE comfortable with. Dual action are a lot easier to control and if I were to suggest anything it would just be that you use a dual action trigger if you haven't already got one.

Hope that helped :)
 
#10 ·
May as well ask some questions about Airbrushing here rather than starting a new thread.

What is the smallest amount of detail you can paint with an Airbrush? Can you effectively paint things like belts or pouches. or are they too small?

If they aren't too small, can you effectively paint the entire model with an airbrush? Including highlights?

I have seen airbrushed models and they do look amazing, so I would like to invest in one.
 
#11 ·
Small details like pouches and such are easier and quicker to just paint with a brush. For the small amount of paint you'll be using, it's not worth the hassle ( or over spray) to try and airbrush the small things.

What is it that you're working on? Only asking because I know some fairly easy highlighting techniques that I can share with ya.

I'd definitely suggest getting an airbrush though. Mine have saved me so much time and frustration.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top