Hey folks

I'm getting to the end of assembling my Dark Angels force and I went into GW to ask about the spray gun and check prices (I was seeing how the price compares to other spray guns, not too bad tbh) and someone in the store said that the paint would clog the detail on Epic minis.

Has anyone tried airbrushing and had problems? I was planning to spray the army black, spray gun them green and that was the lions share of the work done!  However I don't want to ruin my minis, so has anyone tried this out?

Cheers


-Moronguhl

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Great Scott!

As long as the air gun functions correctly and does not 'spit' paint, then you should be fine if you water down the paint to the consistency of milk.

Then do a few test runs on some spare Rhinos to make sure you have the distance correct.

I thought it was good till my spray gun refused to kick out any more paint. If I get it to work again, I will definately take it up again.

Hope this helps

Cheers...

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Frogbear is responsible for...
Previous World Eaters
Previous Emperor's Children
Previous Death Guard
Previous Imperial Fists
Previous Chaos Squats

It really depends on what you are going to use it for, how much you want to spend, and how many models you are going to be painting.  Everything I've heard about GW's Spray Gun is that it is over priced, and under performs.  Here are some opinions from over on Dakkadakka:
Dakka Thread #1

And this really long one, but this thread helped me make my decision:
Dakka Thread #2

I ended up buying an airbrush, but I paint more than just Epic Scale and it has been a huge time saver.

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"I think that's how that works, wait get the rule book..."

Double action air brush with compressor will work very well, particularly on vehicles. The importance of the compressor is that it allows you to burn 'propellant' without too much concern -- e.g. cleaning the airbrush by spraying a bottle of water/cleaning solution, or playing around with miniatures (old rhinos) to learn how to use the thing.

This is much more of a problem if you feel you need to conserve pressure, for example because you're using propellant cans.

There was a guide to airbrushing GHQ minis -- smaller and finer models than GWs.  Their suggestion was not to use any primer, just multiple (thin) coats of your base color, but to bake the painted vehicle in the oven (at 250 degrees F) for 10-15 minutes: this drying process helped bond the paint to the bare metal.

I've been finding that a dual action airbrush can paint block colors on 10mm figures: cloaks, flags, etc.  As well, the airbrush gives some very nice shading effects because the paint tends to collect on raised portions of the figure.

Cheers folks, I've heard varied reports on the spray gun, some good some bad, but I might for a basic badger spray gun as they seem a bit more flexible for about the same price.

May end up going for GW as at least I can go in and bang my fist down, we shall see.

Cheers again.

-Moronguhl

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Great Scott!

As Carrington says.

Whatever your choice is, just remember to dilute a lot the paint (that's why sometimes citadel paint is not suited for airbrush, not enought pigment, either too thick or doesn't cover. Foundation works well because highly pigmented, but you must dilute it A LOT). Better test on paper than on a mini at first !

Here is what you can get with vallejo air paint (diluted with 1/3 demineralized water+alcohol) and a double action airbrush.
But for basecoating a single action is enough (soft edged camo would be harder but you can use mask made of paper or blue tac).

If it's just really for basecoating, maybe you can check army painter spray paint to get your base color too.

Army Painter spray paint is good, just make sure you shake the can for a solid 10 minutes or so, or else you won't be happy with the results (globs of paint covering all your detail).  Vallejo makes a line of airbrush ready paints called "Model Air Paints."  I use them for all my base coating needs as they are ready to use right out of the bottle.

A single action brush would be all you need for basecoating, but I would counsel to stay away from propellent cans.  What you will end up spending on cans (depending on how much you paint) will quickly balance out the cost of a hobby compressor or even a cheap compressor from harbor freight Compressor or even just a volume bottle you fill up at the gas station Volume Bottle over the life of your mini painting career.

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"I think that's how that works, wait get the rule book..."