Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Daz's Airbrush Learning Curve - I



Been quiet for a bit so I thought I might share my fun and games with the airbrush.

On my first run I used some VGC Scab red and mixed it roughly (probably more than 1-1) in a plastic cup and tipped it into the brush (only about to a third of the cup on the brush). No problems except for running out of paint quick smart and mixing again to finish one half of those modular hills.

Fast forward to Monday... I got all prepped to base coat two Rhinos and spent a good 40 minutes masking up the tracks (next time I won’t bother...I think I will just use some paper to have a moving mask and re-brush the over spray).

I extracted 7ml of Necron Abyss and 3.5ml of the Tamiya Acrylic Thinners using some oral syringes and put the mix into an empty Vallejo bottle. Mixed it up and finished prepping my work area. When I went to put some paint into the cup of the brush it came out OK for about two drops then it came out like a solidified clump mess. Basically like grease. I wasn't impressed - *Sad Panda*.

Anyway, I tried again using Isocol (rubbing alcohol) into a plastic cup at about 1:1 (another 3 ml of Necron Abyss) and the mix still quite thick and had little 'clumps' and chucks of Necron abyss. The GW Foundation really didn't like Isocol.

I got pretty annoyed at this and proceed to pack up and rip the masking tape off the tracks, just in case it got stuck (and taking off the undercoat to boot).

I have since found out that Tamiya Thinners reacts with GW Foundation by forming it into a solid. Apparently water and Windex is the go here. I am really feeling bummed out about the whole exercise right now and nearly just took to the tanks with a brush instead. However, I picked up two more pots of Necron Abyss and will give it another go on the coming weekend.

I will keep everyone posted.

4 comments:

  1. I recently got an airbrush and am really intimidated by all the products and methods out there. It's really hard to find any good info on just how to paint with an airbrush using existing model paints.

    Check out this video from Awesome Paint Job

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh5Hb1hq07M&playnext_from=TL&videos=walk4DPWLs0

    Hope that helps. Good luck!

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  2. Indeed, this is what happens when you mix tamiya thinners with GW Foundations.
    The windex method will work a treat tho. Also be very careful doing oil paint based washes over GW foundations, nasty things can happen if you get too heavy handed.

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  3. Thanks guys. I picked up some more Necron Abyss to have another bash on the weekend and plan on giving it a go with Windex. Hopefully it goes ok. :)

    I am assuming the Tamiya Thinners is ok with regular GW stuff?

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  4. Hi Dude. Have you seen the Citadel guide to painting tanks? There is a camo scheme in there for deserts or red oxide environments, it looks good and I think it would work on your table. I can email a photo if you like.

    ReplyDelete

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