wary torrent
Hi, returning to the hobby after 15 years off, giving airbrushing a go.
So yeah total noob, tried to watch as much as I can on the concept before I’ve gone in to it but all/any feedback welcomed to help me improve.
Got the colour combo advice from someones mini’s who i liked the look of
sand dew
looks nice but it's possible to get a less spotty zenithal if that's something you want.
there are multiple methods to get there but basically you want smaller droplets.
Thinned artists inks can get pretty small droplets but usually require one of the below:
High pressure (to atomize better) and a finessed trigger control so you don't flood the mini
Close range (to reduce spread) but low pressure so you don't flood the mini.
I prefer the former but both work. The former only works on a double-action airbrush, but basically you pull back the trigger very lightly in rapid short bursts so you get a tight spread with little paint and the paint is allowed to dry between bursts. If you pull back too much or keep it open for too long paint will start flooding the mini (which looks really bad).
Why I prefer it though is that with close range it can get a bit hard to get the angle right and if you get too close you'll get the flooding again and if you go too far you'll get a dotty finish. The former just requires you practice and it's always the same so it's easy to do over and over.
wary torrent
looks nice but it's possible to get a less spotty zenithal if that's something y...
Yes absolutely would love to have a less grainy looking model! I was at 20 psi and tried to thin. What did i do wrong exactly?
If i wanted to stick to the vallejo paint for now, what would be my best option?
wary torrent
Why I prefer it though is that with close range it can get a bit hard to get the...
Fine to practice, i only did the 1 boy as a test 😁 figured better to go slow and ask for tips
Or was your advice for both ink and acrylic?
sand dew
I haven't tried the close range method with acrylic paints, just acrylic inks but the high PSI version works with paints too.
paints will just generally be less fluid to begin and might have less finely ground pigment.
in theory both should work.
by using paint instead of ink, you'll have to thin more to get the same fluidity which means the pigment won't be as strong and you'll have to spray more in the same place to get the same amount of color.
wary torrent
Ok. So i’ll give high pressure a go. When you say high? 5 or 10 or 20 increment?
That makes sense, i did think about the inks but before i rush to buy ALLLL the things I wanna make sure I stick it through first 😅
sand dew
There are so many unknown parameters here so it's hard to give recipe type recommendations but I would try:
30 psi, thin the paint more than you think (you can dial it back by adding more paint if nothing is happening to the model) and then be very light on the finger when pulling back, shooting in small bursts of a fraction of a second at maybe 2 bursts per second.
Spray on something you don't care about so much. If your mini gets super wet and flooded with paint so it's running down the mini you're spraying too long or too rapidly and need to let it dry in between.
I think marco frisoni has a youtube video showing it in action, hold on...
https://youtu.be/FninJVxExlY?list=PLQybQSJNR3RXWGD-RGXauP80RO2IgqYzl&t=212
something like what he's explaining here
he even goes as high as 36 psi apparenlty
wary torrent
Great thank you. Second boy will be sacrificed tomorrow! 😂
sand dew
but parameters affecting this are:
This is why it's so damn hard in the beginning with using an airbrush because the recipes almost never work.
I almost lost faith in the beginning because I couldn't get the result I wanted and it was so hard to know which of these parameters were wrong as changing one thing changes multiple things
wary torrent
but parameters affecting this are:
- what airbrush you have, what needle width
-...
sand dew
yeah... I have no idea how all those parameters weigh together, so you'll have to figure it out 🙂
wary torrent
I almost lost faith in the beginning because I couldn't get the result I wanted ...
Yeah fair. Thats the sense im getting? Luckily I have time and just want to take it slow and learn
wary torrent
yeah... I have no idea how all those parameters weigh together, so you'll have t...
Hahah ok yeah that was dumb of me to assume i just submitted my answers and you magically knew the recipe
sand dew
it's unlike almost anything else in the hobby, just because there are so many inter-depdent parameters...
for example:
If you increase the range enough you'll start getting splotchy results because the droplets collide in air and form bigger blobs. You'll also hit a much wider area of the mini because you're firing in a cone.
but if you increase pressure the cone will be more stable as the droplets are flying at a higher velocity so you can effectively spray at greater range. However, if you increase pressure you'll pull more paint out of the airbrush meaning more paint will hit the model in shorter time. If enough paint hits the model in short enough time paint won't dry in time and you'll start getting flooding.
What also can happen with high PSI is that if you haven't thinned the paint enough the higher friction from the air will dry the paint while in the air causing it to start dusting and spider webbing instead....
Like every lever you pull affects 3+ things so it's so hard to at random figure out what is the right combination of levers.
for me, I finally found something that worked by watching videos and experimenting and that point it became just so much easier, because then I had a point I knew worked to start from and I could just pull one lever at a time to get different effects if that makes sense.
So what I'm saying is, even if it feels really hard at first and you want to give up, persevere and you'll figure it out sooner or later. If you need to take a break in between though because it's too frustrating, that's ok too 🙂
...or maybe you're just lucky and it all works out right away 😄
sorry for the essay 😅
As for aiming...
You'll get better at it the more you airbrush. I used to use any excess paint after I was done to draw stuff on the back the box I was airbrushing in to practice, not sure if that's necessary though 😅
wary torrent
sorry for the essay 😅
Dont apologise this is super helpful!
wary torrent
As for aiming...
You'll get better at it the more you airbrush. I used to use a...
Great idea. Thankfully my dexterity and hand eye Im confident with, its the brain training and eye to spot the issue i definitely need to learn!
Lets see how tomorrows poor boy turns out 😂
Ps that italian guy is great, his absolute yoyo voice with his inflections are amazing
sand dew
I found his whole series on airbrushes to be very helpful though some parts it took me a while until I could take in.
his "speed paint" videos also have some pretty amazing results though the one time I tried to replicate it I kind of failed and gave up 😂
but he uses airbrush a lot in his processes so I've still been able to pick up a lot of useful tidbits for my own projects.
good luck!
wary torrent
but he uses airbrush a lot in his processes so I've still been able to pick up a...
should i try switching to the 0.2 needle with this shift to thinner/higher pressure too?
sand dew
if you're priming it's nice to have a 0.3+
oh btw... just in case you're doing it, don't use white primer for the white part. Only use primer for the bottom most layer.
The reason is that primer is as non-smooth as it gets when it comes to paint. It's priority is not smooth thin application but adhesion.
so as long as your bottom layer is primer, you're fine.
wary torrent
so as long as your bottom layer is primer, you're fine.
Im using bone white Vallejo 👍 then regular white vallejo (not primer) for the dry brush
wary torrent
it's unlike almost anything else in the hobby, just because there are so many in...
So its not zenithal stuff (that’ll be tonight), but even with the speckles i think the general approach has gone ok on that first test
wary torrent
Although v annoyed at my lazy/fail of an edge highlight on the shoulder armour. Had to make a call so i rush it n then slipped 🤦🏻♂️
sand dew
yeah... like, the speckles don't HAVE to be bad. I generally like a speckle free finish if I'm doing transparent stuff over, but in some cases it actually can add some extra interest to a material.
also, if you're just using it as a sketch and painting over completely with opaque paints it doesn't matter so much at all really.
but the orc looks good! didn't notice the edge highlight until you pointed it out
wary torrent
but the orc looks good! didn't notice the edge highlight until you pointed it ou...
i groaned the moment my brush smushed in to it! 😂
sand dew
a tip when doing edge highlights btw is to have your brush quite dry, almost as dry as if you're drybrushing and then rub the side of the brush against the mini. by having the brush dry a lot less paint will transfer to the mini so you might have to do multiple strokes with the brush but you get a lot of control of how thin the edge highlight becomes. You can also use it to apply a stronger edge highlight in a certain part of the edge (where light would be caught more)
wary torrent
a tip when doing edge highlights btw is to have your brush quite dry, almost as ...
makes a lot of sense, thanks
wary torrent
1st attempt 😂 bit trigger happy…but then!!!
@sand dew thanks so much these are way better, especially in person
Had to pump up to 40psi but Frisoni’s videos were great. Once i figured out the MUCH further distance to spray at it was a dream. Felt like way more graduated control too. Really good
Figure ive now spotted issues with my priming too that this will solve, this paint dries on the models almost perfectly as it lands, whereas before it was getting wet, or taking ages
sand dew
great 🙂
yeah, PSIs also depend on what airbrush you have etc etc
to be able spray closer (which can be nice for precision) it should work to be even lighter on the trigger and doing the bursts shorter. It gets wet when too much paint at once hits the minis so it doesn't try fast enough.
patent bison
Im using bone white Vallejo 👍 then regular white vallejo (not primer) for the d...
If you can get your hands on it Liquitex Titanium White Acrylic Ink is great for Zenithal.
Might be worth trying in the future.
wary torrent
If you can get your hands on it Liquitex Titanium White Acrylic Ink is great for...
had considered it, just didnt want to spend on ALL the things at once before i knew i was going in the right direction with it.
Plus i got a guide on a colour palette from someones colourscheme i liked, and it was a brown undercoat with bone over the top, shame i couldnt see a liquitex bone colour to use
wary torrent
dumb q, if i do go for some inks... to make a Bone colour, yellow and white? or do i need some brownish?
patent bison
dumb q, if i do go for some inks... to make a Bone colour, yellow and white? or ...
If you want to make a ivory/bone color there's a yellow oxide that Liquitex makes for their acrylic inks that's like a warm brownish yellow. You'd need to play around with ratios but that'd probably be the color to mix in.
wary torrent
If you want to make a ivory/bone color there's a yellow oxide that Liquitex make...
Nice thanks!
sand dew
had considered it, just didnt want to spend on ALL the things at once before i k...
as much as I like white ink, that's a healthy impulse to have 🙂
wary torrent
as much as I like white ink, that's a healthy impulse to have 🙂
Had no time for pictures but i am sooo happy with my results now. Will take pics on the weekend
Marco Frisoni!!! So good
sand dew
hehe, great 🙂
wary torrent
hehe, great 🙂
The guy with the big Jaw armour was my final tweak and by far the best
rich chasm
What paints are u using?
wary torrent
What paints are u using?
Prime: German Red Brown Primer
Zenithal: Bone White
Then vallejo xpress paints
rich chasm
thx man
wary torrent
thx man
Np. Deox gave me his full breakdown from his awesome models, so im sharing the info and progress on my own attempt at it.
rich chasm
mm
wary torrent
Coming along