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i need your thoughts on wether its better to just use spray paint to undercoat large models or to get an airbrush kit and an air compressor

Spray always worked well to me, but how large are we talking? Like, baneblade size? Warlord?

well i've got a drop pod and an entire dwarf batalion to spray

It's the same thing in the long run, compressed air and a mist of paint. An airbrush just gives you alot more control, both over the area the paint covers and the thickness of the covering.

If you have no experience with an airbrush don't expect it to give you better results than a normal spray can on your first try, it takes getting used to.

Personally I only ever have tried a friends airbrush a few times and don't think it would help you undercoat alot of dwarves quickly, but watching him use it on big vehicle kits it seemed alot easier to get in the nooks and crannys without getting too much paint in there and losing the details.

Undercoating is one thing but an airbrush has a TON of uses. I used to use it for all things vehicle related. You can get a good one cheap too.

thanks for the feedback

For primer the airbrush really isn't worth the effort. The airbrush is a lot of work to get out and set up, and then clean properly afterwards. You waste a lot of paint with an airbrush so they're best kept for essential work, like spraying in colours unavailable in aerosol and for detail and camouflage patterns.

It's nice to have access to both, but use each for jobs they're best suited for. Use a can for primer.

Buy cheap car primer and spray in light coats. Don't try to get all the crevices, just dab in acrylic gesso; there is a good article on this.

An airbrush is nice for painting vehicles and aircraft but you can get a good finish with a brush, including a lot of camouflage effects that look sprayed, by blending.

GW primer works fine if the humidity is right. Its never a bad idea to test the paint on something (Like a cardboard box) to make sure the paint is coating evenly

cool i mite just try kilkrazys idea

yea i can tell ya from experience that spray cans work rather well specially for undercoating. Ive heard that using an airbrush kit can take some practice to get down. so i guess its really a question of cost on that end

hello all, i finally decided to use a spray can! so no need for this crappy poll!!

The GW Spray Gun is perfect for basecoating, but if you're planning on ever doing more with it, an airbrush is much more flexible.