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I heard airbrushing is the way to go when painting minis. I know a few people that have tried it and now they don't paint any minis without it. I heard its the only way to go to realistically paint a great looking army within a month. What does everyone think about this? Any pros or cons? Has anyone tried both airbrushing and hand painting an army? Whats best and for what reasons?


Thanks Everyone,
BRKJINN

You're not going to be able to airbrush any models, to a good level at least, that are smaller than tanks or Sentinels/Jetbikes. It's just not feasible.

However, airbrushing is a fantastic way to actually basecoat models.

Airbrushing takes alot of money and cleaning. Its also only used for things like tanks (which you can make things look amazing with) and sometimes jetbikes and such. For normal models though your model will be the same color completely. As Kanluwen said, It is fantastic for basecoating, although its probably cheeper to go with canned spray paint.

Actually you can paint mini's with an airbrush.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AImKoB10ans&videos=G32GNXFCujc

Obviously its just another tool in the list of techniques that artists use.

I really hate to break it to you, but that really just proved my point.

You can't do anything to a really acceptable standard using an airbrush only.

He does really really light highlighting(which isn't hard to do), he masks off the blade and does that only.

The rest is done with a brush.

Yea I got the idea from this forum here:

http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=73411&sid=cb004ce73b222722f885107f553e594d

Hes claims to paint all his minis with an airbrush even the models and they look great

I sincerely doubt that. He may do all the basecoating with an airbrush, but I really really really doubt he's doing it all.

Yeah Im a Noob so I dont know THAT much about the mechanics of painting to a professional standard. It was just a thought.

It's not a matter of "knowing the mechanics".

Just parts of it are completely unfeasible.

It is possible to paint an entire mini using only an airbrush.

With some skill and practice you can do lines that are thinner than a ball point pen with an airbrush but using a regular brush would be just as fast.

Most people would probably paint the main colours of the miniature with the airbrush and do some of the highlighting, then finish the rest using a regular brush.

Anyone able to paint eyes on a guardsmann with an airbrush without masking, put it on youtube. I wanna see this.

I don't think anyone is suggesting using ONLY an airbrush. Like I said, its just one tool in the artists toolkit.

That's exactly what you said with:

StubbyGB wrote:Actually you can paint mini's with an airbrush.

So anyone else? Any other thoughts?

And I cannot speak for anyone but myself,...but I did not mean to imply that the airbrush can REPLACE the paint brush. Only if it can paint just as well and possibly faster.

One of my friends own an airbrush. There very loud and only really good for the basecoat.

the loud part depends on the compressor he uses and if he uses a tank or not, mine for example is whisperquiet (sp?)
it is pretty much impossible to do all of it by hand, you áre able to do undercoats, highlights on larger areas (think the ogre pants) and vehicles.

The D500 compressors from Paasche are a not too pricey and are very quiet. Made for airbrushes but you will need a pressure guage seperately to regulatel pressure with any accuracy.

Actually an airbrush CAN replace a paintbrush, and you can achieve amazing quality results, but it is impractical for certain applications (it works really well for something like Tau, where the entire model is encased in armor, and there is not much in the way of really fine detail). I have seen, in person, the results of airbrush-only painting on eldar units, and the results were like those posted in the above link (the ogre/chaos ones), but in the words of the painter "the amount of masking I had to do to get this right would have made using a normal brush twice as fast".

Wow some very rude replies in this thread...

I also agree that you CAN paint a miniature with an airbrush. However when it comes to final details, unless you have incredible control (that comes from a LOT of experience) and a small tip nozzle, or you are willing to spend an enormous amount of time masking, then a typical brush is better to finish the model with.

That said, you can still do a bulk of the painting with your airbrush and achieve nice results in a very time efficient manner.

Thank you for the reply Gunzhard

And I agree that some people werent very polite about their "advice" in the matter

Youd think by me saying the word "airbrush" I was representing a rival gang. (LOL)

Yeaaaaahhhh...you didn't ask for advice.

You asked for opinions. And I'm telling you my opinion from having done everything from 1/48 scale aircraft to 40k and Fantasy models.

It's not feasible to do an entire army with just an airbrush. You end up having to spend in excess of $60 on masking tape alone, not to mention the hours upon hours of actually performing the masking work.

Kanluwen wrote:Yeaaaaahhhh...you didn't ask for advice. You asked for opinions.

Touche.

I asked for peoples thoughts, not their belief system. I never disagreed with you either. You make a valid point,...as do the others.



Edit: Also the word advice was in quotes. I was being sarcastic.

Kanluwen wrote:Yeaaaaahhhh...you didn't ask for advice.

You asked for opinions. And I'm telling you my opinion from having done everything from 1/48 scale aircraft to 40k and Fantasy models.

It's not feasible to do an entire army with just an airbrush. You end up having to spend in excess of $60 on masking tape alone, not to mention the hours upon hours of actually performing the masking work.

Yeeaaahhh... well in my opinion, you are wrong, and rude. The very youtube video that you poo-poo'd at the very least, shows how much time you can save with the airbrush even if you finish up with a typical brush; which is how I would recommend speed painting your army. And for the record you can do it all with the airbrush if you have the skills and experience... my Infinity will dot the eyes on an infantry model - but that is not even point.

Also one roll of Scotch-3m Painters tape (for delicate surfaces with orange ring inside) cost me less than $3 and would be suitable for an entire army worth of masking. Then of coruse if you combine airbrushing and traditional painting you don't even really need masking except for special affects like the power weapon blade.

Airbrushes do indeed have a high startup cost but they are very useful tools.

Scotch 3m Painters Tape will strip off acrylic paints. It's made for house painting, not models.

So again, you're wrong.

Oh yeah, that video that I "poo-poo'd"?

Watch it again. All he does with the airbrush is basecoating and a very light highlight.

Funny that in the same video he uses 3m painters tape, as do I with nearly every model I airbrush. You are totally speaking out of your arse dude. I can't imagine what your problem is... the guy came here for help whether it's 'advice' or 'opinion' sheesh.

Like I said though, use the one with the 'orange-ring' inside it's for 'delicate surfaces', as regular 3m tape will ruin your paint.

Except for the metallics he paints pretty much that whole model with the airbrush and the point is - he does it real fast!

He did it 5 times beforehand to get one perfect video.

Do you not pay attention, or are you just dense?

Kanluwen wrote:He did it 5 times beforehand to get one perfect video.

Do you not pay attention, or are you just dense?

lol wow dude... take it easy first of all.

Now, what is your point? ...that it takes practice to paint miniatures? Isn't that just common sense? ...isn't that the case when painting with a traditional brush?

I know I'm not perfect, and whether using an airbrush or regular brush, I usually make several test miniatures before I begin my 'assembly line' painting.

You really need to chill out man... you are gonna hurt yourself.

I'm not sure what's giving you the impression I'm actually upset by your ignorance.

What, frankly, irks me is that you're clearly not knowledgeable about the subject and are trying to give advice to someone who's actually looking into the subject as if you're a professional by clinging to a video that doesn't really do anything outside of give you a basic overview of what is going on.

He doesn't show you a quarter of what he did.

Seriously dude, you really have no idea what you are talking about and you are lashing out, quite childishly here because you don't like it... get over it and grow up.

As to the video - Sadly we don't all have video camera capabilities and the only reason that one video has been used as an example is because it is a good example, despite it's imperfections. There is no correct or perfect technique... there is only what works for you. You don't like airbrushing, good for you... maybe you hate LBursely too, that is all on you. Frankly I don't really care what you think... however I think your general attitude here sucks and you sound entirely bitter.

The undeniable fact is - the airbrush can make your work a lot easier and a lot faster. There is of course a high startup cost and a steeper learning curve than traditional painting but my statement remains true.