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Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone can walk me through applying primer using an airbrush.

So far, I have connected the airbrush and I gotten a sense of the trigger control. That it. Basically, I'm new to airbrushing and I want to get started with primer, starting with bases and then moving to figures. I have read up a lot on airbrushing so I no the beginner advice; however, I am interested in hearing any advice specific to airbrushing primer (Vallejo, airbrush primer grey).

Thanks!

Its mostly a matter of practice. Start with some figs that arent that important, and go to town.

Less paint flow is better than too much, since its alot easier to put down more paint than it is to take paint off

Wear a pair of disposable gloves if you dont want paint on your fingers. With priming you often have to hold the mini up and move it around to get the best coverage.

Awesome, thanks for the advice. How might I reduce paint flow?

reduce paint flow by not pulling back so much on the trigger. Pushing down is air flow, pulling back is paint flow. Some airbrushes like the Paasche Talon have a knob on the back so that you can set the maximum distance you can pull back so that you avoid applying too much paint.

As MoM's said, practice on some unimportant models first to get a feel for your airbrush and how it works.

Thanks a lot! Like I said, I'm a newbie with an air brush. I bought it last year and I only tested it yesterday. I understand MofM's advice better now. My airbrush has that knob too, so it'll be easier to control the flow. I don't have a single mini to practice on though. I may need to buy a coloring book, lol.

hey AesSedai what type on airbrush do you own? and compressor?

It's hard to explain. Everything is in Japanese, instructional video is useless, labeling ditto. Any info on this equipment would help.

I'm 95% sure this is what I have:

http://www.hlj.com/product/ATXAPC001R

http://www.hlj.com/product/ATXMJ726

At current exchange rates that compressor is $181 US which is way overpriced, and it makes the airbrush $90 which again is rather high. Perhaps the Japanese economy is nothing like the US economy.

Hey aetheran, I stopped making direct comparisons based on exchange rates long ago...when 5 banana's cost $2.98 USD (i just did the conversion) there is really no point. I live in the most expensive city in the world. However, consider I make roughly double the income I'd be making back home, and I'm taxed less than half as well. Suffice it to say, I'm still ahead lol!

What about the specs though? Good system?

I have the American equivalent of the compressor and it works just fine, although they tend to get very hot if you use them for more than 5 minutes at a time. So be mindful of that when priming and base coating an entire unit at once.

That airbrush should do just fine for what you are doing with it.

Great, thanks for the advice! Is there anything I should do differently when priming via airbrush? Do I need to thin the primer? Their is a particular ratio of thinning agent to paint you recommend? I noted this ratio Is what the hardcore gundam modellers recommend:

4:1:5 model color : thinner : airbrush cleaner.

Thoughts?

I don't thin the primer at all, but this requires a little extra care when cleaning as it will inevitably dry on the needle a little.

I only thin depending on how thick the paint is to begin with, and then it's usually 1:1 with thinner. Currently I use windex but AB medium or thinner works a little better.

The biggest upsides to priming with an airbrush are that you get an insanely thin smooth finish and you never get problems with gritty spray paints or with humidity. I prime everything by airbrush these days, as well as major base coats like silver on my High Elves spearmen.

I'm totally going to start priming via airbrush. Thin coats means sharper detail, though I rarely have I had a problem in this regard.

You're a knowledgable guy in matters of P and M, so could you tell me if the "tooth" is any different when priming wia airbrush?

I prime with a roughly 1 to 0.5-0.75 mix of primer to thinner - gives you a much thinner, more controlled coat than spray painting and dries a lot faster too.

What primers is everyone using?

I have not yet found (looked for ) an airbrush primer and have instead been using decanted spray primers, so no need for mixing here!

It has its down side, fumes are stiil pretty strong and ideally I would like to swap over to something water based so that I can spray indoors. Any suggestions?

I use the Vallejo grey primer.

Vallejo grey primer is well reviewed. I'm planning to begin using it myself.

If your concerned about too much paint comming out, you can also control your paint by ajusting the amount of PSI your putting through your airbrush. Typically 18-10 psi is adiquate for most mini's however if your working on tanks ect i like to jump it up to about 30-45 psi.

Anyone ever used Gesso out of an airbrush?

AesSedai wrote:Vallejo grey primer is well reviewed. I'm planning to begin using it myself.

This is how I prime all of my models. I even thin it a little with Liquitex Airbrush Medium because I am used to airbrushing with a certain consistency but I'm not even sure it's necessary to thin. I do this indoors and this is my only means of priming these days. I would recommend it to anyone that uses an airbrush.

dreyco wrote:Anyone ever used Gesso out of an airbrush?

I have been expirementing with exactly this. I have tried 1:1 of Golden Gesso and Golden Airbrush Medium. When I tried it initially it came out in spatters a bit too much for my liking and I went back in the house cleaned my brush in disgust. I go back to my work bench the next day and the stuff has evened out very nicely and the details are super sharp. I need to play around with the ration of gesso to airbrush medium and the PSI on the compressor. So far the outcome is very promising though IMO. I just have not had time to mess with it again since then.

Nice one fellas, not sure how that Vallejo primer got past me.

Happy to help!

This is all you need:



BTW - regarding the 'tooth'... I've used the Vallejo Grey Primer for a while now and it has plenty. Keep in mind though, if you spray it on too 'wet' it will have a more glossy finish, which hasn't necessarily been a problem for me, but generally speaking a glossy finish will have less 'tooth'.

Here is one I sprayed on too fast and too wet... as you can see it is a bit more glossy. That said, I had really no problems painting over it.

Grunzhard, you've been a big help, thanks.

I noticed the small bottle. Any reason not to get the bigger variety?

AesSedai wrote:Grunzhard, you've been a big help, thanks.

I noticed the small bottle. Any reason not to get the bigger variety?

No reason at all except I was too stupid to notice they made a larger bottle at the time I ordered 12 small ones haha. The big bottle looks like the same stuff to me though.

Anyone found a US based company that carries the Vallejo gray primer on their web site? I have yet to find it in the likely places. I have seen it on UK sites all the time, but for some reason here in the states it is elusive to me.

I'm not in Americaland so I can't suggest any stores, but you can get it from Maelstrom Games with free world wide shipping if you want a few things (so long as it is not GW stuff ).

Synchro wrote:Anyone found a US based company that carries the Vallejo gray primer on their web site? I have yet to find it in the likely places. I have seen it on UK sites all the time, but for some reason here in the states it is elusive to me.

I find it sells out quick. I got some from the Warstore, but I called him once when I was having trouble finding it and he said it was sold out for every US retailer somehow. Anyway, I have no idea if that is true ...but I check back there every now and then. The other place I look is Warweb.com.