Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey folks,

Just wondering if anybody has experience airbrushing a Blood Angels army with Vallejo Air paints? If so, what paints would you suggest I get? I recently acquired a compressor and an airbrush and I love the power it gives you in terms of applying super awesome looking gradients and object source lighting effects (glowing green space marine eyes FTW). However, I have found that I sort of suck HUGE amounts of terrible when it comes to thinning down my standard acrylics (they happen to be Citadel paints). I also feel like I'm cleaning my airbrush way more than I should be (because of clogging I imagine). From what I understand, properly thinned paints can be changed in and out without having to worry about cleaning the brush every time. Any tips or pointers would be appreciated, but specifically what I'm looking for is Vallejo Air paints that I should use to brush Blood Angels.

Thanks!

PS - I've been watching Les at AwesomePaintJob on YouTube, as well as Buypainted (this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5-stMEMBAQ). I'm going for more or less that exact Sanguinary Guard look.

Try looking up airbrushing articles on games workshopp then dakka dakka if that doesnt work.

GW doesn't really cover airbrushing.

Vallejo Model Air Scarlet Red is a close approximation to GW Blood Red.

You can also airbrush GW washes, so I'd do VMA Scarlet Red followed by GW Gryphonne Sepia. Or you could do Devlan Mud if you wanted a darker finish.

Hmmm... I had an old tutorial that might help, but I lost the link a long time ago sorry. Try to google it. That is always a good place to start from.

A. I've always used a 50/50 mix of 90% alcohol and GW paints and been fine.

B. You can also use regular Vallejo but they need alot of mixing.

C. You can paint EYES????? with an airbrush????????????????????????????????

You shouldn't be mixing water based acrylic paints with alcohol.

And regular Vallejo paints work fine in an airbrush, they just need to be thinned properly.

aerethan wrote:You shouldn't be mixing water based acrylic paints with alcohol.

And regular Vallejo paints work fine in an airbrush, they just need to be thinned properly.

So you're saying when I'm using my Citadel paints I should just use water to thin them down? That's what I thought originally but I saw people using Windex absolutely everywhere.

Thinning for an airbrush is very different than thinning on a palette.

Use windex for your airbrush work as it will thin the paint AND keep the airbrush clean.

Windex is ammonia based and mixes quite well with waterbased acrylics. You CAN use alcohol to thin paints but it's not the best solution. High percentage isopropyl alcohol is a solvent and best saved for cleaning. Tamiya thinner works well, it happens to be methanol, butanol, isopropyl alcohol, and water. Little detergent too.
A touch of flow improver or liquid dishsoap in windex has served me quite well as an airbrush thinner for quite some time.

One of the best choices for thinning acrylic paints for airbrushing is using an airbrush medium. It thins the paint without damaging the adhesive properties.

I use Liquitex Airbrush medium for thinning all my paints and maybe a drop of water with flow improver for thicker paints.

Hope this helps,


IK-Painter

I've had an absolutely cow of a time thinning paints for my airbrush and have switched to Vallejo Model Air for the jobs I have to do for now.

I'm going to say this, and I'm going to take the flak for it: Thinning paints for an airbrush isn't nearly as easy as it's made out to be.

EDIT: I re-read your post and realised you are after painting the Sanquinary guard, the following links are mainly for painting red blood angels but may still be helpful so I'll leave them as they are.


As for matching Vallejo to GW:

Vallejo complete paint range colour chart:
http://www.vallejo.nl/gb/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.vallejo.nl/gb/vallejo/modelairchart/index.html

Colour matching service (The names are slightly off: GW Citadel Colour/GW Foundation and Vallejo Air Colour):
http://colors.silicon-dragons.com/full_line.php

Bolter and Chainsword thread about painting Blood angels using VMA:
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=189464

dave_salmon wrote:I've had an absolutely cow of a time thinning paints for my airbrush and have switched to Vallejo Model Air for the jobs I have to do for now.

I'm going to say this, and I'm going to take the flak for it: Thinning paints for an airbrush isn't nearly as easy as it's made out to be.

Dave is absolutely right - everyone is saying that thinning is very easy, but in fact it depends on so many factors. Model of Airbrush, brand of paint, way of thinning, PSI of the compressor, nozzle size - With practice you get a feel for it, what works and what doesn't, but it's in no way an exact science.

Trial and Error is the key, with a big emphasis on error the first times you try it ;-)

Another factor is technique. A good Airbrusher can achieve good results with bad materials - A beginner needs to be spot on with his materials, so he can achieve ok results.

I airbrush pretty much all my blood angels and I stick with just the standard GW paints or some P3 stuff. Thinning is trail and error but after you get some experience with the stuff, you'll be able to thin it properly just by eyeballing it. I generally use a 50/50 mix of paint to thinner ratio for GW paints. The thinner I use is a 90/10 mix of water and acrylic flow improver.

Eggroll wrote:I airbrush pretty much all my blood angels and I stick with just the standard GW paints or some P3 stuff. Thinning is trail and error but after you get some experience with the stuff, you'll be able to thin it properly just by eyeballing it. I generally use a 50/50 mix of paint to thinner ratio for GW paints. The thinner I use is a 90/10 mix of water and acrylic flow improver.

OMG Eggroll posted in a thread I started. My day = made. Seriously though, the thinner you use is mostly water? Interesting. Is the acrylic flow improver something I could pick up at my local arts and crafts store like a Michaels or something? If I can get the clogging figured out in the next week or so I'll be a happy camper. I just picked up a second brush too, thanks to aerethan for the link. Egg when are you posting another update to that most epic WIP thread of yours?

EDIT: My clogging issues really come if I have paint in my brush and I let it sit for more than a minute while I'm doing some touch up with a regular brush.

Michaels should stock Liquitex Flo-Aid which is what I use.

I add it 1:10 with water and add about 5-10 drops in EVERY new paint I get.

I also add 3 or 4 drops of Liquitex Slo-Dri retardant.

aerethan wrote:Michaels should stock Liquitex Flo-Aid which is what I use.

I add it 1:10 with water and add about 5-10 drops in EVERY new paint I get.

I also add 3 or 4 drops of Liquitex Slo-Dri retardant.

So you buy a paint and immediately dilute it with your thinning mixture? Do you dilute it again when you go to airbrush with it?

Yes. And the second one depends on how thin it is. Some of my paints are thick(like snakebite leather) and others are VERY thin(like my Calthan Brown).

Eventually you will get used to how thin it should be for airbrushing. Think skim milk.

It's funny you mention skim milk. Last night I poured a little skim milk into my paint tray to get a feel for it's viscosity, and dipped a paint brush in it to observe the drop rate off the brush. I then tried to thin out some GW Blood Red, dried the brush, dipped it in the thinned Blood Red, and compared the drop rate against the skim milk to see if I had it thinned right. That didn't seem to work though :(

peebzguy wrote:
OMG Eggroll posted in a thread I started. My day = made. Seriously though, the thinner you use is mostly water? Interesting. Is the acrylic flow improver something I could pick up at my local arts and crafts store like a Michaels or something? If I can get the clogging figured out in the next week or so I'll be a happy camper. I just picked up a second brush too, thanks to aerethan for the link. Egg when are you posting another update to that most epic WIP thread of yours?

EDIT: My clogging issues really come if I have paint in my brush and I let it sit for more than a minute while I'm doing some touch up with a regular brush.

Heh, yup my thinner is mostly water. The flow improver I use is made by Golden Acrylics but I'm sure the Liquitex that Aerethan mentioned would work just as well. I think you can get both brands at Michaels. If you don't use the airbrush for awhile and notice some clogging you can take an old paint brush and swirl it around in the bottom of the AB cup. Then blast a few times (20-30psi and pull trigger all the way back to get full paint flow) on a paper towel to clear the nozzle of the airbrush. You can also try pinching the needle tip with your fingers to clear any dried paint at the ends. Biggest thing to watch out for is some GW and other brand of paints will separate if you let it sit for awhile so swirling and mixing it up with the brush is necessary.

Not sure when my next update will be...maybe in a week or two? Not getting as much painting time these days.

dave_salmon wrote:I've had an absolutely cow of a time thinning paints for my airbrush and have switched to Vallejo Model Air for the jobs I have to do for now.

I'm going to say this, and I'm going to take the flak for it: Thinning paints for an airbrush isn't nearly as easy as it's made out to be.

EDIT: I re-read your post and realised you are after painting the Sanquinary guard, the following links are mainly for painting red blood angels but may still be helpful so I'll leave them as they are.


As for matching Vallejo to GW:

Vallejo complete paint range colour chart:
http://www.vallejo.nl/gb/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.vallejo.nl/gb/vallejo/modelairchart/index.html

Colour matching service (The names are slightly off: GW Citadel Colour/GW Foundation and Vallejo Air Colour):
http://colors.silicon-dragons.com/full_line.php

Bolter and Chainsword thread about painting Blood angels using VMA:
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=189464

That color matching service kicks amazing amounts of awesome.