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 guys

I'm thinking of getting a citadel paint gun to base coat my tanks and sentinels with Graveyard Earth? Have you guys had much experience? Is it worthwhile? If it works it'd save me hours of slapping on Graveyard Earth...!

It will save you time but it applies paint like a spray can so you will burn through paint in no time plus air cans are going to cost a bit too.

I would suggest a big brush since it must be easier/cheaper but if you want to get one I saw that Hobbycraft had them in their clearance section.

I would do you a disservice if I didn't suggest that an airbrush would be better suited to your tAsk, the outlay is more but you will save over time. This is what I used for the half dozen Sentinels I have in my Sentinwall army.

Actually, this was very recently covered in another post just the other day.

I wouldn't bother. Get a cheap airbrush (base-coating is a siphon feed job, Badger 250- http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX8167&P=FR), and a cheap, 1 gallon air compressor (http://www.harborfreight.com/3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-pancake-air-compressor-95275.html)

Total cost: ~$100 ($20 airbrush, $60 compressor, $3 1/4" airbrush adapter to connect the 2, taxes)

Base coat like a master, eventually increase airbrush skills with better airbrush that does better details, paint amazing minis, live happily ever after.

IF this is out of your range, I would do as notprop suggested, and get a big paint-brush.

Airbrush was a great investment, especially after my friend decided that he wanted to repaint his ENTIRE swarm nid army green

Or if you don't fancy splashing out on an airbrush, it might be worth looking for a different brand spray paint in a similar shade of brown. That would be a lot cheaper, and probably as good or better than the citadel spray gun.

It should be easy to find a colour like that given its similarity to WWII tan. I bet there are even loads of sprays in that colour, which are specifically for model tanks.

i was originally goin to buy an airbrush and compressor but with Christmas being here I don't have much spare money just now so I decided to go with the citidel spray gun until I could alford a compressor. Theres been a lot of people bitching bout the citidel one but after I used it I was pleasantly surprised, I have base coated 10tact marines 10devastators 5 assault marines and a rhino and I have only used up 3/4 tub of dark angels green and less than half a propellant can. Today I also gave all the models a wash of thaka green using the spray gun apart from the rhino and turned out brilliantly. Only thing is when you first use it make sure you do a test spray on some scrap so you know that you have the right setting also if using normal gw paints not the foundation paints just water it down slightly till its a bit milky looking and do two thin coats one after the first is dry rather than one thick coat. Also when washing I find it best to add one or 2 drops of water to the was but no more than that.

The problem is that the GW spray gun is ONLY good for base coating. It can't do anything else. No detail at all. And you can't even control the size of the spray, so you better hope the entire model is gonna be the same color.

And then there's over spray, which is just wasted paint, the cost of air cans, the cost of the gun itself.

On ebay you can get a basic airbrush for $30 and a compressor for $50 and those will last you years of service.

Why limit yourself to a tool that does one job when you could save a little money and buy a tool that does many jobs?

You could also look into the army painter coloured primers.

It should be dually noted that the GW batch sprayer is just a re-packaged Badger 350. It does exactly what it's meant to do, in that sense it's a perfect product. Get an after-market braided hose and you'll be happy with it.

It is *NOT* an airbrush.

For a proper airbrush I'd personally recommend an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS. Absolutely phenominal product at a fairly decent pricepoint. ~$120USD

A Paasche Talon does the same thing for $115!!!

which includes 3 needle sizes, a fan spray tip, hose, tools and a storage case(which I seem to have lost).

I'm just partial to my precious, I'm sure the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS is just as good.

Yeah, we're all pretty attached to our fancy tools.

I had a Testors Aztec once.... I hated it with a passion. Expensive poorly fabricated piece of junk. Guy at my hobby shop raved about it. Ne'er again.

You can also find some decent basic syphon airbrushes on eBay for under 10 bucks +SH. new in box even.
If your doing tanks with a basic camo pattern the AB works great beyond just bsecoating (play with it for a few days on some scrap to get used to the spray patterns and coverage vs range issues...get used to the thing. It also helps you figure out the best dillution mix for your paint...start at 50/50 water to GW paint. Over time everyone develops their own "perfect" mix).
To paint a basic camo pattern prime the model. while most reccomend either black or white (depending on your depth of color) I like using grey. JMHO.
Then work in reverse.
Spray on camo color 1. Let dry. Overlay where you want that color with painters tape or even chuncks of Play-Do for a more natural curvy look.
Then spray on camo color 2. Again, overlay where you want that color to remain.
Then spray on your base color. Once its tacky (be careful about leaving fingerprints) peal off the tape/play-do/whatever you used and you now have a 3 color camo scheme.
Apply decals.
Next either spray or brush on your wash.
Use a brush to apply details and a dry brush to add just enough dust/dirt to taste (some people like factory fresh paint jobs others huge gobs of mud around the tracks...to each their own but consider how your troops are based...it looks silly for the tanks to be covered in mud while the troops are walking on a golf course or in the desert).
Over the course of 2 days ( a few hours each day) you could easily paint an entire IG Mech force.
Doing the entire army in one batch also alleviates any issues with having an off-color model due to the paint used over time coming from different batches.

Syphon feeds are paint wasters for this hobby. They are fine if you are airbrushing a very large piece like a baneblade or a table. But there is a minimum amount of paint needed just for the syphon to work, and you will end up wasting paint that doesn't get fed to the brush.

Gravity feed is the way to go for miniatures painting.

canadianbigshot wrote:

I had a Testors Aztec once.... I hated it with a passion. Expensive poorly fabricated piece of junk. Guy at my hobby shop raved about it. Ne'er again.

I've never heard a good thing said about those.