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Hi guys !

After weeks of rain, I have finally been able to try my brand new airbrush on my brand new grey knights. My first coat was a black one, for undercoating, and the result is quite good.




Then, the second layer was with chainmail, and this was a bit more difficult, the "metallic like" paint seem to be more difficult to airbrush :




Pictures are not very good : dor real, the paint is really more smoothed, without granula effect.

This was just the base color, so I am also happy with the result. But do you guys use a special technique / thinner to use with this kind of paint ?

I used a thinner : 2/3 liquitex matt medium (not the airbrush one), and 1/3 (80% distilled water + 20% isopropyl alchool). My ratio was 6 parts thinner + 1 part paint.

Any suggestions ?

Having not been game enough to airbrush metallics myself yet (I'll probably do that on one of the Baneblades really) I'm not sure how much I can help but what brand/type of metallic paint did you use?

It is the Citadel Chain mail

Metallics are somewhat harder to airbrush because of the metallic parts in the paint. They tend to clog the nozzle. I would recommend that you buy vallejo model colour air for the airbrush, especially the metal ones. You still need to thin them down somewhat, but at least the paint doesn't clog as often as a normal paint.

Also, you shouldn't use alcohol in acrylic paints, that way the paint dries out a lot quicker. I would recommend that you use an airbrush thinner like vallejo or MIG.

I can't really say anything usefull about the models since the picture is not of enough quality

water the paint down more. airbrushing with thick metallic paint doesnt look very good and can actually fuzz up on you pretty easily like a bad coat of primer.

a watery heavy layer may look odd at first but once it dries it will be all smooth and shiney and nice looking. You will probably need to do a few coats depending on what metallic you're using.

Ok guys, thanks for your advises. Will post a pic of the fig once finished tonight to show the result

I think that you are watering down your paint a lot to avoid clogging and you get some kind of patchy effect. Post some better pics so we can provide some more advice .

And finally :





I know it is not perfect, but for me it is a good tabletop standard

Looks cool, thanks for sharing.

There appears to be a slight graininess to the base coat, but that could just be the lighting.

As mentioned, you can thin just about anything (I really like the golden brand airbrush medium) - easier results come from actual airbrush paints most of the time.

I too use the vma metalics, they are quite good.

I recently started using minitaire paints as well, and while overall I like them a lot, I have not used the metallics yet.

I've used the Vallejo Air metallics, but I didn't like the look of them - they're too flaky. My Grey Knights are done with GW metallics, thinned down with Vallejo Glaze Medium. Also allowed me to get a more consistent look with the rest of the army already done with GW metallics. The blue shading done on the vehicles is still done with some of the blue Vallejo Air metallic paint mixed with Boltgun and glaze medium though.

Links to the results are in my signature - I used to do the metallics on the infantry models with a normal brush (I do the basecoat with the airbrush these days, but no pictures of that I think), so for the airbrush results check the Dreadknight, the Dreadnoughts and the Land Raider.

Your Grey Knights look really well painted Redemption, For the Force Weapons, did you use the tutorial of BuyPainted on Youtube ?

Thanks! Aye, I use basically the same method as BuyPainted does, although I believe he goes all the way from white through blue to black, while I just use dark blue - light blue - white (Vallejo Air colours). I did get the tip for mixing GW paint with Vallejo Glaze Medium for airbrushing from him though, works very well.

It makes the force weapons really easy to do - the only force weapons that take a little longer are the halberds and falchions because you need to cut the masking tape due to their curved blades. To get a nice cut, just use a spare blade as a guide.

So, the finished version of this Grey Knight, including your advices : details and heraldy !