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Hi guys !

I have an airbrush, and I use it to undercoat my minis, or to paint large areas. Now I would like to begin painting smaller parts, fine details.

I use a 0.3mm set : nozzle and needle. I would like to know which size (0.2mm or 0.3mm?) you use to paint more detailed figs.

Thanks !

I believe the Sotar F is a .20mm, so that's what I use. Whether that's the ideal size for you is another issue. I have no idea what you tend to spray or how, which makes a big difference. Finer needles are capable of finer lines, but it's on the user to actually achieve them - I'm sure there are experienced airbrush painters that could detail circles around me with a .05mm Patriot.

Finer needles are also more fragile and finer nozzles more temperamental (in terms of pigment grain size and paint viscosity), meaning a smaller size could potentially hamper your ability to paint details. .03mm should be able to handle just about anything you want to do, at this scale. If you like your current setup, just keep using it - with practice and experimentation, it can likely serve for more detailed spraying, as well.

Thanks for your answer.

Till now, I only paint wide surfaces :





I would like to develop my skills on Space Marines size figurines.

I use Vallejo Air Serie, and I never had problems with. What brand of paint do you use with your airbrush ?

 meecham63 wrote:
I would like to develop my skills on Space Marines size figurines.

I use Vallejo Air Serie, and I never had problems with. What brand of paint do you use with your airbrush ?

You can use a .3mm needle to paint a space marine just fine; that needle size is a good all-around size that is pretty versatile.

I use all manner of paints in my airbrushes: Vallejo (all of them), Citadel, P3, Reaper, Minitaire, Tamiya and Alclad.

I think it must depend heavily on the brush you are using. I'm using a 0.35mm needle in a cheap chinese brush. I can do lines down to about 3mm wide, if I do quick slashes I can probably go down to about 1mm but it's not practical on most models.

I've been thinking of picking up a 0.2 for doing my 15mm tanks and also picking up something bigger (I think 0.5?) for varnishing and priming as I feel like I'm fighting too much and having to thin too far to paint varnishes and primers.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I think it must depend heavily on the brush you are using. I'm using a 0.35mm needle in a cheap chinese brush. I can do lines down to about 3mm wide, if I do quick slashes I can probably go down to about 1mm but it's not practical on most models.

I've been thinking of picking up a 0.2 for doing my 15mm tanks and also picking up something bigger (I think 0.5?) for varnishing and priming as I feel like I'm fighting too much and having to thin too far to paint varnishes and primers.

Paasche has a kit that's about $110 with a nice Talon gravity-fed airbrush, preset handle, and 3 needles (plus accompanying nozzles) -- I think they are 0.25, 0.38 and 0.66mm. The last one is actually very forgiving on non-airbrush paints that are inconsistently thinned (for example, Citadel). It's a nice kit, and as a bonus, there is even a 0.20mm needle available that's less than $20 with the nozzle.

Mostly, I like my Iwata 0.35mm and 0.30mm as my "go-to" airbrushes. I find that I rarely use my new Iwata 0.20mm. It can definitely draw little lines a little easier, but you have to fight with it a little more, and most of the time, if you have to use a stencil/shield/mask, or if you're going to fix edges with a paintbrush, it doesn't actually matter.

Talys wrote:
Paasche has a kit that's about $110 with a nice Talon gravity-fed airbrush,

It does seem like Paasche are more expensive in Australia, I prefer to buy stuff from my local store when I can (because he's helped and supported me a lot while I've been frequenting his store), but it seems the RRP on that Paasche set is almost $230, not sure what my local guy could get it for because he doesn't have it listed on his site (I'm pretty sure he could get it as he stocks a lot of Paasche stuff). Shipping it from the USA seems to be more like $150 including shipping.

At present I use these sizes

.4 for base coating and priming larger surfaces
.2 for base coating and priming single minis & doing all-round paintwork
.15 for detailing, highlights shading and such.

I use a Harder & Steenbeck Evolution Silverline

Ok, I use a chinese ine, HD-130, I bought it for approx. 30$, so this is not a professional too

Thanks all for your answers, I appreciate your help.

Speaking about paint, does anybody use Vallejo Air serie ? Do you use a thinner, even if they are already designed for airbrush ?

 meecham63 wrote:
Speaking about paint, does anybody use Vallejo Air serie ? Do you use a thinner, even if they are already designed for airbrush ?

I usually don't use thinner with Vallejo's Air series, I think I have at some time but don't really remember why. If it is mixed properly you shouldn't need to.

I have a few VMA paints and the Vallejo airbrush thinner. I wouldn't consider additional thinning a strict necessity, but I'll often add a drop or two of thinner, since I'm mostly spraying their metallics from a .20mm nozzle. I love their thinner for diluting other paints, though - it works a treat on VGC, PU primers, and the odd Citadel color I want to spray.

I use .35 on everything. I had a .2 and found it was not necessary and was more prone to clogging.

I also found that I had to re-learn "how much to pull back and push down" all over again when swapping to a different brush if that makes sense. I sold the .2 and stuck with the .35 and have developed better trigger control.

 meecham63 wrote:
Speaking about paint, does anybody use Vallejo Air serie ? Do you use a thinner, even if they are already designed for airbrush ?

I use VMA and pretty much always thin them. There's a couple of paints in my collection that are randomly thinner than others that I don't need to thin further (Fiery Orange for some reason). But the others, yeah, I thin them just a little bit. If I don't thin them I fine they clog more frequently and aren't suitable for doing fine detail work. If I'm just basecoating and don't care if I get a bit of splatter and want better coverage with each pass I might not thin... but even then I usually will still add a drop of thinner just to keep it flowing better.

I love the 0.15 on my H&S infinity. Can do so much with it. Get some vallejo thinner. It is so much better than tamiya. Also, if you ever try airbrushing metallics (which I highly recommend). Use the army painter metallics (which are absolutely brilliant). ANd thin in a 3:2 thinner to paint ratio. Stunning results.

Sorry about the tangent, but for details 0.15 mm without question.

Thanks for your help guys.

I'm gonna stick to my 0.3mm and improve my technique