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Hey folks, so I've had a a few good airbrushing sessions in the last few days and I must say I love it!

If you are thinking about getting one, do it!

I thought they would be a right bother to clean and operate but my H&S Ultra 2in1 is a doddle to use and clean. Painting flat golden yellow requires a few coats to smooth out but painting imperial fists by brush would takes hours. I do however have a few questions for more experienced airbrush/painters:

1) White Vallejo polyurethane primer seems to be really soft, it seems to stand up to no abuse at all, is this normal? Is 1 coat enough? Should I do 2 or 3 instead?

Now I really want to do oil washes on my IF marines and I obviously need to varnish them first, are there any special precautions in using varnish through an airbrush? I was planning on thinning 4:1 and using about 25-30PSI, is that too high? I am using a 0.4mm needle.

2) Once I have let the varnish dry and i apply the oil washes, how long should I wait before start manipulating the wash and removing the excess? 15 minutes? 30 minutes?

3) Once I have got the finish I desire from the wash do I immediately spray on varnish to seal it? or should I wait longer for it to cure/dry?

4) For the varnishing to seal the wash should I use another coat of gloss and then matt before doing final highlights or can I use matt straight away?

I know its lots of questions but I just want to be sure about everything so I don't mess up my airbrush and/or models
Cheers

1 ) I have found it very hard BUT it needs to cure fully before painted over... at least 24 hours.

2 ) Still experimenting myself, sofar I am not satistifed.

3 ) I would wait a good while to seal it making sure that the wash is comletely dry.

4 ) Good question

1) Is it normal? Somewhat, because many people are impatient. It holds up well, but only after a full cure - 24 hours is usually perfectly workable, but more is even better. Heavy coverage isn't necessary, but full coverage is - PU primers, as I understand it, bond primarily to themselves, forming a tough skin over the model, whereas a self-etching primer would eat at the surface and grip strongly to it, directly, making even a dusting sufficient to help the next layer grip.

For varnish, no special precautions you wouldn't also have for paints, i.e. use the proper thinner/cleaner for the type (acrylic, lacquer, etc.) and don't let it dry in your airbrush. Thinning and pressure are, again like paint, dependent on the product used. Pledge FloorCare is quite thin and flowy, so I can shoot it neat at low pressure, while I would thin Vallejo Game Gloss a bit and spray at moderate pressure. I have some Testors Matte Clear from their airbrushing acrylic line that I spray neat, but I have to crank the pressure up to 25 PSI, as per the instructions. All are shot through a 0.20mm nozzle.

2) Thinned oils have a more gradual drying process than acrylics - they won't gum up on you and peel if you try to shift them between the wet and dry stages. If they move, they move; if they don't, add some thinner. The oil themselves won't set (IIRC, they oxidize to solidify, not 'cure' like acrylics) for quite some time, so you can clean up as soon as they look dry. If you start before then, you run the risk of thinner flowing into still present thinner, causing runs or removing more than intended.

3) Not sure how long an expert would recommend, but I'd give it some time, just to be sure that every last bit of solvent was gone.

4) I see no reason you couldn't go straight to matte.

 uk_crow wrote:
Hey folks, so I've had a a few good airbrushing sessions in the last few days and I must say I love it!

If you are thinking about getting one, do it!

I thought they would be a right bother to clean and operate but my H&S Ultra 2in1 is a doddle to use and clean. Painting flat golden yellow requires a few coats to smooth out but painting imperial fists by brush would takes hours. I do however have a few questions for more experienced airbrush/painters:

1) White Vallejo polyurethane primer seems to be really soft, it seems to stand up to no abuse at all, is this normal? Is 1 coat enough? Should I do 2 or 3 instead?

Now I really want to do oil washes on my IF marines and I obviously need to varnish them first, are there any special precautions in using varnish through an airbrush? I was planning on thinning 4:1 and using about 25-30PSI, is that too high? I am using a 0.4mm needle.

2) Once I have let the varnish dry and i apply the oil washes, how long should I wait before start manipulating the wash and removing the excess? 15 minutes? 30 minutes?

3) Once I have got the finish I desire from the wash do I immediately spray on varnish to seal it? or should I wait longer for it to cure/dry?

4) For the varnishing to seal the wash should I use another coat of gloss and then matt before doing final highlights or can I use matt straight away?

I know its lots of questions but I just want to be sure about everything so I don't mess up my airbrush and/or models
Cheers

What Oaidi Said.

1. The primer is tough and durable but it needs time to cure give it 24 hours at least. Also you don't need nearly as much of this stuff as you think you do. Here is an amazing breakdown of how to properly prime the model. I have read this a few times and still probably over prime http://arcanepaintworks.blogspot.com/2014/10/lessons-in-priming.html

2. Again patience is key.my rule of thumb is when it looks dry, depending on how much wash you put on it can be a day or more. If you need to do a quick clean up (like too much flowed to one spot) you can fix that right then and there).

3. Its a repeating theme. Give it bit to let the solvents evaporate. A few hours at least.

4. I usually use a matte or satin varnish to seal in the wash. I don't know about you but trying to highlight or add powders on after a gloss varnish is an exorcise in futility in my experience

Sweet, so patience is something I must learn then, will probably get a few practice models to mess up before I mess up my marines!

Test models are always a good idea. Be sure to post your (mis)adventures, if able and willing - many of us try the same general techniques in slightly different ways, so it's always helpful to see/hear about the particulars of others' successes and failures.