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I have painted a few guardsmen 3-4 years ago but never really got off the ground with the hobby. Lately I have been itching for a new hobby and I decided to take another look at 40k.

One thing that intimidated me away from the modelling scene was the seemingly overwhelming insistence on on having an airbrush setup. I will not argue that having an airbrush setup would allow one to pull up effects and patterns that would be hard or nigh impossible to replicate with a brush but for me personally the combination of space, time to setup and clean, learning curve, noise, need for ventilation, etc just makes what should be an enjoyable hobby really complicated. There's something about picking up a brush anytime I find some free time and going at it that sits better with me than having a rig and putting on the gloves and masks and loud equipment.

So my question is; how viable is it to paint respectable-looking vehicles with just an assortment of brushes? I am likely going to pick Death Korps of Krieg as my army, so I'm picturing very simple camo patterns (or no camo at all), muted colours and some really grungy weathering.

The only video tutorials I found on this methods were from GW themselves. Really inspiring to see what can be done with only a brush but this Duncan guy is a pro painter I'm not so I'm keeping that in mind.

The last thing I want to do is get neck-deep into the hobby only to give up again when it comes to painting my vehicles. Thoughts?

People have brush painted entire tank armies before no reason you cant.

There are certainly all sorts of camo you can do by hand as well so i dont think thats going to be an issue.

and by the nature of camo the details wont matter toooo much as it kinda melts away.

id say keep it simple.

if you can find a color spray primer do that or otherwise plan out your paint scheme well.

then use stippling or line camo in a darker color so you dont have to do too many coats of it.

or even double color spray primers and silly putty.

(but pick up a garbage tank or something tank shaped and test it first though some spray color primers can be iffy)

You don't need an airbrush to paint vehicles at a reasonable rate. The reason why people recommended getting an airbrush is because it shortens the painting time when painting the really good stuff and allows painting a wider range of colour schemes. As long as you are fine with your tanks looking good but not amazing and you choose a darker colour scheme you should be fine with a brush.

In all honesty, airbrushes are a morksend for painting large vehicle, just because they are great at basecoating. That's honestly about all I use mine for.

that being said, airbrushes are a bit expensive and more than a little bit of a pain in the ass until you figure out how to effectively keep them clean.

A cheaper and simpler option is to just get miniature paint in a spray can.

Decent miniature paint in a spray can is pretty expensive though (~$20 each), and in the long term, you may consider an airbrush to save a bit of money. But short term, for starting players, they're great.

I would encourage you to not go the route of $5 spray paint cans from tool stores, though. I used them when I was starting, I'll admit, but they can be a bit of a crap shoot in terms of how much detail they obscure.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:

I would encourage you to not go the route of $5 spray paint cans from tool stores, though. I used them when I was starting, I'll admit, but they can be a bit of a crap shoot in terms of how much detail they obscure.

I want to dissent slightly on this. I have had a lot of success with rattle cans (however, I have been painting with rattle cans for years before getting into 40K). Krylon is the best and comes in a wide range of colors and goes on very smooth. The satin finish is not too glossy so paint sticks over top. I have experimented with graffiti style paints (Montana, etc.), which are thicker but are beautiful matte paints. I just like rattle cans because of the ease of use. No cleaning airbrushes, etc. Just shake and use.

You dont have to worry too much on the gloss or matt finish if you end up sealing it with a dull cote or what not.

just something to consider if its a beater army.

but the expensive wargaming spray paints are nice because they have color matched hairbrush paints for touch up and details.

alternativly if you wanna get nutty you could decant the cheaper stuff though its not water based.

i have used army painter white leather brown and damonic yellow in the past.

White came out a bit chalky, leather brown was perfect but daemonic yellow melted my minatures :/

Very doable. Not fun, nor quick...but doable.

And while people often complain about the $12-15 expensive spray cans...for me the value is not in what you get in the bottle. The value is being able to prime half your army in 20 minutes if you so desired. I spent about an hour hand-painting a buddy's tank the other weekend. All I could think was "man, if this colour was in can...it'd be done under a minute". The money for a spray can doesn't just cover the paint, it covers the time. I'll pay $12-15 to save that time always.

Thanks for all the input guys!

I have used army painter uniform grey primer when I was first getting into the hobby and while it worked fine the fact that it can't be used indoors or on a windy day is bothersome.

This time around I'm thinking of going all brush, and that includes primer.

Do any of you guys have experience with brush primer? And feccomendations.

Brush painting camo is perfectly viable.

I paint all of my tanks with brushes. It certainly is time-consuming, and airbrushing would no doubt speed it up. But I am very, very happy with the results.

If you prefer brushes, there's no reason why you shouldn't use that method - providing you don't mind the extra time it'll take you.

Examples of my brush-painted tanks --

Bravo. Nice weathering too.

Also don't see why you couldn't use masking etc with brushes same as airbrush for camoflage. Mask areas, then brush around. Don't see why paint would be going into masked area much more with either.

Airbrush is nice getting clean even coat without brushstrokes quickly and really for that it's not too hard but price and noise are certainly valid reasons.

But people have been painting tanks for decades with brush just fine and it's not like in that time there's not been good ones. It just takes bit more time to do even colours. Just remember multiple thin coats over thick ones.

GuardBoy wrote:
Thanks for all the input guys!

I have used army painter uniform grey primer when I was first getting into the hobby and while it worked fine the fact that it can't be used indoors or on a windy day is bothersome.

This time around I'm thinking of going all brush, and that includes primer.

Do any of you guys have experience with brush primer? And feccomendations.

not realy, but i did prime my russ whit a GW basecoat paint and it is just as fine as any primer. same whit my tau hammerhead.
they key is as allways to paint in very thin layers and use a big flat brush (idealy one that allmoust fits inside a paint pot), as you have to paint several layers to get an even coating regardless if it is the primer or 1st highlight, as details will drown if the paint applied is to thick.

I brush painted all my vehicles until the last couple years. Tau tanks, Eldar walkers/tanks, Rhinos, Land Raiders, Predators. It just takes more time, that's all. enough thin coats of paint will get you a solid color over even the largest surface.

If it takes too long painting tanks with a brush, use a larger brush. I brush-painted a dozen Imperial Guard vehicles, several Space Marine vehicles and four Knights. I'll be doing a Warhound Titan soon, too.