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So I want to start airbrushing 40k figures. But i'm not sure exactly what to get, how it works, or what the true pros/cons are compared to doing it by hand. I'm use to doing base colors and layering some lighter colors combined with drybrushing, washing, and highlighting. But how different is airbrushing and would ya'll recommend it? I know it's a lot but I need help and would love to hear from those that have done or regularly airbrush their models.

Definitely recommended. It's faster and gives you better coats for that stuff. If you get into it it can also give great effects. I'll link you to a few good miniature airbrush painting videos to help you decide.

Black Legion Termies was upped today, priming and highlighting with airbrush only but to a great effect.
Getting started with airbrushing A great new vid on getting started with airbrushing, hopefully turning into a series.
How to paint yellow. Shows how easily you can get a good job for a difficult colour.
Colour blending with airbrushed candy paints. Great effect, easily done.

That should give you some idea. These are all vids that have popped up in my youtube feed recently.

This is a tutorial on zenithal highlighting, which you may find helpful.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Zenithal_Airbrushing%2C_OSL_and_Snow_and_Ice_Tutorial%2C_subject_-_Grey_Knight

Scale modellers (model tanks and the like) love them because they can do soft-edge camo incredibly easily. By their nature they give a sort of blending effect around the edges. But that also means that they can't do the finest details without spraying something else, so they're not a complete replacement to brushes.

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for starting this thread!!

Your welcome as I was really interested in airbrushing as well :3

i got an airbrush in march of 2012 (specifying the year because its newyears eve when i type this) and i think there are a lot of pro's and just a few cons IMO.

pro's:
- you can paint faster
- your basecoats are thinner
- you can use a technique called zenithal highlighting where you first basecoat in your shadow color and then spray your highlight color from the top
- you can make super smooth gradients on powerweapons or w/e

cons's:
- steep learning curve
- expensive to purchase
- and you will get a lot of hate from people that think your "cheating"

DijnsK well said. I agree with all of this. Also to add on, it's a pain to swap colors and get decent at mixing paint.

I'm also looking into getting an airbrush my question is buying related. I'm looking for a sub £100 compressor and about £50-150 airbrush. Any suggestions?

yeah get the cheapest compressor with a 3ltr tank.... it will most probably be the as-186


for an airbrush... for that kind of money you can get any starter airbrush from any of the major brands... i would personally recommend the Harder&Steenback Ultra or the Badger renegate chrome

 DijnsK wrote:
yeah get the cheapest compressor with a 3ltr tank.... it will most probably be the as-186


for an airbrush... for that kind of money you can get any starter airbrush from any of the major brands... i would personally recommend the Harder&Steenback Ultra or the Badger renegate chrome

I don't airbrush yet, but that Badger comes up alot as a beginner airbrush. So what makes it so nice?

Basically it's a refined version of one of their previous airbrushes (which was also well-received). It has (amongst other things) a smoother trigger action and a very fine tip, so you get very fine detail. Badger makes some other good ones; that particular one is marketed at pros.

I ordered a Badger Renegade Krome from the states using a promo code from http://wgconsortium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/airbrushing-intermediate-getting-started.html £65 inc delivery compared to £189 on amazon!

Does the AS-186 work with badger Kromes or will I need an adapter?

Is it easy to get small details with an airbrush? i.e. the trim around a space marines shoulder pads?

Or do you do the main part and wait for it to dry and then go back free hand over it for those details

I know ill be getting myself one of these


Automatically Appended Next Post:
can someone tell me if this is worth getting ??

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Airbrush-Compressor-Double-Action-Airbrushes/dp/B004XP7K9W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1357074998&sr=8-3

Great discussion here....

Can the airbrush eliminate the use of 'manual' brushes completely?

It would have to be one hell of an airbrush to paint an eye or something, so no.

 Dheneb wrote:
It would have to be one hell of an airbrush to paint an eye or something, so no.

Some models have glowy eyes, so it can work really well for them too. In general no, you should use the brush at least a little. The airbrush is better for some things, the brush better for others.

I have been playing about with my very basic one for a few months now. Not isng it too often, or doing anything amazing, but it's really good for easy fades and basic patterns. It's also really good for weathering

Also, being able to basecoat easily is awesome

 dominiquekee wrote:
Can the airbrush eliminate the use of 'manual' brushes completely?

An airbrush is a tool, just like a traditional, bristled brush - it's well suited to some tasks and less so to others. While you could use one to paint an entire model, you'd be making a lot of tasks harder on yourself (including the greater hassle of cleanup between colors, vs. rinsing your brush). As mentioned, an airbrush is great for creating smooth gradients and applying fast and even coats on large surfaces. Hard edges, however, require masking, which can often end up being a bigger headache than painting by hand from the start. Using Exalbru's example, masking around (or over, depending on the order in which you want to tackle the two surfaces) the trim on a shoulder pad properly is pretty much guaranteed to take longer than painting it by hand, unless you're somehow very clumsy with a brush while deft with frisket. It's definitely possible to paint it exclusively with one tool or the other, but combining the two properly gives you the greatest quality with the least amount of time and effort.

To do that would take a bit of masking. I use a airbrush base coating, and for really smooth large area blending and shading. Even with the smallest airbrush tip you will get some over spray.

Exalbaru wrote:
Is it easy to get small details with an airbrush? i.e. the trim around a space marines shoulder pads?

Or do you do the main part and wait for it to dry and then go back free hand over it for those details

Got my airbrush kit yesterday works like a treat took a bit of getting ues to but i can already tell its gona make life a hole load easyer cant wait to start doing bleds with it defo worth getting in my books.

 Dheneb wrote:
This is a tutorial on zenithal highlighting, which you may find helpful.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Zenithal_Airbrushing%2C_OSL_and_Snow_and_Ice_Tutorial%2C_subject_-_Grey_Knight

Scale modellers (model tanks and the like) love them because they can do soft-edge camo incredibly easily. By their nature they give a sort of blending effect around the edges. But that also means that they can't do the finest details without spraying something else, so they're not a complete replacement to brushes.

The rest of the stuff in my sig too should have you covered... I made all these articles because I am asked regularly exactly what you created the thread for... it's not just my stuff, it's also links to plenty of other people's stuff as well.

Good luck!