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Hi guys.
I registered in this forum because I love this community, mainly Warhammer's Community and His works. But i'm trouble...
To reach your paint works's level, I have to learn how to use an Airbrush? Because I know that most of the Artist, I call you and them in this way because I consider it in this way, use the Airbrush for their works.
So, please tell me if I want to reach your level i'll have to learn how to use the Airbrush.

An airbrush is just a tool. It makes some things easier, sure, but it's not needed to achieve a high quality paintjob.

You dont HAVE to, its just another tool. It is a very effective tool, but for maybe 80-90% of the painting stuff you are going to do, you can get the same/similar effects with a regular brush

Ok, but if i want to reach your level, I think most people in this community use an airbrush, I "have to " learn how to use it...

Just look at demidovs work ( e.g. http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/630410-.html?m=2 ). He claims he´s doing it with brushes only. Guess you don´t NEED an airbrush.

you don't have to use an airbrush i never have and i sometimes get some real good results (other times it looks rubbish but thats when i rush )

for tanks and titans and such it is basically mandatory IMO

I can't look at demidovs work it's like looking at the face of god!!!
But as for the question you don't NEED to learn how to airbrush to paint well, I'm not saying it doesn't help for speedy base coating and highlights but there are plenty of artists out there that don't use one

Wow!
Demidov's work is amazing! Wonderfull!
I know that stuff like Free hand, Edge / Sharp Highlight is done with brushes, but to get a nice, and for nice I mean wonderfull, result you can achieve it with an Airbrush...

 soitra wrote:
I can't look at demidovs work it's like looking at the face of god!!!
But as for the question you don't NEED to learn how to airbrush to paint well, I'm not saying it doesn't help for speedy base coating and highlights but there are plenty of artists out there that don't use one

Absolutely right. Plus, it's not really speedy at all if you're doing single 28mm models at a high quality (rather than an army, or multiple models that follow the same color scheme). Setting up and cleaning an airbrush takes way, way longer than it does to toss on basecoat

Plus, airbrushes will use more paint than brushing it on.

Where they really shine (or are a "must have") is large models, where blends and gradients, and painting smoothly over a very large area, would otherwise be tough.

Hey Jest,

I have been painting for a couple years now and I think that in the beginning I felt a lot like you are feeling now. I have since bought a Badger Patriot 105 airbrush and have learned to use it fairly proficiently.

With that said, I would highly recommend that you perfect your brush skills before moving onto an airbrush. The airbrush is certainly beneficial in many ways. Especially when painting horde armies (lots of similarly painted models) or larger models.

I think it is important to note that having an airbrush allows you to make some really nice fades in a fairly simple manner. But in order to get a model of real quality it requires that you use a brush for the smaller details. This is my opinion, but I think that it would be shared by others.

I agree with the others when they say that setting up a brush and cleaning it takes a lot of time (and money). It will be a while before you are able to assemble, use, clean and disassemble in an efficient manner. In fact I had to force myself to use the airbrush initially because it is a lot like learning to paint all over again. And the semantics of it all can be a pain.

So learn your brushwork and get that to a level that you are satisfied with before moving onto buying an airbrush. That is what I would recommend. If you have the money to buy an airbrush, put it into some new models instead, preferably of a type that you have not painted before. I am sure you will find the extended effort worth it in the end.

I hope this helps!

Lopis

For painting 28mm infantry, nah, you can paint to a really high standard without an airbrush. Vehicles, I'd argue that you'll struggle to reach a high level without an airbrush, even then I wouldn't say it's mandatory, but it's going to be much more of a struggle.

A lot of armies, IMO, aren't well suited to smooth gradients anyway, so using an airbrush is only an incremental improvement.

I’m no high level painter.

Don't get an air brush just for paint quality, get one to saved time. Also save some money if you convert to airbrush primers.

An airbrush is just a tool as mentioned. In my opinion as an artisy its a worthwhile tool to have. The effects you can get are pretty much impossible to achieve using other mediums. However, its only worth it if youre going to put the time in learning how to use and maintain it properly. Airbrushes are temperamental, and need lots of TLC. They are also quite pricey. I count myself lucky i got mine for free.

No. Not even for vehicles.

You have to remember, airbrushes are really somewhat "new" to the world of miniature painting. By new, of course, I am referencing in relation to old...like me. Up until around 15 years ago - I could probably count on one hand the number of people who used airbrushes to paint miniatures or even vehicles for gaming. I had lost track of the number of people who said that you couldn't do anything but spray primer and varnishes with them.

10 years ago - they began to catch on, but even then they were considered a luxury for a (still) small number of professional or semi-professional painters as well as those crazy types who like to have gadgets.

6 years ago - they were pretty mainstream (a good indicator is that GW finally admitted they existed...and put out their own craptastic version of one...which subsequently gave them a bad name in many peoples eyes).

They have been in wide use for scale modelers for decades before hand though, and as more and more of those techniques were adopted by gamers - you saw airbrushing become more popular within miniature painting circles (you also had a few big names start to acknowledge their usefulness for more than just primer coats).

Before that - everything was rattle cans (primers and varnishes) or brushes (with big flat brushes being used to paint vehicles). You can get a smooth coat on a large surface with multiple layers of thinned down paint (with some flow aid to help level the brush strokes and dry retarder to keep your edges wet). Criss-cross, repeat...

Granted, airbrushes are faster and easier for a lot of things. Some of us who have been using them from the scale modeling side of the house have often looked at bewilderment (and a bit of wonder) regarding those vehicles that were painted with 5 layers of brushed on paint to get a smooth, even color. Much, much easier with an airbrush and it actually isn't hard to master those tasks.

Painting figures with miniatures is still a bit more controversial. Lots of people will use them for primer, maybe base coats but are convinced you can't do too many details with an airbrush. Other people are quite happily doing almost everything but eyebrows.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:
You have to remember, airbrushes are really somewhat "new" to the world of miniature painting. By new, of course, I am referencing in relation to old...like me. Up until around 15 years ago - I could probably count on one hand the number of people who used airbrushes to paint miniatures or even vehicles for gaming. I had lost track of the number of people who said that you couldn't do anything but spray primer and varnishes with them.

That's interesting, I'm not saying you're remembering it wrong, but back when I got in to model aircraft about 20 years ago I remember people telling me if I wanted to get good I should get an airbrush. Back then (in Australia) you could buy quite an array of model kits from kmart and they also carried hobby airbrushes in the same section. I never got one because I was buying stuff with money from doing chores and it didn't seem worth saving up for a couple of months to get one (oddly enough they sell neither airbrushes nor model kits any more). I remember going to a model show as a kid and many models were airbrushed, I saw some models that were airbrush weathered, I'm not sure how common it was but I do remember seeing various airbrush weathered aircraft and being told it would be difficult to achieve those effects without an airbrush.

That said, when it came to wargaming, I didn't see anyone even mention an airbrush until more recent years.

Maybe it just developed differently in different areas.

Same memories...

They have been in wide use for scale modelers for decades before hand though, and as more and more of those techniques were adopted by gamers - you saw airbrushing become more popular within miniature painting circles (you also had a few big names start to acknowledge their usefulness for more than just primer coats).

Model airplanes, model armor, model ships, model trains...going back as far as I can remember - airbrushes were par for the course.

Miniatures, I have watched them go from unheard of to common place.

Sorry I must have missed that part, my brain is tired, lol.

I think GW enlarging all their miniatures has made airbrushes more practical at least for 40k/WHFB. I struggle to see the *need* for an airbrush on 28mm infantry, but tanks and Imperial Knights, monsters that are 6 to 10" tall, airbrushes start to become a bit more useful.

I don't use an airbrush. I want to, but money constraints prohibits me from buying one.

Not saying I'm a super duper top level painter, but I'm confident that my skills for now are above average, at the very least:

Thank you guys to explain me this situation. Now I keep my Brushes and start training a lot! Thank you very much!

 heartserenade wrote:
An airbrush is just a tool. It makes some things easier, sure, but it's not needed to achieve a high quality paintjob.

This is totally true. Having said that, though, I don't think that I'd want to paint larger models (well, vehicles really) without one.