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I recently got into airbrushing in order to speed up my painting and I would greatly appreciate people who have a lot of experiences with airbrushes to clarify some questions I have. (Apologies if my way of asking on a forum is incorrect this is my first time opening on a forum here)

The current airbrush setup I use is the following:

Cult of Paint Infinity airbrush (0.4mm nozzle, 0.4mm needle)
Sparmax AC-501X Airbrush Compressor
Citadel base/layer paints
Priming I use Vallejo surface primer
Pressure: 17-25psi

When I airbrush I tend to thin(with either Vallejo thinner or flow improver) the paint too much hence that is why I assume (please correct me if I am mistaken) the paint on the models is wet all the time. My question would be does it really matter if the paint is wet and I let it dry out ? what I mean is does it have any cons when spray models this way? I think aside from needing to spray multiple coats due to the paint being thin. Will this method still leave a smooth surface on my models?

Thank you very much for your help.

Are you getting an even thin layer? That’s the point really. If it is pooling or water then you have a problem.

The pain will be wet after spraying, i.e if you touch it it willl mess up the paint.

If the paint goes where you spray it, evenly and stays there then you have the right consistency.

If you are using citadel paints and they are runny or watery then you have just used too much thinner as they are generally too thick for airbrush out of the pot.

I use green stuff world thinner and it’s great, just practice getting the right consistency.

The paint shouldn't be in wet pools once it's been sprayed on the model. It should dry very quickly. If you're getting wet pools you're over spraying, have the airbrush too close, or have the pressure too high. This can lead to uneven finishes and should be avoided.

If the paint is very thin, you need to apply it in thinner coats. It'll dry very quickly if you apply thin coats, and if you don't apply thin coats you'll get pooling.

If you're trying to apply a basecoat rather than doing detail work, you don't really need to thin as much, use a slightly higher pressure and a bigger nozzle (though 0.4mm is probably big enough). That'll give you an affect more like a spray can, where you can lay down a thicker coat of paint that is more wet, and will take longer to dry.

If you need to apply multiple coats, a way to get a thicker coat down is to apply a thin "tack" coat first, just very lightly airbrush over the model to get some paint on the model, once that tack coat is starting to dry you can then apply a "wet" coat and it'll stick to the tack coat better than it would have stuck otherwise, which will let you lay down a thicker coat.

If you're not getting pooling then you're also probably not too thin.

I would steer clear of GW base & maybe even layer paints & try Vallejo Air paints instead.

Thank you all very much for the helpful advice and quickly responding.

The paint is overall wet on the model, slightly bit runny. It isn't the "dry" kind of wet on the model if that makes any sense. Takes around 30 min to dry. The model seems to be smooth with its first basecoat similar to when I apply basecoat with a brush.

I will try experimenting more with consistency. Also try the paints with less thinner and adjusting the psi.

I really would like to just get paints where I can pop it straight into the airbrush. However I looked through the forums but it seems a bit difficult to get Citadel paint equivalents with other brands. (such as Waargh flesh! or Warpstone glow)

Hopefully this will get the job done.

Again much appreciated with all the helpful feedback.

Citadel have their air range which works well for me. So you should be able to get airbrush direct paints from either range.

MoneyWaster00 wrote:
The paint is overall wet on the model, slightly bit runny. It isn't the "dry" kind of wet on the model if that makes any sense. Takes around 30 min to dry. The model seems to be smooth with its first basecoat similar to when I apply basecoat with a brush.

It sounds like you're applying it way too heavily- if the model is visibly wet and doesn't dry within a minute or two, it's too much.

It's common for airbrush-thinned paint to not cover well enough to get solid coverage in one pass. But it's easy to do as many as five or ten light passes to incrementally build up color, with just a few seconds of drying in between, so you don't need to get strong coverage in one pass.

How many coats are you typically applying to get full coverage? If it's 5+ even with the paint applied that heavily, you may be thinning it more than you need to.

I think you are exactly right.

Basically rather then spraying in passes. I go back and forth in a line motion (as many times) on one part (say the left side of the model) until the paint is covering all the left side (so when I stop seeing the undercoat black primer). I don't even let it dry in between each time I go back and forth/per pass.

So I guess I should let it dry for a few seconds per pass?

In terms of how many coats I didn't even consider it(which is kind of stupid I understand). I just try to get all the parts in the model covered first then I considered that as "one coat" without any regard to how many passes I was doing. I am guessing that is completely incorrect way of doing it?

 catbarf wrote:

MoneyWaster00 wrote:
The paint is overall wet on the model, slightly bit runny. It isn't the "dry" kind of wet on the model if that makes any sense. Takes around 30 min to dry. The model seems to be smooth with its first basecoat similar to when I apply basecoat with a brush.

It sounds like you're applying it way too heavily- if the model is visibly wet and doesn't dry within a minute or two, it's too much.

It's common for airbrush-thinned paint to not cover well enough to get solid coverage in one pass. But it's easy to do as many as five or ten light passes to incrementally build up color, with just a few seconds of drying in between, so you don't need to get strong coverage in one pass.

If you're intentionally using it to apply solid basecoats rather than gradually building up airbrush effects, I kind of disagree with you. Particularly if you use a larger nozzle and a slightly higher pressure you can apply more viscous paint in thicker layers which inevitably take longer to dry, similar to applying it with a spray can.


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MoneyWaster00 wrote:
I think you are exactly right.

Basically rather then spraying in passes. I go back and forth in a line motion (as many times) on one part (say the left side of the model) until the paint is covering all the left side (so when I stop seeing the undercoat black primer). I don't even let it dry in between each time I go back and forth/per pass.

So I guess I should let it dry for a few seconds per pass?

In terms of how many coats I didn't even consider it(which is kind of stupid I understand). I just try to get all the parts in the model covered first then I considered that as "one coat" without any regard to how many passes I was doing. I am guessing that is completely incorrect way of doing it?

The answer is "it depends", lol. If at the end of the day you're getting a solid coat, it's not running into the crevices, the air pressure isn't blowing it away and you aren't applying so much paint that it's obscuring details, whatever you're doing is probably fine.

In general it's best to let the previous coat dry a bit before you apply the next, but how dry depends on a lot of things.

If you try applying coats too lightly and letting them dry a bit in between coats you can end up with a grainy finish, whereas a heavy wet coat can end up smoother so long as it's not so wet that you're getting pooling, puddles, drips, or the airbrush blowing the paint around on the model, if you're avoiding those things a heavy wet coat isn't really a problem and is indeed how you should be doing it if trying to get a glossy finish (for example on a model car).

If you're trying to do blending and fancy airbrush effects, then light coats with very thin paints is the way to do that. But if all you're doing is applying a solid coat the rules are different, and you can treat it more like you would a spray can.

Thank you very much for clarifying!

The model that was dry is now "sticky" it's a bit difficult describe. Maybe "tacky" is the word but its completely dry no amount of rubbing the paint on the model makes the paint come on my hands but it feels slightly sticky. The paint layer feels thick. Is this due to over spraying the model ?

(This was after applying a whole coverage of basecoat then applying 1 whole layer over the model on top of that)

Regarding your flooded models: the amount of pigments you spray is the result of the function of 1) needle size, 2) pressure, 3) pigments to liquid ratio and 4) time.
Just spray a vertical paper plate with your normal settings. If the paint runs, you are putting too much paint in one place and have lost control of it.

In my opinion, a 0.4mm nozzle is ideal for the paints we are using in our hobby. Our acryclic paints have relatively big pigments for quite some colours, especially metallics.
Yes, you can use smaller nozzles, but that requires a lot more thinning of paint, therefore less pigment per pass and more passes for the same saturation.
I'd advise you to keep the nozzle size.

That leaves you with three bits to play with: pressure and paint thinning.

Even within a paint range, regardless who makes it, if it is meant to airbrushed and even if the paint is brand new and not aged on the shelf, the paint thickness will vary between colours.
That means you have no choice but to learn to evaluate the paint thickness by eye and dilute it as much as needed for what you are doing.
When figuring that out, it helped me to use a clear plastic container for thinning the paint, making it much easier to observe how the paint flows when you mix it with a retired brush.

Your other factor is the pressure. Now, your current problem is too much paint in one place. More pressure means more paint for every instant the airbrush is working.
But if your compressure can put out more, try more. That will mean more material per time with the nozzle wide open, but you have to find the right parameters for you.

Finally, there is time. Your paint may be thinned perfectly, but if you spray a spot for longer than an instant, it is easy to flood it with paint.
That risk will be higher if you have very thin paint and you might be tempted to spray until you see a visual change brought by sufficient pigments.
Be patient, don't overthin your paint, don't flood the model. Experiment, you will find the right parameters for you. =]

 Stephanius wrote:
Regarding your flooded models: the amount of pigments you spray is the result of the function of 1) needle size, 2) pressure, 3) pigments to liquid ratio and 4) time.
Just spray a vertical paper plate with your normal settings. If the paint runs, you are putting too much paint in one place and have lost control of it.

In my opinion, a 0.4mm nozzle is ideal for the paints we are using in our hobby. Our acryclic paints have relatively big pigments for quite some colours, especially metallics.
Yes, you can use smaller nozzles, but that requires a lot more thinning of paint, therefore less pigment per pass and more passes for the same saturation.
I'd advise you to keep the nozzle size.

That leaves you with three bits to play with: pressure and paint thinning.

Even within a paint range, regardless who makes it, if it is meant to airbrushed and even if the paint is brand new and not aged on the shelf, the paint thickness will vary between colours.
That means you have no choice but to learn to evaluate the paint thickness by eye and dilute it as much as needed for what you are doing.
When figuring that out, it helped me to use a clear plastic container for thinning the paint, making it much easier to observe how the paint flows when you mix it with a retired brush.

Your other factor is the pressure. Now, your current problem is too much paint in one place. More pressure means more paint for every instant the airbrush is working.
But if your compressure can put out more, try more. That will mean more material per time with the nozzle wide open, but you have to find the right parameters for you.

Finally, there is time. Your paint may be thinned perfectly, but if you spray a spot for longer than an instant, it is easy to flood it with paint.
That risk will be higher if you have very thin paint and you might be tempted to spray until you see a visual change brought by sufficient pigments.
Be patient, don't overthin your paint, don't flood the model. Experiment, you will find the right parameters for you. =]

Thank you very much for the feedback. Greatly appreciated.

I agree with 0.4mm is a good size for basecoating and layers (for me personally). The paper idea is exactly what I did as well before I spray after putting in more paint into the cup I spray on the paper to judge distance and see if the paint consistency is good. So far from all the paper trials I had done the paint isn't running at all, which is strange because on paper the paint sprayed only gets slightly wet unless I go full blast and compared to on a model it turns out wet. As many people have stated on this forum it might be due to me holding the spray in 1 location too long without me noticing when spraying on models.

I do indeed do the cup mixing technique in a clear shot glass as you have recommended . I pre-mix it then pour it in the cup and I tend to mix enough thinner until the paint trickles down, not too slow but not too fast.

I completely agree with you saying that patience is required. I know that I am really an impatient person, I think this is could be one the reason for the wet paint result.




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Apologies to all that have helped but I was hoping I may get some more questions answered while this forum is opened.

- Is the tacky texture on my models after my models are dried due too much paint?

- When getting an airbrush I discovered I use A LOT more paint pots(Citadel paint) then I did compared to using just canned sprays + brushes. Is this normal or am I using too much paint ? (I have gone through roughly 2 new citadel paint pots(the base/layer sizes) on like only 5 models). Previously with brushes only I can do around 20 models with 2 paint pots.

- I tend to prefer not to use the nozzle cap for my airbrush and just leave the needle sticking out because I have to constantly wipe the nozzle. Is this ok to do ?
I am a bit concerned how fragile the needle is, I frequently bump the needle sticking out on my airbrush washpot.

Again thank you all for the awesome feedback.

2 pots of paint for 5 models seems like a LOT. For comparison, I've previously basecoated roughly 40 Genestealers with an airbrush and that actually did take a single full pot of Citadel paint.

Do you end up emptying a lot of paint out of the airbrush cup after each mini? What's your ratio of paint to flow improver?

Also, forget the notion that there is any paint you’re just going to pour in your airbrush and get exactly the same results every time you use it. Slight variations in line pressure, weather conditions, and differences in the makeup and consistency of paint even in the same product line can all cause notable difference in performance. The cure is - practice and experience. Thin enough, but not too much, and test before you splatter it all over a $60 box of models.

 Mr. Grey wrote:
2 pots of paint for 5 models seems like a LOT. For comparison, I've previously basecoated roughly 40 Genestealers with an airbrush and that actually did take a single full pot of Citadel paint.

Do you end up emptying a lot of paint out of the airbrush cup after each mini? What's your ratio of paint to flow improver?

Exactly, I think I am using too many paint pots that is what I have thought as well. Even then I am still thinning too much based on the wet paint on the model also I am getting tiny dots appearing on my model.

I use 2 (medium sized citadel layer brush) "brushful's" of citadel base paint with 4 drops of Vallejo thinner directly into the airbrush cup(normally I use plastic shot glass and pre-mix) but if I mix in the shot glass before I get even less paint out of mixing then I would then directly mixing in the airbrush cup. If done in shot glass cup I would get about maybe 5 drops of mixed paint + thinner into the airbrush cup which lasts me about 1 and half models.

I almost never have paint left after spraying those models. What is even left can't even be transferred due to be so little leftover




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 totalfailure wrote:
Also, forget the notion that there is any paint you’re just going to pour in your airbrush and get exactly the same results every time you use it. Slight variations in line pressure, weather conditions, and differences in the makeup and consistency of paint even in the same product line can all cause notable difference in performance. The cure is - practice and experience. Thin enough, but not too much, and test before you splatter it all over a $60 box of models.

That is true from what I have discovered I have to change the consistency each time even with the same paint pot. On my test paper (which I do before spraying on model) it seems fine. Paint is thin and not that wet unless I blast it full and it seems to dry quickly but once applied to model it just turns wet.

I guess maybe its more practice but the rate at which I am spending citadel paint pots I have already used up 3 new pots of 1 base colour for about 10 models.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hi everyone just an update on this case but I finally figured out the cause of the wet paint on my model. The reason was the psi level (it was at 30psi) it was way too strong. I lowered the psi to 20 and I had considerably less "wetness" on the model, only a small amount of "wetness". I am assuming if I lower the psi even further 15-20 psi I can fix that also.

Now I just need to fix other minor details such as using a lot of paint haha.

Just want to say I appreciate everyone's feedback on this. Thank you very much

Try lowering the PSI even further. Lower PSI lessens overspray and should also save prescious paint.

1 pot of paint for a handful of minis sounds wrong. You should be able to completely cover a single infantry mini in paint with only a few drops. IME airbrushing saves paint as opposed to brush painting.

And watch that needle! Even if you remove the needle guard when airbrushing, remember to always attach it to the brush when reassembling the needle assembly. Having the needle guard in place before reinserting the needle back into the brush after a deep clean ensures that your needle reassembles at precisely the right position (not too far and not too close of the nozzle itself). If you dont do this, you'll end up chasing your tail wondering how tf the airbrush action seems inconsistent between every stripdown & cleanup LOL

Dual Action Brush ?!?!?

Consistency of the paint/retarder/thinner/flow improver should be like low fat milk.

Personally I think that there is no way to determine what's wrong without a LOT more information. But ...... under good lighting, while spaying I use multiple, VERY Thin coats and allow each pass to set up a bit. After you've dusted a few light coats they you can spray the final coat just a little wet. It's more of a sheen really.

Also I'd drop the pressure a bunch. I usually weather at around 5-10 pounds pressure. Basecoat maybe 20 pounds.

However - if using a dual action brush you might just be pulling the lever back too far. Down - releases air, pulling back releases paint.

My guess is you are over spraying with incorrect dilution.

If you are not using Model/citadel air range paints and are trying to dilute your own mix thats very easy to get inconsistent.

How many models are you painting if you are going through pots?

And generally, Yes absolutely you're better off with doing many many thin layers and passes while the layers dry rather then try to force it through is what i found. It is very time consuming unfortunately to the point brushwork might be betetr for some things.

MoneyWaster00 wrote:


When I airbrush I tend to thin(with either Vallejo thinner or flow improver)

Read through all the thread, and I wanted to highlight this particular bit. I use the Vallejo Flow Improver as well, but I have found that if you add too much of it (e.g., you dilute with only that), it can cause the paint to not dry completely, leaving a semi-gloss and tacky finish. So my guess, after reading this thread, is that you may well be over-thinning your paints, and in particular using too much of the Vallejo Flow Improver. Also, there's a slight possibility it may be interacting with your paints (I don't have any Citadel so can't confirm, but can confirm Vallejo Flow Improver behaved...strangely...with Scale 75 paints).

A drop or two of Flow Improver should be more than enough. If your consistency is still too thick, I'd recommend further thinning with plain old water.