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I've decided to finally break out my old airbrush to finish my Dark Eldar army. I used to airbrush paintings regularly but that was many years ago. I will need to buy a new compressor but after that, this will be my first time painting on a 3dimensional surface, and I have a few questions to airbrush users.(of course)

What's a good pressure to use? I used to paint on glossy illustration board which can't be much more forgiving that plastic, but it was always a flat surface.

I'm mainly using it to base coat my most prominet color so I'm not so worried about masking but just in case, whats the most efficient way to mask?

Also my main color is a metallic (50/50 Vallejo tin plus glorious gold) what should I use to thin? The gold sometimes separates in water, but that's easy to deal with with a paintbrush. I've heard of Vallejo liquid metals. Would they be a better choice (and are there equivalents to the colors mentioned?)

Also, since I have a third of my army already painted (and I'm too proud of them to strip), will the difference be all that noticeable? I will still be highlighting and detailing with a regular brush but will I need to do enough of it to match to make the airbrush a waste of time?

Thanks guys

I found I've been having issues with water+paint, and only really found one or two paints that didn't go to hell on me as soon as I added water. I've used a suggestion I've found around, which is to use windex. Haven't had an issue with pigment separation or runny paint. I've also heard the same being true for alcohol, i just can't remember if it's isopropyl alcohol or some other type. If I were you, I'd give this a try and see what happens.

As for the differences across miniatures... I notice differences among my own armies since I paint batch-to-batch, and I'm really not bothered by it... I don't think anyone else would notice the difference, only on the vehicles since there's a lot of flat panels of the same color, so tiny variations will come through there quite glaringly.

To answer some of your questions:

I am brushing with 1.5 to 2.2 BAR pressure all the time using oil paints and acryllics.
For masking I am going with liquid mask all the way except for large vehicles were I just go with those painting strip stuff every hobby store has.

What's a good pressure to use? I used to paint on glossy illustration board which can't be much more forgiving that plastic, but it was always a flat surface.

15-20 psi is the average and depends on the needle/nozzle size, the distance of the airbrush from the model, and the type of paint in the airbrush. It will be on the higher end for non-airbrush paints and metallics and on the lower end for inks & candies due to pigment size. Also, if you're trying to get fine detail (small nozzle/needle) with non-airbrush paints (large pigments) you will need higher pressure. Get a test model and experiment to see what works for you.

I'm mainly using it to base coat my most prominent color so I'm not so worried about masking but just in case, whats the most efficient way to mask?

This depends entirely upon the size of the model, the nature of the area being masked (long straight lines or fine details and curves), and your paint scheme. For general masking purposes, Tamiya makes low-tack masking tape that works very well. For finer details, apply gloss coat to the mini, apply a thick coat of liquid mask (I use Hobbico Liquid Mask), paint, and then put the suicide hotline on speed dial before attempting to remove the masking without damaging all your hard work. Seriously, it's not fun and there will be plenty of touch ups.


Also my main color is a metallic (50/50 Vallejo tin plus glorious gold) what should I use to thin? The gold sometimes separates in water, but that's easy to deal with with a paintbrush. I've heard of Vallejo liquid metals. Would they be a better choice (and are there equivalents to the colors mentioned?)

I use the Vallejo Model Air metallics and love them. They also work fine with a brush. I've used Vallejo Game Color matallics with a .5 needle/nozzle at about 20 psi and they work okay. You will get more clogs & tip dry with non-airbrush paints in general, so the learning curve will always be steeper if you're using something else.

I have no experience with the liquid metals.


Also, since I have a third of my army already painted (and I'm too proud of them to strip), will the difference be all that noticeable? I will still be highlighting and detailing with a regular brush but will I need to do enough of it to match to make the airbrush a waste of time?

This depends entirely upon your current paint scheme and what you want to achieve with the airbrush. If you intend to preshade and zenithally highlight the new models with the airbrush but have not done so on the current models, then yes, it will be noticeable. If you only want a simple base coat, then not so much.

I've found that over the course of an army, you can minimize the impact by painting units/squads the same way. If every unit has some differences due to experimentation, then the focus becomes on the common elements when viewing the army as a whole.

You will spend about the same amount of time edge highlighting as always. The airbrush is still worth the effort due to speeding up the process until that point.


I hope this helps.

Thanks guys. I will probably need to buy new tips and needles in addition to getting the compressor, so I may as well give the model air metallics a try too.