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1. How do you more advanced airbrush artists manage gradients on small figures? My blends on a tank are pretty good and smooth, but as soon I transition to a small piece I find that, despite a 0.2 nozzle I just can't get pinstripe lines. I've tried a low pressure, milk-consistency paint and I ALWAYS clean my airbrush out thoroughly after each session - but even controlling the air/paint flow as fine as possible I vastly overshoot for such fine work. Am I just deluding myself that I can use an airbrush for such fine work, and need to go back to the brush?

2. Leading on from this; White - how the hell do you blend white at this scale? It's a speckling nightmare. High pressure, low pressure, clean airbrush, thinned just right - none of it seems to give me a smooth blend, even over a light grey. I've read around on various sites, but I feel I'm still missing some magic trick... (Btw, I thin it to milk consistency using a 1:3 mix of Vallejo Thinner:Water)

3. For reference, a dude - I was going for a pale bluey white, but in the end I just could not get the folds of his chiton to blend nicely. So I resorted to a wash, a zenithal highlght and some brush strokes along the folds. However, while it's a passable gaming standard, it's far too grainy for display quality. Any advice from experienced airbrushers on how you would have approached this?




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If the tip of your needle or the nozzle that houses the needle is bent or scratched it can cause a grainy spray. Even a tiny bend on the very tip of the needle will do it.

The graininess can come from poor quality paint (I mainly use Vallejo), paint that's not mixed/shaken enough, or if your airbrush is getting "dry tip".
To avoid this, I just dip the tip of my airbrush in drying retarder or vallejo flow improver and spray air through it a couple times to remove excess. Then as I airbrush I keep an eye on the tip and clean it using a cotton swab as necessary. You'll see the paint building up on the tip.

I use Vallejo airbrush flow improver to thin my paints. I prefer it to thinner, but it's preference. You're always better off having paint that's too thin rather than paint that's too thick. You can always do an extra coat.

I almost always run my pressure between 20-25 PSI depending on the paint.

From your picture, if I had to guess, I would think that you're using a tankless compressor or your needle/nozzle is bent, scratched, or damaged. One other possibility is that your primer is grainy. When you prime the model, it should be smooth like silk. No specks. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/787806/10785281.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/787806/10785281.page GMT