Airbrushing: Brush review

As promised, here is the next instalment on my gear write up for a basic airbrushing setup.

As I've mentioned before, I did a lot of leg work before deciding finally on what I purchased.  My brush (BD130k), I decided was the one for me for a couple of reasons.  After watching a video from a youtube channel which I'm an avid fan of - BuyPainted- I picked the basic model described in the video. Mainly as I knew I wasn't going to be outputting pro-painted miniatures straight away, and decided it was best to learn with a basic brush, and upgrade later if I decided I was going to stick with airbrushing.  The real deal closer on this brush however, is the spare parts.  It comes with three needle/nozzle combinations, which I thought for the price, and for a starter was really great to be able to have the choice/adaptability whilst learning.  It also comes with an air hose, which some brushes don't leaving unsuspecting hobbyists needing to make another order for the kit to be usable.

The only real issue I've experienced so far is minor, so I won't break down different aspects of the brush as I did with the compressor.  When disassembling the brush for a first clean, I was a little too thorough, and removed part of the trigger guide which is exceptionally tricky to get back in.  This is all shown in the hardware diagram which comes with the brush, so it was easy to find out where it when, but my big hands versus the small piece in it's small location made for a bit of a nightmare!

As I said above, I've really not had many issues at all with the brush, it's a solid piece of hardware, so instead, I'll go through some essentials associated with the brush specifically.

Cleaning - There are two aspects to this, the first of which is cleaning the reservoir between paints.  This involves simply pouring out any excess paint into the cleaning pot, and cranking the psi to around 50 to blow through one cupful of clean water, and at least one cupful of windowlene, using an old brush to remove any dried paint as necessary.
The second aspect is a full clean.  In order to do this after a session, I run through the steps above, and unscrew the back of the brush, as well as the needle holder (sorry I'm not sure what it's called, but it controls how far the needle moves when the lever is pulled back) and pulling the needle out.
Be careful doing this, as the point of the needle is of course very fine, an d any bends/damage can render it useless.  I use methylated spirits to wipe any dried paint etc off the needle, as well as off the outside of the airbrush where I've spilled anything.  The nozzle also needs to be treated in this way in order to help prevent blockages.
After removing the nozzle, I run pipe cleaners through the front of the brush so that they appear in the reservoir area in order to remove any solid bits of paint.
That's pretty much it, it's a simple process and is relatively quick to do at the end of a session.  The lengthiest part is probably blowing water/windowlene into the cleaning pot

Blockages - These are unfortunately relatively common from what I have read as well as being unavoidable.
During my first session, I was hitting stages where I would have to pull pretty far back on the paint lever in order to get any paint flow at all.  Usually you would see a steady gradient of paint flow as you pull back on the nozzle.  If this happens like it did to me, it's likely that you have a blockage.  Whilst irritating, and time consuming, the process to fix this is simply the first stage of cleaning, combined with the pipe cleaner through the nozzle trick.  The really frustrating thing is when you have a specific mix of paint which you are using, as it has to be tipped out to clean the brush.

Thinning - I read in a few places that Windex (Windowlene in the UK) is fine for diluting paints to airbrush.  Whilst I've found this to be true, I have ordered a Vallejo thinner to do it "properly". The main reason for this is that the thinner is made to be used roughly 50:50 with the paint, where as windowlene works best 50:50 with water, and then added to paint as needed, I've had to add nearly 75:25 with paint previously so result vary wildly depending on paint quality (as I've previously mentioned).
In short, Windowlene is absolutely fine to use, and has been recommended by a few pros (on youtube) but it depends how much work you want to put into using it. It's also a good substitute to clean the brush with instead of buying airbrush cleaner.

PSI - This is a bit of a tricky one I've found, and I'm still not100% sure what I'm doing with it.  The basics however, are that the thinner the line/the closer you want to get to the miniature, the lower the psi you will need to use (around 10-15 is what I've found to be good for 'detail'). For base coating & holding the brush a fair distance away for large areas of colour, increase the psi to around 30-40.  I hate to be a cop out here, but there are some really great youtube videos which cover this kind of thing, where I wouldn't really be able to provide a great deal more information.

PTFE Tape - I had a few worries when I first started brushing as the compressor would come one very quickly when I wasn't even using the brush.  After speaking to the shop, they recommended my applying PTFE tape to the joins at either side of the air hose.  Doing so was simple, and googling simply 'PTFE' brings up a very good tutorial video on how to apply to joins.  The compressor stays on for a heck of a lot longer before kicking in now, all at the low cost of around £1.50 (inc delivery) for the tape, and ten minutes tops to fit it.

I'm very please with my choice of brush, and I think it's a fantastic choice for a beginner, or if you just want to test out if you want to continue with airbrushing.  If you get good results & want to upgrade then I'm sure you will notice the difference with a branded brush, but for someone with my level of skills & experience this one is great.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Trays, games and paints

Managed to finally get some new paints ordered today, i've oreder VGC paints to replace my ageing citadel line, as well as some basic colours from VMA to help my airbrushing experience.  Hopefully they should arrive in time for the bank holiday (next Monday) so I can get some testing done after the weekend away we are takig for our one year anniversary.
Managed to get two games in in the past 24 hours as well which is ridiculous for me! One of which was teaching a friend from university (who i met again at the most recent tournament) how to use vassal, and the latter was a game with my best man and his Venethrax force at my gaff today.  Needless to say i lost both, but gaming is a laguh at any rate, and it's good to get games in :)
I've barely had time to get the Destors out of the box and make sure all the pieces are there unfortunately, but I did manage to mock up a base for one of them to see how the destors (plus thane) will look with eVyros.  The general idea is a river crossing with some riders on either side of the water, and some in mid-leap over it.  I'll post my prototype once it's closer to done.
I had ordered some PTFE tape for the airbrush connectors, so i'll document that this week in my airbrush write up.
Lastly, I've ordered a pair of tournament trays from this company who take orders for the bases over email only, very friendly guys though and great communications & service, so give em a try! Standard tray layout below for those who are interested :)

That's it for now, I'll hopefully have an airbrush write-up ready for mid-week including some experience on thinning/cleaning etc, as well as some WIPs/paint news early next week.

Thanks for stopping by

Lofty 

Call in the Cavalry

My LGS is having a clear out of some old stock, and I managed to snag a unit of destors at half price.  Yes that's right, a full cav unit 50% off.

Expect some early WIP shots this weekend.

That's all for now :)

Lofty

Airbrushing: Compressor review

After a comment on my last post, I feel like I should add some information on the compressor/tank combo I bought.

I won't lie, it's a cheap piece of hardware, and has it's issues.  It's great as an entry piece of kit, and a lot of people use this, as I found in my research asking about that model on various forums etc.
I'd say if you're looking for a cheap entry into this aspect of the hobby, then this setup is great.  If you are looking for hardware that will last you up until you are an accomplished pro, buy better airbrush and compressor than I did.

The 'issues' I've come across so far are;

Compressor run time - The compressor runs a lot.  This might just have been my naivety, expecting the tank to fill and then being able to use it for a time without the piston working, but as I was informed, the main reason of having the tank as well is to provide constant pressure.  After I learned this, I stopped panicking, but it was quite strange to have it on so often when I had mis-understood the way it works.
Something that will help here (advised to me by the shop I bought it from after raising a few queries), PTFE tape is worthwhile fitting to all joins between the airbrush, cable, and the tank.  If you're feeling a bit more savvy (and wanting to void your warranty) it's also well worth fitting it between compressor and tank.  Basically, this provides a more airtight connection point to reduce air escaping, which in turn helps the compressor to maintain pressure. I'll just be sticking to the external connections.

Heat - The compressor runs hot. Almost too hot to touch. Again, after doing some research, I found that this is normal, and it will cut off by itself if the heat gets too high.  I found that if I'm cleaning the brush after a blockage/going to make a drink between coats of paint, it cools quite quickly so this isn't something to worry a great deal about.

Noise - Not too bad. This was one of my main concerns with regards to getting any compressor at all.  I share a study with my wife and didn't want to be making a whole load of racket and disturbing her as well.  When the compressor is on, it's as loud as a normal conversation, and after being strategically placed, can be very easily drowned out with moderate level music.

That's pretty much it for the compressor, and I'm away this weekend, but i'll continue this with the Airbrush review next week

Thanks

Lofty

Airbrushing 101

As promised, I'm going to try and document my experience so far from a novice's perspective.

Equipment
The items I purchased are;
Compressor & Tank - Low entry price, recommneded on a few forums which I checked
Airbrush - Low entry price, spare nozzles/needles make it a versatile brush
Windowlene (Windex) - Recommended on a few websites as a thinning agent for citadel paints
Methylated spirits - To clean the brush at the end of your session
Stockings (yes really) - to strain the paint through after mixing, before it gets to the airbrush to reduce chance of clogging from large clumps of paint etc
Airbrush cleaning pot/holder - somewhere to spray cleaning fluid without inhaling it all
Cleaning tools - to remove blockages and clean the passage between paint holder & nozzle
Dust masks - some fumes from the methylated spirits will give you a headache and then some. Be careful with airborne alcohol/chemicals

Basics
Anywhere you look, you're likely to be told that the diluted paint mixture you are about to spray should be as thin as skimmed milk.  This is pretty much the mix I go for, and it's been fine when I've used it, in my limited experience.  It's easy to go too far on the watery side which can be an issue when the paint runs away when it hits the model.  It's easy to get used to however as you get more practice with mixing & painting.  Some paints of course require more/less thinner depending on paint quality/pigmentation etc.
I use a 50:50 mix of windowlene & water which I then mix paint into as necessary, usually 50:50 thinner mix to paint. By starting with the thinner mix, I can gauge how much paint I will need in total for the job in hand.
This is all then strained through the fabric into the airbrushes holding pot.

The PSI used in the brush is a difficult one to guide.  I used a lot of the advice in the No Quarter airbrushing article (41 I think), and this worked well for my first few sessions.  It seems to me though that the psi depends on a whole heap of factors such as consistency of paint, distance from painting surface etc.
As a rough guide though, when base coating, I use a higher psi (30+) and have the brush a fair distance from the model (maybe 10+inches) ans use wide sweeping 'strokes', bearing in mind that multiple passes is better than soaking the area in paint in one pass.
For a more controlled paint application, I've had the psi as low as 8-12 and had the brush very close to the surface.  this gives a great control of how/where the paint hits the surface, as well as being very responsive when pulling the lever back for paint volume

Findings
My first use with the airbrush (apart from being pretty daunting) was relatively smooth.  I connected the air hose between brush and tank, turned it on and let it build up to pressure pressure, filled the resevoir with the Vallejo Grey primer I had bought, and away I went.
I didn't photograph this stage, as it's pretty straight forward.  I've been poring over YouTube channels (mainly this one as it's amazing)  so I had at least a vague notion of how it all works.  No Quarter magazine#41 also had a small section on airbrushing, so I had a clue about psi/distance from model for the basecoat stage.

After my first victim (the poor high-elf spearman I have as a paint experiment, who has been stripped and re-painted more times than I care to recall), I decided to take the plunge and coat Maelok, and his Gatorman Posse.  Again, this went off without a hitch, in places the paint would pool, so I quickly move on, and try to keep sweeping the brush instead of holding it in place.  The paint/air mix lever is a tricky beast, and I should have practised a little more before trying "real" models with the process, all in all though, I'm pleased with the coverage, and the process.  It gives a lot better control and paint coverage than spray primer, and the grey base colour makes colours a lot more vivid than my standard black.

Next step was to get some base colours down on the Gatormen.  This was where it got really interesting.

Basically, my paints are old.  Old, and crusty.  It seems that not even straining them through the fabric could remove all the lumps/clumps that clogged my brush.  I didn't notice this at first, it having been the first time I mixed my own paint (the primer is brush ready) but I was having to pull back pretty much all the way on the flow lever before anything would come out, this of course meant that the paint was coming out way too fast, and I was getting pooling and the air pressure was blowing it all over the place.

I was pretty disheartened by this, and packed up after  I had used all the paint in the reservoir had run dry. It was only when I was cleaning the front part of the brush after removing the needle that I saw the material which had been blocking the brush.  Of course, I was relieved that the equipment wasn't at fault and I was eager to have another go the next chance I got.

The next time I had time to use the brush, I laid down a lighter colour on the front half of the model, and a lighter model still on the stomach/throat.  I was really pleased with how this came out, as gradiating colours is something I've never managed to do well with a bristle brush.  It re-iterated the (lack of) quality and (stupendous) age of my paints though, as I had more blockages again this session.

Findings
The upshot of all this is pretty simple. New paints.  I've been toying with the idea of replacing my ageing citadel line of paints for quite a while now, but could never justify the expense, especially when the paints I have are still usable (though just not up to scratch for airbrushing).

I've decided to pick up a few Vallejo Air Colour paints to use as base coats (black, white, dark brown, dark green etc) and replace my commonly used citadel paints with Vallejo Game Colour equivalents (which I'm told are the same paints as GW chemically, just without the re-branded name).
My range of paints will of course expand over time, but the essentials will really make a difference for me at the moment.

As far as success stories go, the last time I sat down with the airbrush, I decided to give it a real test, with a large area to basecoat, and a few areas which needed a three colour gradient.  A friend of mine left a piece of scenery at my place, so I checked if I was ok to paint it, and off I went.

I'm really pleased with how it all worked out. Nice smooth base coat, good coverage, and I think the highest highlights look fantastic, and it's all blended together well.  I dropped the psi to ~10 for the lightest colour, so I could get in close and be precise.
It isn't much, but for a practice piece, and an alternative to pretty much drybrushing the whole thing I think it looks good.

Sorry for the wall of text, but hopefully it will be useful to anyone starting out, or thinking about airbrushing :)
I'll try and post some more along this theme as I get more experience & results

Thanks for Stopping by
Lofty

Back from the black

It's been too long.  There's many and varied reasons why it's been so quiet on this blog, but the upshot of it all is that I hope to be blogging regularly again.  I'm in a new job, and  a far better frame of mind along with it, so I'm hoping to be able to dedicate a lot more time to the hobby, gaming and painting as well as being part of the community again.

A friend of mine finally took the plunge and bought the Cryx book and a 35pt force (so far) and we have been having semi-regular games on Sundays.  Strange to be gaming together again, as we started playing Warhammer Fantasy maybe 15 years ago!

In other news, I've been to a couple of larger events in Leeds this year, and fared relatively well with Rahn/Vyros at the first, and not so well with Xerxis/Naaresh in the second (some questionable out-of-activation activations by one opponent in a  very close game didn't help). I did however win a coin for being the only Skorne player, taking my total to two! Small victories and all that.

The last real update from the year so far is that, after watching videos on youtube, deliberating and plotting for so long, I took the plunge and bought an airbrush & compressor with some birthday money.

I've been struggling to get to grips with it all, but it's an enjoyable learning curve so far :)
I'll be making a post tomorrow, which I hope to be the first of many describing my experience with the new method of painting etc :)

That's it for now, stay tuned though for what will hopefully be a far more regularly updated blog!

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Watch this space

Lots on at the minute and spending more time at work than I'd like. Just wanted to check in and say that I'd be back soon.

Thanks for your patience
Lofty


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