Airbrushing - lessons learned by a beginner

[Gern]

Methylated spirits works fine as a cleaner for Vallejo paints - for both hairy sticks and airbrushes. Like Laurie though, I use their branded thinner as it's designed to help the paint stick.

Gern

[Ian M]

I use medical alcohol for acrylics and lighter fluid (zippo) for enamels as thinner substitute, so i clean my AB with those too. Hopefully nothing wrong with that.

Zippo fuel as a thinner/cleaner. Now that has to be the most expensive thing you could use. A 5 litre dunk of White spirit costs about the same.....just cant use it in a zippo though :-/

Ian M

[Guest]

A couple of points to add. I use Vallejo and have had little problems with the paint being stripped. Just wondered if your preparation of the bare plastic is causing the problem. I wet and dry the plastic with about a 1200 gauge wet/dry paper. This gives a bite to the primer. Otherwise you are just relying on the primer's strength in itself. Just like a wet suit it is there but is not sticking to the body.

Varnish. If you are using Vallejo varnish you should not have to thin any of the 3 grades. I airbrush all as they come out of the bottle. If you thin then gloss will not be gloss without additional coats. Be interested to know why you thinned so much. Did it clog up and if so what is your needle/nozzle size. Really needs to be 3.5 or 4 for varnish. I also nip the pressure up to 30psi

Thanks for these tips, Laurie. I'll try the wet/dry 'keying' trick. I decided to thin the varnish originally because I was getting the dreaded 'sandpaper' effect with the gloss, and because it just looked too thick - not like milk. It did work fine for me when thinned, even without additional coats, so maybe there are multiple methods of flaying a feline... Clogging wasn't a problem - my needle is 3.5. I'll have a go at upping the psi and using it neat, to see which I prefer. Always good to get new ideas.

[Guest]

Zippo fuel as a thinner/cleaner. Now that has to be the most expensive thing you could use. A 5 litre dunk of White spirit costs about the same.....just cant use it in a zippo though :-/Ian M

Will try to look other thinner then. Thanks Ian for the input

[yak face]

Great post Doug , very useful for anyone starting out airbrushing. I too have had issues with the vallejo varnishes , sometimes working fine sometimes being a pig but the ones I have always need thinning or they just clog up the airbrush and spit white blobs . Ive recently gone onto the Windsor and Newton Galeria acrylic varnishes and these suit me perfectly,either brushed or thinned and sprayed. As for the cheap chinese airbrushes , thats all I use , apart from a brief spell when I was beginning with a single action Badger 200. Ive found them to be great value and if looked after , perfectly serviceable, giving excellent results (ive had my oldest one for about 6 years ,it cost me £15 !) cheers tony

[Guest]

Thanks for these tips, Laurie. I'll try the wet/dry 'keying' trick. I decided to thin the varnish originally because I was getting the dreaded 'sandpaper' effect with the gloss, and because it just looked too thick - not like milk. It did work fine for me when thinned, even without additional coats, so maybe there are multiple methods of flaying a feline... Clogging wasn't a problem - my needle is 3.5. I'll have a go at upping the psi and using it neat, to see which I prefer. Always good to get new ideas.

On the varnish Doug I also keep the brush moving all the time backwards and forwards which I think will help on the orange peel effect. I use the brush about 150mm from the surface for varnish work.ie 150 is not a hard and fast rule just for me for varnish work.

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/ goes straight to Vallejo where there is a host of helpful info.

Go to downloads here and that is very useful even if you do not use their product. Useful if you are a beginner or more experienced.

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/media/65a2f7365274da82fe3b0d786827957b.cms/model-faqs-cc001-rev03.pdf

Laurie

[Guest]

Great post Doug , very useful for anyone starting out airbrushing. I too have had issues with the vallejo varnishes , sometimes working fine sometimes being a pig but the ones I have always need thinning or they just clog up the airbrush and spit white blobs ........

As I posted beffore Christmas, I too have had white blobs but only with Matt or Semi-Matt varnish (I use Vallejo). I think the cause is the white powder used to form the matting. When I use it again I will shake it until both arms fall off, then some more, then do a test.

[aaron]

Great post i use plastic spoons for testing and water to clean up Vallejo, Cheap laquor thinners for tamiya acrylics and cheap odourless spirits for enamels.

[Guest]

Doug

You don't know how relevant your post was!

Only today I have ordered my first EVER airbrush & compressor with the necessary bits to try this "dark art". When I last made a model 37 years ago this technology didn't even exist - thank god for YouTube so I can at least look at others doing it first.

I have also ordered Vallejo Air paints but not all of the equivalent Humbrol colours (as listed on the instructions) are available as Vallejo Air. Have you come across this problem? Has anyone else? How do you overcome this? Maybe use Humbrol Acrylics instead and thin them?

Any advice would be useful.

Thanks

Gareth

[Guest]

Hi Gareth,

So far I've found equivalent Vallejo Model Air paints, but I think for my next project I won't be able to. Having used the Model Air, I think I now have a feel for the right consistency of paint for airbrushing, so I'd be pretty happy to buy Tamiya, Humbrol etc. and thin it down till it feels right. The old thing about the paint needing to be 'the consistency of milk' is about right, so I think you'll be fine if you buy whatever's the right colour for you, thin it out and experiment with it before using it on the kit.

[Guest]

Thanks Doug - will give it a go!

(as an aside I used to live in Macclesfield but now live in Glossop - small world!)

[monica]

well i got my AB and compressor, just before newyear after the help from a few people like Laurie , Steve ,as you have said Gareth, it is all

off bit off a black art indeed, Im waiting on the little model shop to reopen so i can get some Vallejo paints and cleaner ,thinners

to try it out so i sit there and look at it alot,have done alot off reading and watching you tube as well, but think the guys hear say it all,

[Guest]

I have also ordered Vallejo Air paints but not all of the equivalent Humbrol colours (as listed on the instructions) are available as Vallejo Air. Have you come across this problem? Has anyone else? How do you overcome this? Maybe use Humbrol Acrylics instead and thin them?

Any advice would be useful.

Thanks

Gareth

No paint manufacturer offers the exact paint colour for every kit. For example, I needed authentic RAF Dark Earth and RAF Dark Green for the two upper side camo colours for my Spitfire. The nearest I found were made by Xtracrylix. A useful paint comparison chart is available at:

http://paint4models.com

[Guest]

No paint manufacturer offers the exact paint colour for every kit. For example, I needed authentic RAF Dark Earth and RAF Dark Green for the two upper side camo colours for my Spitfire. The nearest I found were made by Xtracrylix. A useful paint comparison chart is available at:http://paint4models.com

Thanks Stevekir - most useful!

[Guest]

Being about to use an airbrush for the first time, this thread has been enormously useful; thanks to all!