Camo help

[Guest]

I'm trying to apply the camo pattern to my Tamiya German Steyr. I dont know if this type of camo has a particular name but I will describe this as a typical German camo style which appears to have finer lines applied over a main back colour.


Ive tried various combinations of thinner to paint ratios adjusted the pressure also the distance from the model that I spray from.


What appears to happen is that I cant seem to get a neat sharp line. The paint seems to spread and run if I get close then if I pull back then it is to wide. I have a 0.3 needle in my AB.


The only solution I can now think of is to apply a masking fluid to help achieve this but im not convinced this is the answer.


How do you guys go about this, help and advice please.


Cheers

[Guest]

Fine line with an airbrush is a matter of practice and developing the technique. Don't thin the paint too much or it will be difficult to control, you get the spider effect where the air blows wet 'legs' out from the centre. The pressure needs, in my opinion, low for the same reason.


The trick is to get the balance where the airflow is sufficient to transfer the paint. The paint has to be light enough, thin, for the air to pull it out without being too wet.


Get a practice piece and thin your paint as normal. Start with normal pressure and get as close as you can. If you get wet spreading paint drop the pressure and repeat until you get the paint flowing but not pooling. If you can, expose the needle tip to make it easy to clean or you will get dried paint on the needle tip due to slow travel which will cause spitting.


It really is a matter of trial and error to get it right for you. Failing that, masking is the only other option.

[Guest]

First up is to know what paints you're using... I'm guessing it's Vallejo?


If so, that's more difficult for fine work than enamels. The trick is to use well-thinned paint at low pressure - this will prevent the paint running across the surface.


If the airbrush that you're using has a needle stop, then set it to allow a small amount of backward motion. This will aid you in building up thin lines. At first they'll be almost invisible, but repeated passes will gradually build them up.


That's much better than thick heavy lines in one pass. It will also reduce the amount of over-spray & keep the lines reasonably tight.


If none of this works, then you're stuck with masking. Either using something like Maskol or using sausages of white tak. Personally I prefer the latter.


Hope this helps


Patrick

[Guest]

Thank you both for your detailed explanations. Both make perfect sense.


In short practice practice practice then practice some more.