I have been using an airbrush to basecoat the tanks for my Imperial Fists. The foundation paint I'm using is Iyanden Darksun. After around 15-30 minutes of use, the flow of paint starts to lessen, and will eventually stop. To fix this, I have to run a paint thinner and water through the airbrush, before going back to my paint mixture.
I am adding enough water to the paint. As a test, I upped the ratio of water so much that the paint was running off test surfaces. The airbrush still ended up having trouble though. The helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly hobby guru at the hobby store suspects the foundation paint is the problem, as it likely isn't designed to flow through an airbrush. He is familiar with GW paints, but hasn't tried the foundation paints with an airbrush yet. As a potential solution to the problem, he suggested trying a non foundation paint that was close in colour to Iyanden Darksun. Luckily, GW does make a regular paint that is close in colour: Vomit Brown. I plan on trying it on a test model to see if it will result in a finished model that matches the ones I've already done.
The Painting Corps blog had an airbrushing week just a little while ago. I plan on checking out their series of articles to see if they have anything to say on the matter. Has anyone else encountered similar issues?
Also, my BattleFleet Gothic ships are in the process of being basecoated! The Battle Barge and two Strike Cruisers have been done so far. I'm not sure what to do with my third Strike Cruiser, since it's the Forge World Grey Knights cruiser. Obviously, it shouldn't be the same colour as the Imperial Fists' ships! Forge World has their model painted grey, like the Grey Knights armour and Thunderhawk. As chamber militant to an ordo of the Inquisition, however, it would also make sense to paint their ship black. I don't know of any background which states how the Grey Knights' ships are painted. Anyone know?
Well I don't know Fluff wise but I think silver would be nice. Would make it stand out from the IF ships.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear your troubles with the airbrush, but it's good to know I'm not the only one with the exact same issue.
ReplyDeleteFor the stuff it works on, it turns out great, but I've spent more time trying to make the thing work right then actually spraying.
The GW Airbrush is slightly more reliable than the Badger airbrush I got from Michaels, but the thing still gives me headaches.
Let me know if the issue is fixed with the non-foundation paint, I'd be interested to hear.
That's exactly it. When it works, the thing is fantastic! Base coating goes so quickly. Often though, with the amount of time I spend trying to get the paint to come out properly, I think using a brush would be faster.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, I'm not using a tool like the spray gun from GW. The airbrush I have has a double action trigger, which allows both the airflow and paint flow to be controlled. It comes with a variety of nozzles for different paints and tasks. One of the nozzles is meant for acrylic paint, but still doesn't handle the foundation paints too well.
I also have the GW spray gun, but have not had any luck with it. The hose has a leak, and even with tape it still loses pressure.
I will let you know how things turn out with a non foundation paint.
Just tried an acrylic paint thinner instead of water. I'm not sure what the mixture was, but it was close to 1:1 Iyanden to acrylic thinner, with slightly less thinner.
ReplyDeleteStill had problems.
Next up, Bubonic brown instead of Iyanden.