@@Quaaludiosprues, army guys, and printer paper are good ways to get the hang of it. Try writing your name in cursive on the paper. Then again in varying thicknesses
I'm going to be honest here, Paul. This one of your best videos in months. Especially the segment on paint consistency and spiderwebbing was not just cathartic as someone who has(and still does) struggled with spiderwebbing, but it was also super useful to learn about your fixes for it! Truly great work, Paul!!!
You mentioned that spider webbing didn't appear when you tested paint on paper but it did when you applied the same dilution to a model. That's probably because the paper is absorbent and will suck up any medium while the model is not. Hope this helps for your future testing
What a crazy coincidence I actually got an airbrush too from my family because they knew I really liked Warhammer so they thought it would be pretty cool for me to have this and man is it so much easier to paint smaller, tedious stuff than it used to be. I used to dread painting infiltrate, but now it’s actually pretty fun
A few tips I learned: 1.) Don't cover the nozzle and have air blow back into the airbrush (like some youtubers suggest). That will just clog things deeper which is harder to clean. Just don't do that. 2.) Airbrush is a tool for specific functions. It is really good at getting paint on model and making a glow effect. Airbrushes can also change the color of a paint or ink when used. I don't know why but I noticed it'll usually be a lighter color sometimes. 3.) Even if you don't feel like painting using it as a primer alternative with zenithal highlights will be an interesting detail that even if you bring to the game, people will still want to look at them. I don't have a pile of grey shame, but I do have a pile of primed potential. 4.) It is cheaper than rattle cans if you plan to do a lot of miniatures long term. And takes up less room if you use a lot of different color rattle cans. 5.) Airbrush medium is a great way to dilute paints even for a brush stroke.
I upvoted when you started your rant about thinning paint and skimmed milk. This has never meant anything to me either! I got a pile of Army Painter airbrush paints for Christmas and part of the appeal of them was definitely their ready-thinned nature, getting paints to the right consistency for airbrushing is always a challenge for me. I would however say that paints in dropper bottles are a bit easier to get right than paints in pots. Once you've worked out a ratio for a particular paint it's not too hard to note it down, and drops are more consistent than brushloads so it's likely to be repeatable. I've had an airbrush for several years now but I'm still using it in a pretty basic manner. Even at the most basic level it's still really useful for priming and varnishing miniatures though.
Haha, definitely. As far as Im aware, skimmed milk has the same consistency as water which has the same consistency as airbrush thinner. I usually just go by how well it flows down the side of the airbrush cup
Same lol. I dislike it because how vague it is and hate even more when people just parrot it without elaborate it any further. Usually I just go either 1:1 or 1:2 and adjust it if it's too thin or too thick.
Lol, good videa. When i got my airbrush (after decades of non airbrush work), I paid someone to teach me all about it. How it works, how it breaks, how to strip it, how to clean it, how to rebuild it, how to troubleshoot it... and it was the most useful 3h I ever had. We didn't even paint anything. But it taught me how to push through all those roadblocks every new owner experiences.
Learning to shut off the paint before shutting off the air is probably one of the hardest things for new airbrush users to master. This is one place that the pistol grip style of airbrush has an advantage. You cannot stop the air flow before stopping the paint flow.
Ever since getting my airbrush I haven't regretted it in the slightest, it makes it so much easier to lay down difficult base colours. (Like white or yellow) I don't have easy access to the outside to prime models, and spray cans have a lot of drawback. Priming with my airbrush is much cheaper and more convenient. And it leaves room to do preshading and stuff. Personally, I really feel like an airbrush isn't that expensive and really is a big QoL improvement for any painter once they've achieved the basics. Even if you do no fancy tricks with it it will just make your painting a quicker and easier. My biggest tip I can give is, buy some dropper bottles and create your own pre-mixed airbrush paints. It will save you a ludicrous amount of time and headache. They will last a long time, give you a lot of consistency, and they are also useful when not using the airbrush if you need thin paint..
As always the first two minutes of your video has me rolling in laughter. Even better your story of dipping your toes in to airbrushing mirrors mine anxiety and all too. Great vid!
Something that people often skip over is that not all *brands* of things act the same way through an airbrush. Inks, for example. I've found that Daler Rowney inks go on majestically with my brush but Liquitex and a couple other brands are basically useless because they are way too thin or have no pigment. A lot of tutorials will just say "when using inks in your airbrush" or "when using sealants in your airbrush" without mentioning that the user needs to find what works for them.
For anyone starting out... Next Level Painting is going to be your best resource. Kenny can be a hard personality to get used to, but he understands and communicates the why's and hows of painting very well.
I've been in the hobby for years and purchased my first air brush a few years ago, only last year did I conquer my fears and now I'm very happy using it, it's great at priming and laying down base colours. I also purchased the army painter Air brush paint set which although is another expense but has massively saved the stress of trying to thin paint, love the channel brother 😊
my experience with an airbrush: it's very good for high quality priming and basecoating, but with ADHD, knowing that i'll have to clean it afterwards means i literally can't bring myself to use it unless im priming like 30 models in one session. also, mine isn't fancy enough to do any NMM or other cool stuff with it. it can also be difficult to get the exact ratio of primer to thinner that it wants. its worth it overall imo. love ur vids my guy
Great video :) Depending on how easy it is to get ventilation, I would thoroughly recommend thinners based paints (lacquer and enamel) for someone looking to learn airbrushing. It's a different batch of stuff to have on hand, but old school scale model makers used these paints for a reason. They're buttery smooth to apply, the thinner re-dissolves the paint in the airbrush so you pretty much never need to worry about blockages, the paint dries basically instantly on the model so spidering is much less of an issue, and generally the paints are much cheaper than water based ones. Just a thought, but keep going! That dreadnought looks sick!
I agree completely. I've been a car modeler since i was in my early teens. In the last 2 or 3 years, I've started to dabble in TT minis and models. In doing so, I have also leaned on the mini-painting comunity to see how the workflow progresses. Long story short, acrylic paints are super frustrating compared to enamles, laquers, and the like. Acrylics are great for washes, weathering, and hand painting but don't like trying to airbrush with them.
@@EndofTransmission My local hobby store for one. Wolf Hobby - Massillon, Ohio. Tamiya pots (24 ml) are $6.99. Vallejo droppers (17 ml) are $7.99 and GW pots (18ml) are $8.49. Testors enamel (7.5 ml) are $2.49. they also have a store brand called MCW Finishes (15 ml) that's $4.99.
@@demondredge4983 that would make the enamel paints more expensive per millilitre though (at least compared to Tamiya, though Vallejo and Citadel are a lot cheaper on their respective websites). Is it because enamels have better coverage?
In my few years of experience, 'pre-thinned' often still needs thinning (like 20% ish instead of 50% ish), but varies a lot by brand. Tamiya goes on like a dream, but I avoid Vallejo where I can. I test my thinness with a cocktail stick dipped in, if the paint drips off it easily it's now thin enough. Very much something you just get a feeling for as experience grows.
I love this video. I got an airbrush specifically for painting large models, and it is super helpful. I agree that starting out the tutorials made no sense what so ever, and it can all be really intimidating. But once you get it figured out and the model comes together it the best feeling and just looks awesome. Now if only i could stop fucking up the washes....
I always Prime my minis with a rattle can before I go over with an Airbrush. This saves me so much time since I don't have to cleanup the airbrush 20 times before I can start to actually apply my painting scheme
hey, throwing in my $0.02: the paper you are practising on and the modle will have different textures and adsorption characteristics, so what works on one might not work on the other :)
@@PaulIsBadAtStuff I'd highfive you but I'm afraid I might injure myself Keep up the great work, love the flow of the videos and I'll be watching the backlog :)
I super strongly recommend to find some decently sized bit of spare terrain piece and use that as a test for spraying rather than paper as paper will absorb the moisture from overthinning whereas the plastic will not. You can then gauge how the paint performs in a way that will represent the behaviour you will see when applying it to your mini good vid btw and I chuckled at the skimmed milk comments
Rattle Can Primer > Airbrush main color > Manually Paint details > Airbrush varnish. Just adding the airbrush in to these two steps will save you so much time and frustration. Don't be afraid to experiment with PSI's and thinning ratios until you feel comfortable with it. If you don't know what the consistency of milk is, pour some in a shot glass, and swirl it around, see how it clings to the sides but is transparent. Use the little lube bottle they provide on the trigger, just a drop at the beginning of every session.Also finally, my airbrush became SO much less frustrating to use once I learned you have to constantly and aggressively clean the tip, the nozzle, the needle, and the cup, I flush with water and then a splash of Lacquer thinner between each color. The cleaner you run it, the less problems you'll run into long term and ESPECIALLY clean and disassemble at the end of every session. Good luck, I hope you begin to enjoy using it, it's a powerful force multiplier for miniature painting.
What helped me a lot - was buying Vallejo paints, you can just thin them 1 to 1 with Vallejo thinner , and it give ±ideal results every time. Also buying mid level airbrush wowed me, on how much more control you get.
I bought an airbrush about three years ago, and have used it in most of my projects since then. I did not need an airbrush, you do not need an airbrush. My main use for it is getting very nice even coats of primer, basecoats and varnish.
I own no warhammer models, will never paint a warhammer model, but I love your videos and they consistently make me laugh, you have great comic editing and timing, and drawing too
I often check consistently from the airbrush by spraying a bit on my cutting mat, paper towels don’t show potential spider webbing wel because it absorbs the moisture
I just use my airbrush for priming models and base coating. Brushes offer so much more when it comes to stuff like weathering effects, fine/small details like eyes or decorative items, highlights and glazing or washes.
Arbrushing is really fun. I like to thin my paints to the point where they easily flow down the airbrush cup but don’t pull away from it completely meaning they still cover up the color of the cup
My first experience with an airbrush was a single action Paasche, thinning and cleaning with window cleaner. Pre-youtube days, so information was scarce. Let's just say, that thing clogged almost continuously. Many years later using a decent double action airbrush with all the appropriate rituals, sacred oils, cleaning fluids and unguents, and it's been a much easier time. I think the machine spirits of my newer airbrushes are a lot happier. I don't think that Passche will ever forgive me.
I use my airbrush on literally every single model- no matter how big or small. I prime with it, then usually do a zenithal, then my basecoat, then a subtle color highlight, then maybe shadows if the zenithal isn't enough. It's fantastic for vehicles and big panels since you can get a perfectly smooth gradient of any two colors essentially for no effort, and it's also fantastic for doing tinting using super transparent glaze style techniques, like for colored metallics and hue shifts. Quick tip, dunno if this is popular in the UK, but we have a childrens toy in the US called Silly Putty, which is the perfect masking material for small models. It easily allows you to mask of sections of complex geometry to avoid overspray, I just used it to paint a powerfist blue on a metallic arm. Doesn't pull up dry paint, leaves no residue.
I started to use the airbrush for simple one color basecoats. Then i started to do a two color (dark and light) basecoat to emphasize light and contrast. And when i was confident enougth i used it for all sorts of intermediate to „pro“ techniques. But mostely to slightly change hues or values on parts of the model. Or to blend layers done by brush. So it still looks paunted by brush, but it takes way less time than actually blend it to that lvl by hand.
I approach airbrushing in the same way I did playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 as a teenager - spray and pray. Great video Paul, had me simultaneously nodding in agreement and laughing in equal measures.
biggest time saving i got using an airbrush is not priming with it, rattle can is the old faithful and sticks better. use airbrush to zenithal highlight then apply contrast paint for auto shadows. then finish base coating small stuff...edge highlight yay basically done after base.
I started with a 0.2 needle airbrush and learning how to thin the paint correctly was... an experience. The fact that the first paint I tried to thin was the crap called Thousand Sons Blue did't help either. Good thing is that now I can spray pretty much anything without problem
THANK YOU! Your rant about skim milk is validating! For years I've raged against that advice. Am I supposed to go buy skim milk, and try painting with it?
Other than the age and the mini being used, this could've been me making this video. I'm still terrified to use it, so it's mostly been used for priming minis and a little bit of gentle flesh tones to Angrons wings. I'm sure we'll both be airbrush superstars in no time. And until then, I shall pray for all the poor gaunts I use for airbrush target practice.
Actually, organic things like Tyranids are good subjects for airbrushing. If there's small imperfections, it doesn't really matter. It's not like smooth surfaces where the flaws will show up most. When I was painting some a few weeks ago, I used a small piece of paper as a shield to get a nice edge along the big plates.
Once you start getting into more advanced techniques of airbrushing, your skill will increase tenfold! Stuff like pre-shading, inkining, and contrasting start to make your painting so much more impressive with very minimal effort. OSL (object sourced lighting) becomes trivial when you're using an airbrush. I've been in the miniature painting hobby for almost 10 years at this point but I can confidently say that I got really amazing at painting in the last 2-3 years after aquiring an airbrush and really learning how to use it properly. Keep at it, and soon enough, you won't be able to get enough of airbrushing!
Bought an airbrush two years ago. Have used it maybe several times as I am terrified of being awful at it and I was spider webbed to mental breakdown. This video has inspired me to use my airbrush *today*. I will update here later and let ya know how it goes. ;-;7
Yeah I doubt it'd get one otherwise and it was very good for the dreadnoughts. Makes me less stressed/thinking about procrastination for my other dreads
Since you just got a bit into Gundam, it might be an avenue to practice with the airbrush. Most Gundam modelers use that compared to hand painting. The fact you can take the model apart makes it a lot easier to paint the different colors too, although you will often have to mask to do color correcting bits. Also, priming using the air brush is something you can do too that will probably save you a bunch vs canned primers.
As also a new airbrush owner I thought the comprehensive video Squidmar recently did on the subject was actually a really informative video for someone who doesn't know anything 😂 but I totally agree that most tutorials seem to have a lot of assumed knowledge
Squidmar's video was on the of the ones I watched and it was very useful, and they even said that skimmed milk comparisons are worthless so bonus points there
Great video with great timing. I've read a lot about airbrush for beginners (I knew the possible reasons for webbing) and I have all the kit ready.... except a solution to my spray booth and window being on opposite sides of the room (a vent kit for dryers looks promising). I've been putting off my airbrush journey from noobdom, in part to the vent problem but really because I know it's going to be a slow learning process. But it looks fun and I really want to get into it. Plus, the grey pile is not getting smaller! I don't think I want to sacrifice any of my larger kits to practice my (nonexistent)skills on..... I'm delaying again!😠
The Harder & Steenbeck TH-cam channel has a lot of good Airbrush Tips and also recently started to answer Question asked in thier comments. Their Answer to how much should i thin my paint is usually 1drop thinner per 1 drop paint.
Yeah I heard one drop thinner to one drop paint as well. I think that was the cause of my underestimating stuff because I was thinking one brushful would equal one drop from a dropper bottle
I found for thinning for airbrush the best approach was to ignore whatever the %^# skim milk means and use clear plastic pots to mix the paint and thinner then put it in the airbrush. Yes you can mix in the cup, but starting out your not going to get it as well mixed as you think, and it's hard to tell the consistency in the cup. Mixing in a small clear container (I use plastic shot glasses) lets you play around and see it's fully mixed. Yes you'll waste some paint, but that's going to happen anyway until you figure out what you are doing. It's one of those things you can really only learn by experimenting. Because you're batch of paint isn't identical, the temperature and humidity are different your thinner isn't identical and all these things factor in. Only mess with one variable at a time. So while you are figuring out consistency. Don't change paint color. Start with the pressure set to a reasonable value somewhere in the middle of all the different values you will hear online, then leave it there. Try and maintain you distance from whatever you are spraying. Then play with the paint consistency until it sprays OK.
Yeah I saw some stuff about doing that. Some tutorials mentioned it being useful, others said it wasn't worth it. I imagine for starting out doing the mixing outside the hopper helps you see the consistency and get a better understanding of it
will say even if you don't pick it up blending and detail like the pro's it will level up your basecoat and zenithal game in no time at all. If something feels off, stop and clean the needle/cap
If you're getting spiderwebbing, just pull the airbrush a bit further away from the model. Get thin layers on the model with the wider mist spray, let it dry while you work with other parts. Once you're done with the rest of the pieces, the first one should've dried down for another layer.
I use my airbrush almost exclusively for priming and doing metallic base coats, saves a ton of money on primer and isn’t much slower, while also making basing my necron a in silver 1000% faster
If you buy "good" airbrush paint it does not need to be thinned, it comes thinned already. Vallejo and Army Painter for sure are fine right out of the bottle
just one tip: Citadel paints suck :) Get anything that comes in a dropper bottle, that way you can measure much better the proportions (like, 3 drops of thinner for every 2 drops of paint), and if there's some colours that you think you're going to be using often with ypur airbrush, consider getting an airbrush specific paint (for example, Vallejo's Game Colour Air, or something like that, works pretty good, and already comes with the right consistency to save you the hassle. Also, being efficient when cleaning your airbrush and switching colours and such is a must, otherwise you'll end up dreading using it. In this regard, Vince venturella has a brilliant tutorial that literally changed my life (my airbrushing life, that is). I don't remember the title exactly, but he's usally very descriptive, so it'll probably be something like "Cleaning your airbrush" or something like that Hope it helps. That dreadnought looks amazing, keep it up! As with everything in the hobby, practice is the only way of improving. Don't be afraid of trying new stuff and you'll soon get the hang of it
Waiting for my first airbrush & compressor (almost the same set in fact) to be delivered from Amazon as I stumbled on this video, this was excellent! I have modest expectations, if I can at least use it for priming & zenithals I'll be happy. Brush priming isn't much fun, and rattle cans are pretty useless when it's -20 C outside. I was too stingy to spring for a spray booth, so I'll try using a cardboard box to contain the spray as much as possible. Let's see how messy the room's surfaces get before I yield and buy a damn booth.
I used the box the compressor came in as my spray booth by cutting it a bit. Didn't see any mess on my surfaces afterwards so should be fine. I would recommend a mask though!
@@PaulIsBadAtStuff Most people probably use vallejo surface primer or badger stynylrez primer through their airbrush. Depending on the nozzle size of your airbrush you might need to thin it a bit.
@PaulIsBadAtStuff Vallejo surface primer black is fantastic, however their white leaves a lot to be desired. Monument Hobbies surface primer is also really nice, for black, grey, and white. I highly recommend priming with the airbrush as a method of practicing. It's a very low stakes environment that helped me get over the anxiety of learning to use it. Since you are covering the entirety of the model you don't have to focus on placement and you can instead focus on thickness of application. Once you've got that down you can shift to practicing brush control by picking a part, like a arm or shoulder pad, and trying to prime just it without hitting other spots. If you miss or get over spray it's no big deal because you are going to get the whole model anyway. You can also begin practicing gradients by doing zenithal highlights with the airbrush.
Troubleshooting an airbrush when you don’t already know how to use an airbrush sucks. After a whole freaking year trying to figure out why my airbrush kept clogging, or when it did work why it was too wet on like a 20 year old dakkadakka thread. 1. Vallejo black primer does not like a lot of airbrushes, and 2. Airbrush thinner, counter intuitively, dries out the airbrush faster than water (thanks, random warhammer TH-camr for the completely wrong advice). I kept thinking if I was getting clogs, my paint must be too thick, so I’d add more thinner! Not how that works lol Ive switched to colored Vallejo primers and thin with water and have had zero issues for 6 months
I saw enough videos to know that is worth an airbrush. Some things are just easier and/or faster with that tool. I'm saving some bucks to get my first airbrush + compressor
The reason why paper is fine and the model spiderwebs, is thay the paper soaks in the "wetness", the plastic of the model doesn't. I personally try out on my cutting mat, so i don't get the "paper soaking"
The amount of people in my local area that used the skim milk advice when I got back into the hobby in 2020 was beyond aggravating. Hell, even last week at my local GW store, someone told a new painter about the skim milk and I was like why? I don't think a single one of these people even drink skim milk and realize how damn thin and watery it is.
The feeling of switching from "I don't need an airbrush I can make do" to "I've had this airbrush for like 3 days and I love painting."
I've been stuck in the airbrush anxiety phase for a couple months now. I just don't know how to start for some reason.
just do itttttt!!!!!!!
@@Quaaludio
@@Quaaludiosprues, army guys, and printer paper are good ways to get the hang of it. Try writing your name in cursive on the paper. Then again in varying thicknesses
I'm going to be honest here, Paul. This one of your best videos in months. Especially the segment on paint consistency and spiderwebbing was not just cathartic as someone who has(and still does) struggled with spiderwebbing, but it was also super useful to learn about your fixes for it! Truly great work, Paul!!!
You mentioned that spider webbing didn't appear when you tested paint on paper but it did when you applied the same dilution to a model. That's probably because the paper is absorbent and will suck up any medium while the model is not. Hope this helps for your future testing
Exactly. Even the shiny side of a cereal box if a better test.
What a crazy coincidence I actually got an airbrush too from my family because they knew I really liked Warhammer so they thought it would be pretty cool for me to have this and man is it so much easier to paint smaller, tedious stuff than it used to be. I used to dread painting infiltrate, but now it’s actually pretty fun
A few tips I learned:
1.) Don't cover the nozzle and have air blow back into the airbrush (like some youtubers suggest). That will just clog things deeper which is harder to clean. Just don't do that.
2.) Airbrush is a tool for specific functions. It is really good at getting paint on model and making a glow effect. Airbrushes can also change the color of a paint or ink when used. I don't know why but I noticed it'll usually be a lighter color sometimes.
3.) Even if you don't feel like painting using it as a primer alternative with zenithal highlights will be an interesting detail that even if you bring to the game, people will still want to look at them. I don't have a pile of grey shame, but I do have a pile of primed potential.
4.) It is cheaper than rattle cans if you plan to do a lot of miniatures long term. And takes up less room if you use a lot of different color rattle cans.
5.) Airbrush medium is a great way to dilute paints even for a brush stroke.
I upvoted when you started your rant about thinning paint and skimmed milk. This has never meant anything to me either! I got a pile of Army Painter airbrush paints for Christmas and part of the appeal of them was definitely their ready-thinned nature, getting paints to the right consistency for airbrushing is always a challenge for me. I would however say that paints in dropper bottles are a bit easier to get right than paints in pots. Once you've worked out a ratio for a particular paint it's not too hard to note it down, and drops are more consistent than brushloads so it's likely to be repeatable.
I've had an airbrush for several years now but I'm still using it in a pretty basic manner. Even at the most basic level it's still really useful for priming and varnishing miniatures though.
Haha, definitely. As far as Im aware, skimmed milk has the same consistency as water which has the same consistency as airbrush thinner. I usually just go by how well it flows down the side of the airbrush cup
Same lol. I dislike it because how vague it is and hate even more when people just parrot it without elaborate it any further. Usually I just go either 1:1 or 1:2 and adjust it if it's too thin or too thick.
Lol, good videa. When i got my airbrush (after decades of non airbrush work), I paid someone to teach me all about it. How it works, how it breaks, how to strip it, how to clean it, how to rebuild it, how to troubleshoot it... and it was the most useful 3h I ever had. We didn't even paint anything. But it taught me how to push through all those roadblocks every new owner experiences.
Learning to shut off the paint before shutting off the air is probably one of the hardest things for new airbrush users to master. This is one place that the pistol grip style of airbrush has an advantage. You cannot stop the air flow before stopping the paint flow.
Ever since getting my airbrush I haven't regretted it in the slightest, it makes it so much easier to lay down difficult base colours. (Like white or yellow)
I don't have easy access to the outside to prime models, and spray cans have a lot of drawback. Priming with my airbrush is much cheaper and more convenient. And it leaves room to do preshading and stuff.
Personally, I really feel like an airbrush isn't that expensive and really is a big QoL improvement for any painter once they've achieved the basics. Even if you do no fancy tricks with it it will just make your painting a quicker and easier.
My biggest tip I can give is, buy some dropper bottles and create your own pre-mixed airbrush paints. It will save you a ludicrous amount of time and headache. They will last a long time, give you a lot of consistency, and they are also useful when not using the airbrush if you need thin paint..
As always the first two minutes of your video has me rolling in laughter. Even better your story of dipping your toes in to airbrushing mirrors mine anxiety and all too. Great vid!
I get a skunk to spray my nurgle daemons. Much better for the enviroment.
Something that people often skip over is that not all *brands* of things act the same way through an airbrush. Inks, for example. I've found that Daler Rowney inks go on majestically with my brush but Liquitex and a couple other brands are basically useless because they are way too thin or have no pigment. A lot of tutorials will just say "when using inks in your airbrush" or "when using sealants in your airbrush" without mentioning that the user needs to find what works for them.
Paul understands that money is the best gift
You are the most reliable person I’ve ever watched explain airbrushing and I appreciate that you. And the models are looking good
oh my god, the mountains of painting videos that more or less boils down to: just own an airbrush
Yeah. I'm glad I can unlock that area of TH-cam when I can be bothered to get my airbrush back out lmao
@@PaulIsBadAtStuff now the reaction instead is going to be:
damnit i have to get out the airbrush AND clean it afterwards
For anyone starting out... Next Level Painting is going to be your best resource. Kenny can be a hard personality to get used to, but he understands and communicates the why's and hows of painting very well.
I have an airbrush on the way, thanks for the story I think it will be helpful in future
I got my airbrush and I was just like "This is the greatest tool Ive ever been given. I love my family.' on Christmas
The inbetweeners car was a nice touch
I want an airbrush. But before that, I want somewhere I can set up my airbrush.
4:07 SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE!!!
Loved that show as a teen.
I've been in the hobby for years and purchased my first air brush a few years ago, only last year did I conquer my fears and now I'm very happy using it, it's great at priming and laying down base colours.
I also purchased the army painter Air brush paint set which although is another expense but has massively saved the stress of trying to thin paint, love the channel brother 😊
my experience with an airbrush: it's very good for high quality priming and basecoating, but with ADHD, knowing that i'll have to clean it afterwards means i literally can't bring myself to use it unless im priming like 30 models in one session. also, mine isn't fancy enough to do any NMM or other cool stuff with it. it can also be difficult to get the exact ratio of primer to thinner that it wants. its worth it overall imo. love ur vids my guy
Great video :) Depending on how easy it is to get ventilation, I would thoroughly recommend thinners based paints (lacquer and enamel) for someone looking to learn airbrushing. It's a different batch of stuff to have on hand, but old school scale model makers used these paints for a reason. They're buttery smooth to apply, the thinner re-dissolves the paint in the airbrush so you pretty much never need to worry about blockages, the paint dries basically instantly on the model so spidering is much less of an issue, and generally the paints are much cheaper than water based ones. Just a thought, but keep going! That dreadnought looks sick!
I agree completely. I've been a car modeler since i was in my early teens. In the last 2 or 3 years, I've started to dabble in TT minis and models. In doing so, I have also leaned on the mini-painting comunity to see how the workflow progresses. Long story short, acrylic paints are super frustrating compared to enamles, laquers, and the like. Acrylics are great for washes, weathering, and hand painting but don't like trying to airbrush with them.
Lacquers and enamels are extremely popular in the gunpla community as well because of these things too.
Enamel paints are cheap? Where? (genuinely)
@@EndofTransmission My local hobby store for one. Wolf Hobby - Massillon, Ohio. Tamiya pots (24 ml) are $6.99. Vallejo droppers (17 ml) are $7.99 and GW pots (18ml) are $8.49. Testors enamel (7.5 ml) are $2.49. they also have a store brand called MCW Finishes (15 ml) that's $4.99.
@@demondredge4983 that would make the enamel paints more expensive per millilitre though (at least compared to Tamiya, though Vallejo and Citadel are a lot cheaper on their respective websites). Is it because enamels have better coverage?
An air brush is a tool you will actually never need. But also a tool that you will never regret having.
yes, also airbrush asylum has a bunch of general videos that all have great tips for using an airbursh
Same boat, just got one for Christmas too. I've been experimenting with shades as color tints on my nids. So fun results.
In my few years of experience, 'pre-thinned' often still needs thinning (like 20% ish instead of 50% ish), but varies a lot by brand. Tamiya goes on like a dream, but I avoid Vallejo where I can. I test my thinness with a cocktail stick dipped in, if the paint drips off it easily it's now thin enough. Very much something you just get a feeling for as experience grows.
I love this video. I got an airbrush specifically for painting large models, and it is super helpful. I agree that starting out the tutorials made no sense what so ever, and it can all be really intimidating. But once you get it figured out and the model comes together it the best feeling and just looks awesome. Now if only i could stop fucking up the washes....
There is this satisfaction when you colour your minis with an airbrush!
The intro to this is my actual reality
Really like your video, we need more creators in our community that help people feel ok with whereever they are in the hobby.
Your level of comedy is reaching new heights ❤️
I always Prime my minis with a rattle can before I go over with an Airbrush. This saves me so much time since I don't have to cleanup the airbrush 20 times before I can start to actually apply my painting scheme
hey, throwing in my $0.02: the paper you are practising on and the modle will have different textures and adsorption characteristics, so what works on one might not work on the other :)
Goooood point
As a Paul who is bad at stuff and bought an airbrush, I support your message
Pauls who are bad at stuff unite!
@@PaulIsBadAtStuff I'd highfive you but I'm afraid I might injure myself
Keep up the great work, love the flow of the videos and I'll be watching the backlog :)
I super strongly recommend to find some decently sized bit of spare terrain piece and use that as a test for spraying rather than paper as paper will absorb the moisture from overthinning whereas the plastic will not. You can then gauge how the paint performs in a way that will represent the behaviour you will see when applying it to your mini
good vid btw and I chuckled at the skimmed milk comments
I just got one like a week ago and minis I held off on for the last 8 months are finally getting done fast. Totally worth it, can't live without it!
Rattle Can Primer > Airbrush main color > Manually Paint details > Airbrush varnish. Just adding the airbrush in to these two steps will save you so much time and frustration. Don't be afraid to experiment with PSI's and thinning ratios until you feel comfortable with it. If you don't know what the consistency of milk is, pour some in a shot glass, and swirl it around, see how it clings to the sides but is transparent. Use the little lube bottle they provide on the trigger, just a drop at the beginning of every session.Also finally, my airbrush became SO much less frustrating to use once I learned you have to constantly and aggressively clean the tip, the nozzle, the needle, and the cup, I flush with water and then a splash of Lacquer thinner between each color. The cleaner you run it, the less problems you'll run into long term and ESPECIALLY clean and disassemble at the end of every session. Good luck, I hope you begin to enjoy using it, it's a powerful force multiplier for miniature painting.
What helped me a lot - was buying Vallejo paints, you can just thin them 1 to 1 with Vallejo thinner , and it give ±ideal results every time.
Also buying mid level airbrush wowed me, on how much more control you get.
I bought an airbrush about three years ago, and have used it in most of my projects since then. I did not need an airbrush, you do not need an airbrush. My main use for it is getting very nice even coats of primer, basecoats and varnish.
4:51 SO GODDAMN TRUE MAN
I own no warhammer models, will never paint a warhammer model, but I love your videos and they consistently make me laugh, you have great comic editing and timing, and drawing too
We would all chose you Paul! And your Parents made a great choice ;D
I often check consistently from the airbrush by spraying a bit on my cutting mat, paper towels don’t show potential spider webbing wel because it absorbs the moisture
Man your my favorite youtuber
I just use my airbrush for priming models and base coating. Brushes offer so much more when it comes to stuff like weathering effects, fine/small details like eyes or decorative items, highlights and glazing or washes.
Arbrushing is really fun.
I like to thin my paints to the point where they easily flow down the airbrush cup but don’t pull away from it completely meaning they still cover up the color of the cup
My first experience with an airbrush was a single action Paasche, thinning and cleaning with window cleaner. Pre-youtube days, so information was scarce. Let's just say, that thing clogged almost continuously. Many years later using a decent double action airbrush with all the appropriate rituals, sacred oils, cleaning fluids and unguents, and it's been a much easier time. I think the machine spirits of my newer airbrushes are a lot happier. I don't think that Passche will ever forgive me.
I use my airbrush on literally every single model- no matter how big or small. I prime with it, then usually do a zenithal, then my basecoat, then a subtle color highlight, then maybe shadows if the zenithal isn't enough. It's fantastic for vehicles and big panels since you can get a perfectly smooth gradient of any two colors essentially for no effort, and it's also fantastic for doing tinting using super transparent glaze style techniques, like for colored metallics and hue shifts.
Quick tip, dunno if this is popular in the UK, but we have a childrens toy in the US called Silly Putty, which is the perfect masking material for small models. It easily allows you to mask of sections of complex geometry to avoid overspray, I just used it to paint a powerfist blue on a metallic arm. Doesn't pull up dry paint, leaves no residue.
I started to use the airbrush for simple one color basecoats. Then i started to do a two color (dark and light) basecoat to emphasize light and contrast. And when i was confident enougth i used it for all sorts of intermediate to „pro“ techniques. But mostely to slightly change hues or values on parts of the model. Or to blend layers done by brush. So it still looks paunted by brush, but it takes way less time than actually blend it to that lvl by hand.
I approach airbrushing in the same way I did playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 as a teenager - spray and pray. Great video Paul, had me simultaneously nodding in agreement and laughing in equal measures.
biggest time saving i got using an airbrush is not priming with it, rattle can is the old faithful and sticks better. use airbrush to zenithal highlight then apply contrast paint for auto shadows. then finish base coating small stuff...edge highlight yay basically done after base.
I started with a 0.2 needle airbrush and learning how to thin the paint correctly was... an experience. The fact that the first paint I tried to thin was the crap called Thousand Sons Blue did't help either. Good thing is that now I can spray pretty much anything without problem
THANK YOU! Your rant about skim milk is validating! For years I've raged against that advice. Am I supposed to go buy skim milk, and try painting with it?
Other than the age and the mini being used, this could've been me making this video.
I'm still terrified to use it, so it's mostly been used for priming minis and a little bit of gentle flesh tones to Angrons wings. I'm sure we'll both be airbrush superstars in no time.
And until then, I shall pray for all the poor gaunts I use for airbrush target practice.
Actually, organic things like Tyranids are good subjects for airbrushing. If there's small imperfections, it doesn't really matter. It's not like smooth surfaces where the flaws will show up most.
When I was painting some a few weeks ago, I used a small piece of paper as a shield to get a nice edge along the big plates.
wow 1 minute in and i feel like this man is just watching or living exactly my life lol
Once you start getting into more advanced techniques of airbrushing, your skill will increase tenfold! Stuff like pre-shading, inkining, and contrasting start to make your painting so much more impressive with very minimal effort. OSL (object sourced lighting) becomes trivial when you're using an airbrush.
I've been in the miniature painting hobby for almost 10 years at this point but I can confidently say that I got really amazing at painting in the last 2-3 years after aquiring an airbrush and really learning how to use it properly. Keep at it, and soon enough, you won't be able to get enough of airbrushing!
Bought an airbrush two years ago.
Have used it maybe several times as I am terrified of being awful at it and I was spider webbed to mental breakdown.
This video has inspired me to use my airbrush *today*.
I will update here later and let ya know how it goes. ;-;7
Very nice work. Airbrushing can be intimidating but the more you use it the better you’ll get :)
Small tip, when thinning the paint, try to get a consistency of the technical paints Nurgles rot or blood for the Blood god, so it is not thinn.
For me being able to do priming in doors is a good enough reason to have one on its own.
It’s funny you mention the skimmed milk thing I can tell the difference BUT I appreciate that’s only because I’m a barista 😂
Dropper bottles make adding paint to the airbrush cup much easier.
Citadel paint pots are the fucking devil.
I did the same thing this year XD. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to get one for xmas, I don't think I could ever go back lol.
Yeah I doubt it'd get one otherwise and it was very good for the dreadnoughts. Makes me less stressed/thinking about procrastination for my other dreads
Since you just got a bit into Gundam, it might be an avenue to practice with the airbrush. Most Gundam modelers use that compared to hand painting. The fact you can take the model apart makes it a lot easier to paint the different colors too, although you will often have to mask to do color correcting bits. Also, priming using the air brush is something you can do too that will probably save you a bunch vs canned primers.
This is so relatable.
Air brushing is the reason why I solely do dry brushing.
As also a new airbrush owner I thought the comprehensive video Squidmar recently did on the subject was actually a really informative video for someone who doesn't know anything 😂 but I totally agree that most tutorials seem to have a lot of assumed knowledge
Squidmar's video was on the of the ones I watched and it was very useful, and they even said that skimmed milk comparisons are worthless so bonus points there
Ive used my airbrush so much that ive completed more minis in the 6 years i have had it than i had in the 30 years before
Great video with great timing. I've read a lot about airbrush for beginners (I knew the possible reasons for webbing) and I have all the kit ready.... except a solution to my spray booth and window being on opposite sides of the room (a vent kit for dryers looks promising). I've been putting off my airbrush journey from noobdom, in part to the vent problem but really because I know it's going to be a slow learning process. But it looks fun and I really want to get into it. Plus, the grey pile is not getting smaller! I don't think I want to sacrifice any of my larger kits to practice my (nonexistent)skills on..... I'm delaying again!😠
The Harder & Steenbeck TH-cam channel has a lot of good Airbrush Tips and also recently started to answer Question asked in thier comments. Their Answer to how much should i thin my paint is usually 1drop thinner per 1 drop paint.
Yeah I heard one drop thinner to one drop paint as well. I think that was the cause of my underestimating stuff because I was thinking one brushful would equal one drop from a dropper bottle
Airbrush a Gunpla
I got an airbrush and then needed a compressor, then I found out I need a ventilation system then the fucking safety stuff kms
I found for thinning for airbrush the best approach was to ignore whatever the %^# skim milk means and use clear plastic pots to mix the paint and thinner then put it in the airbrush. Yes you can mix in the cup, but starting out your not going to get it as well mixed as you think, and it's hard to tell the consistency in the cup. Mixing in a small clear container (I use plastic shot glasses) lets you play around and see it's fully mixed. Yes you'll waste some paint, but that's going to happen anyway until you figure out what you are doing.
It's one of those things you can really only learn by experimenting. Because you're batch of paint isn't identical, the temperature and humidity are different your thinner isn't identical and all these things factor in.
Only mess with one variable at a time. So while you are figuring out consistency. Don't change paint color. Start with the pressure set to a reasonable value somewhere in the middle of all the different values you will hear online, then leave it there. Try and maintain you distance from whatever you are spraying. Then play with the paint consistency until it sprays OK.
i heard that mixing the paint and thinner before putting it all into the hopper, helps
Yeah I saw some stuff about doing that. Some tutorials mentioned it being useful, others said it wasn't worth it. I imagine for starting out doing the mixing outside the hopper helps you see the consistency and get a better understanding of it
Practice, practice, practice, the only way forth! 😂
will say even if you don't pick it up blending and detail like the pro's it will level up your basecoat and zenithal game in no time at all. If something feels off, stop and clean the needle/cap
If you're getting spiderwebbing, just pull the airbrush a bit further away from the model. Get thin layers on the model with the wider mist spray, let it dry while you work with other parts. Once you're done with the rest of the pieces, the first one should've dried down for another layer.
this, this comment. Let the atomised paint dry in the air slightly and mist mist mist
I had the same problem just get acrylic inks so much easier because you don't need to thin and they are more opaque
You should greenstuff some welding lines to show its just been hastily welded on
Damn that's a great idea. Where were you 6 months ago before I started painting it lmao
I use my airbrush almost exclusively for priming and doing metallic base coats, saves a ton of money on primer and isn’t much slower, while also making basing my necron a in silver 1000% faster
If you buy "good" airbrush paint it does not need to be thinned, it comes thinned already. Vallejo and Army Painter for sure are fine right out of the bottle
That Terraria music fires my neurons
just one tip: Citadel paints suck :)
Get anything that comes in a dropper bottle, that way you can measure much better the proportions (like, 3 drops of thinner for every 2 drops of paint), and if there's some colours that you think you're going to be using often with ypur airbrush, consider getting an airbrush specific paint (for example, Vallejo's Game Colour Air, or something like that, works pretty good, and already comes with the right consistency to save you the hassle.
Also, being efficient when cleaning your airbrush and switching colours and such is a must, otherwise you'll end up dreading using it. In this regard, Vince venturella has a brilliant tutorial that literally changed my life (my airbrushing life, that is). I don't remember the title exactly, but he's usally very descriptive, so it'll probably be something like "Cleaning your airbrush" or something like that
Hope it helps. That dreadnought looks amazing, keep it up! As with everything in the hobby, practice is the only way of improving. Don't be afraid of trying new stuff and you'll soon get the hang of it
GW contrast paints are amazing.
Waiting for my first airbrush & compressor (almost the same set in fact) to be delivered from Amazon as I stumbled on this video, this was excellent! I have modest expectations, if I can at least use it for priming & zenithals I'll be happy. Brush priming isn't much fun, and rattle cans are pretty useless when it's -20 C outside. I was too stingy to spring for a spray booth, so I'll try using a cardboard box to contain the spray as much as possible. Let's see how messy the room's surfaces get before I yield and buy a damn booth.
I used the box the compressor came in as my spray booth by cutting it a bit. Didn't see any mess on my surfaces afterwards so should be fine. I would recommend a mask though!
Great to hear! I'll try the same. Yeah I did get a Rhino half face mask, got to try & stay alive now that I'm a dad. @@PaulIsBadAtStuff
Terraria music at the start goes hard
My airbrush is for priming mostly. Just because I hate hand priming
I mostly use my airbrush for priming models. It’s great for when it’s -4 degrees out and you need to prime your next batch of squigs
I haven't tried priming anything yet. Do you just use the same paints or do you need specific priming paints just through the airbrush?
@@PaulIsBadAtStuff Most people probably use vallejo surface primer or badger stynylrez primer through their airbrush. Depending on the nozzle size of your airbrush you might need to thin it a bit.
@PaulIsBadAtStuff Vallejo surface primer black is fantastic, however their white leaves a lot to be desired. Monument Hobbies surface primer is also really nice, for black, grey, and white.
I highly recommend priming with the airbrush as a method of practicing. It's a very low stakes environment that helped me get over the anxiety of learning to use it. Since you are covering the entirety of the model you don't have to focus on placement and you can instead focus on thickness of application. Once you've got that down you can shift to practicing brush control by picking a part, like a arm or shoulder pad, and trying to prime just it without hitting other spots. If you miss or get over spray it's no big deal because you are going to get the whole model anyway. You can also begin practicing gradients by doing zenithal highlights with the airbrush.
Fellow airbrush user welcome.
Here's a fun story: I once got an airbrush mailed to me. I never ordered an aibrush. I still have no clue who sent it.
Hey give a pink primer a try if you are painting reds. It will help with the layering you are experiencing.
Thanks I'll give it a go. I've done pink base colour with a yellow contrast with good results before
Those wings are awesome. What did you use for them?
On the vanguard vets? They're a 3d printed ones from puppetswar
Troubleshooting an airbrush when you don’t already know how to use an airbrush sucks. After a whole freaking year trying to figure out why my airbrush kept clogging, or when it did work why it was too wet on like a 20 year old dakkadakka thread.
1. Vallejo black primer does not like a lot of airbrushes, and
2. Airbrush thinner, counter intuitively, dries out the airbrush faster than water (thanks, random warhammer TH-camr for the completely wrong advice). I kept thinking if I was getting clogs, my paint must be too thick, so I’d add more thinner! Not how that works lol
Ive switched to colored Vallejo primers and thin with water and have had zero issues for 6 months
I saw enough videos to know that is worth an airbrush. Some things are just easier and/or faster with that tool.
I'm saving some bucks to get my first airbrush + compressor
The reason why paper is fine and the model spiderwebs, is thay the paper soaks in the "wetness", the plastic of the model doesn't.
I personally try out on my cutting mat, so i don't get the "paper soaking"
You should do a pile of shame video
I have a Badger 105 patriot and it was worth e v e r y d o l l a r s spent. F rattle can, and smooth base color aplication
The amount of people in my local area that used the skim milk advice when I got back into the hobby in 2020 was beyond aggravating. Hell, even last week at my local GW store, someone told a new painter about the skim milk and I was like why? I don't think a single one of these people even drink skim milk and realize how damn thin and watery it is.
Yes, skimmed milk is pigmented water.
i really want a basic airbrush, just so i can do basecoats in 1/10 the time