GW airbrush paints

[Crispy]

www.spikeybits.com/2015/08/new-citadel-airbrush-paints-pictures-spotted.html

Didn't see that coming.

[fishboy]

I know forge world came out with some but I thought the rumors had been out there for GW to follow up for a while.  Either way I am curious how good they are compared to the Valejo air and model air paints.

[hyv3mynd]

Tbh I do a lot of airbrushing. Like 5 armies so far and I don't use airbrush paints. They're basically watered down paint, effectively costing you the same amount for less paint, more fillers. Once you're comfortable watering down your own paints, you can stretch your bottles further. 5 airbrushed armies, each with single bottle or less paint usage by mixing myself. I talked to a guy at daboyz who airbrushed his GK army and went through 4 bottles of his primary color. I haven't had to repeat a paint bottle purchase yet.

I'm glad that they're embracing the airbrushing hobbyists, but as a heavy airbrusher, I won't use them.

[nedley]

I tried Airbrushing, and I did like Aaron said, for my IG, I just thinned Averland Sunset. However, my brush would clog constantly. It really does take a long time to get the measurements down, and I think GW is making a smart move capitalizing on laziness.

[fishboy]

Aaron you know I love ya bud but there is a difference with several of the airbrush paint brands and normal paint.  With most of the airbrush brands the pigment is ground much finer to prevent clogging issues with smaller needles.  PP paints are not airbrush paints but the do grind their pigments smaller than most non airbrush paints and they also have a higher pigment content and they make an excellent airbrush paint if thinned correctly.  Metallic paints for airbrushed also have MUCH smaller metallic pieces in them to prevent clogging.  I use a .2 mm needle in most of my airbrushes and I have to pick my paint carefully otherwise I spend a lot of time getting rid of clogs heh.  Type of thinner is also critical depending on type of paint.  Current GW paints work okay with an alcohol based thinner but some separate and are only good with water.  Some Vallejo work only with their medium and separate if you use the alcohol base thinners.  It really is a learning curve every time you change paints.  I am always trying new things (which can be frustrating) and Aaron is smarter than me because he found what works for him and sticks with it heh.  One key element that I have found works great in most paints is some type of paint dry retarder to prevent tip dry which is a huge problem with my .02 mm needles.  

[hyv3mynd]

I'm sure I would notice a difference with proper airbrush paints, thinners, etc. My problem is I have a very small budget to work with. I can't afford to re-buy 15-20 colors in airbrush paints. I use vallejo paints for my standard wet palette hand painting technique, and they also just happen to work nicely with airbrushing. The dropper tips are key because I can make precise mixes of paint and water by counting drops.

I do encounter dry tip and paint buildup. I post a lot of pictures of airbrushed stuff but I don't talk about the challenges often, though I do encounter them.

My routine is to mix paint and airbrush for about 5 min. Then I remove the needle and clean any paint on the tip, and flush my water trap and hose, then back to painting. My vallejo paints and mixing recipe don't produce clogs, so I just need to maintain the tip to reduce spattering, and ensure no water condensation makes it through the brush from the compressor. Then, every time I change colors, I fully disassemble the airbrush to clean it and flush with rubbing alcohol. I've been doing it long enough and have my station set for optimal motion, so my 5 min tip cleaning takes 60 seconds and my color change cleaning takes 2-3 minutes. It's a lot of stop-go, yes, but worth it in the end as airbrushing is still a lot faster than traditional painting for base coating, shading, highlighting, and OSL.

So wet palette painting (lease look it up, it's the best painting technique I've ever discovered) uses 1 drop of paint which lasts the evening. And watering down my standard paints for airbrushing extends the life of the paint. I could be making my life easier by using airbrush paints and products, but I've easily saved a couple hundred dollars along the way. Maybe someday I'll sell off an army and treat myself to an airbrush paint set.

[fishboy]

Going to airbrush paints won't make your life any easier....I have similar routines with my airbrush change and color hehe. I do like the save money part though?

[commissarkrad]

Vallejo is the best I've found as well, and since I started using their purpose made airbrush thinner it's been going great. Like Aaron said, with vallejo it thins well enough that it works good even though it's not an "airbrush paint." I did pick up a couple of bottles of Vallejo air to try out on some of my dust models but have not gotten around to it yet so I'm not sure how much easier they may be. One other nice thing they have is the large bottles of airbrush primers which go on very nicely and hold great. I like them better than the rattle can stuff I had been using, especially Citadel primers. So yes, as long as you are using the right paint and thinner, special airbrush paint seems quite unnecessary.