Miniature Painting

Oblio

Oblio

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I am ashamed to admit I bought an airbrush and airbrush station over a year ago and have not used either one yet. I am way behind in my hobby, I have too many unopened boxes of models. I even bought a desktop and four legs to build a paintstation in my office to make my hobby more accessible and those have been sitting in boxes for 2 months. The crazy thing is when I paint I am more at peace with myself and the world, but I have been a procrastinating little bitch.

So here is my public declaration that I hope someone in this thread will call me out on. I will get my paint station built over this holiday weekend and supply photos to the group!!!

All the shit sitting in boxes...
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Aazrael

Aazrael

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Oblio said:
I am ashamed to admit I bought an airbrush and airbrush station over a year ago and have not used either one yet. I am way behind in my hobby, I have too many unopened boxes of models. I even bought a desktop and four legs to build a paintstation in my office to make my hobby more accessible and those have been sitting in boxes for 2 months. The crazy thing is when I paint I am more at peace with myself and the world, but I have been a procrastinating little bitch.

So here is my public declaration that I hope someone in this thread will call me out on. I will get my paint station built over this holiday weekend and supply photos to the group!!!

All the shit sitting in boxes...
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That Airbrush is awesome. I used a Harder and Steinberg at first but once I got that Iwata Eclipse the Airbrushing got so much easier. It's a top notch Airbrush but the Patriot one should be just as good or better. The H&S was not very comfortable to use though.

I have tons of Minis to handpaint but like many in this thread knows, sometimes you just can't get back into it. I sit there looking at them and know I will feel peace in my soul painting them but then get distracted by the damn Tiktoks and shit and suddenly it's bedtime.

I started watching a lot of modelling videos again though and slowly built up to buying that F14 model and decided to try and paint it as good as I can with no rushing. Work has been a bitch but I think I will have energy to do some painting and gluing a few days a week at least.

Get the hobby area up and running. Then just start small!
 
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sukik

sukik

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I bought a master airbrush compressor w/tank and airbrush kit maybe 6 months ago. I've only used it a few times for priming and basing, but I love it. I know the airbrush isn't the best, but it does what I need. With flow improved and thinner( both vallejo), I can do thin coats that really speed up the painting process.

I keep a small bucket of water next to me when I'm spraying to keep the airbrush clean, and have yet to have any clogging issues.

There are a couple of badgers I was looking at, but I'm holding off until I feel I've hit the limit of my current brush.

I also have that painting box with fan. It was a must for me since there are electronics with fans in the same room I paint.
 
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Aazrael

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This is my quiet place. Styrofoam blocking the window right now but I am about to cut a hole in it to feed the spray booth hose through it so I can crack the window and paint even if its -15C like it usually is around here.

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Koushirou

Koushirou

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I long for the day I can have my hobby room, or at least corner. My office upstairs unfortunately is three offices stuffed into a small room, so there’s no room for anything else or even for decorations, really, so the basement is all I have, and I only get half the finished part (husband claimed the other half for his bar). Lamenting my younger days, at my old house, my father built me out a whole desk station along my bedroom wall, space for my computer, another space next to the window for model building and then shelving built in to display them all and even took out my carpet and put in hardwood along that section so I could roll my chair freely. I’d love to have that setup again in this corner in my basement, though I’m lacking the window sadly for venting. Unfortunately, the egress there is the only thing leading outside downstairs. Not sure if there’s any sort of funky setup I could manage to get to get a hose hooked up cleanly through that door without it being a pain in the ass.

And yeah, my backlog is getting large…and I have two more Zoids on the way from Japan to add to the stack… Husband has banned me from buying anymore until I actually get some built and finished.

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sukik

sukik

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Koushirou said:
I long for the day I can have my hobby room, or at least corner. My office upstairs unfortunately is three offices stuffed into a small room, so there’s no room for anything else or even for decorations, really, so the basement is all I have, and I only get half the finished part (husband claimed the other half for his bar). Lamenting my younger days, at my old house, my father built me out a whole desk station along my bedroom wall, space for my computer, another space next to the window for model building and then shelving built in to display them all and even took out my carpet and put in hardwood along that section so I could roll my chair freely. I’d love to have that setup again in this corner in my basement, though I’m lacking the window sadly for venting. Unfortunately, the egress there is the only thing leading outside downstairs. Not sure if there’s any sort of funky setup I could manage to get to get a hose hooked up cleanly through that door without it being a pain in the ass.

And yeah, my backlog is getting large…and I have two more Zoids on the way from Japan to add to the stack… Husband has banned me from buying anymore until I actually get some built and finished.

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I didn't hook up the hose on mine for water based paints. I think the filter gets it all. Could always test it egress with some white paper to see if anything is getting out the filter.

Mine is mostly dirty from testing on cardboard when I first got it. I don't think there's a lot of overspray with practice.
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Oblio said:
I am ashamed to admit I bought an airbrush and airbrush station over a year ago and have not used either one yet. I am way behind in my hobby, I have too many unopened boxes of models. I even bought a desktop and four legs to build a paintstation in my office to make my hobby more accessible and those have been sitting in boxes for 2 months. The crazy thing is when I paint I am more at peace with myself and the world, but I have been a procrastinating little bitch.

So here is my public declaration that I hope someone in this thread will call me out on. I will get my paint station built over this holiday weekend and supply photos to the group!!!

All the shit sitting in boxes...
View attachment 501391View attachment 501395View attachment 501396View attachment 501397

View attachment 501399
Click to expand...

HPCS is amazing. I since upgraded to an H&S Evolution, but I still use my HP CS for basecoating, priming and finishes.

I did get rid of the hobby compressor and upgraded to a 2 gal harbor freight quiet compressor though, you can use the air volume on the HPCS.
 
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Koushirou said:
Model is the 105. I believe the standard tip is .5 and the detail one is around .35. And yeah, it’s a gravity cup. I don’t really plan to go beyond acrylics anytime soon. Lacquer and enamels I’ve heard too much scary stuff regarding the fumes.
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Yea I think you will find the .5 is very frustrating to use except for large coats. .35 is rather middle of the road. I have a .15 on my evolution right now just as a point of reference in the very small end. If you try to do camo patterns and fading on a kit you will probably like the .35 more.

Also, IMO there is no need to use anything but acrylics. I use Vallejo primer, variety of paints and inks, and Vallejo varnish through the air brush. I like to be focusing on painting instead of PPE.
 
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So this is my current setup (bit of a mess). Room is due for a refresh at some point, maybe next year if I decide to care about 40k again soon.

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sukik

sukik

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My hobby desk has doubled as a work from home desk the last week and a half since work is being done on my office. A little tight for everything, but suits my needs.
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Obligatory plastic hoarding. The drawers ar full of partially complete and unopened imperium magazines. Three of the premium kits are Tyranids for Regime Regime .
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And my little compressor. I almost got a moisture trap for my regular compressor, but didn't want to deal with the noise. Has a small tank and adjustable pressure gauge.
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Talos

Talos

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I just started getting into airbrushing a few weeks ago myself. Ordered that same Cool Runner compressor, an Iwata HP CS, vallejo primers/varnishes, and army painter for all the paints/washes.

It's made priming and basecoating a whole lot faster. But I have still been using regular brushes most of the time with these paints. Currently finishing up minis for all my players in the Curse of Strahd campaign I'm running. Here's my humble workstation. I just have a piece of cardboard instead of one of those filter box things. And I keep the window open when airbrushing.

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basing stuff, tools, old paints and brushes
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backlog of minis, mostly reaper
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For learning, someone posted this guy in this thread a little while back. He also has good tips on basing and other things.


These guys have also been helpful.

 
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Talos

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Next thing I want to learn is how to do blending with the airbrush, like the green capes in the thumbnail above. I've tried wet blending with regular brushes but it never comes out right.
 
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Talos said:
Next thing I want to learn is how to do blending with the airbrush, like the green capes in the thumbnail above. I've tried wet blending with regular brushes but it never comes out right.
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Retard

But seriously try getting some retarder medium (Vallejo has it) to use with brush work. Acrylics dry very quickly, it's not really always a technique thing it's a chemical thing. Your relative humidity, the binder chemicals and the pigments all fight against blending.

Perhaps the best way to get a really forgiving feel for blending is to start using oils, but I know that is not in most people's toolkits.

Airbrushes can't actually blend, but they can mimic it with effectively gradients, sometimes helped with translucent pigments overlapping.
 
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Talos

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Palum said:
Retard

But seriously try getting some retarder medium (Vallejo has it) to use with brush work. Acrylics dry very quickly, it's not really always a technique thing it's a chemical thing. Your relative humidity, the binder chemicals and the pigments all fight against blending.

Perhaps the best way to get a really forgiving feel for blending is to start using oils, but I know that is not in most people's toolkits.

Airbrushes can't actually blend, but they can mimic it with effectively gradients, sometimes helped with translucent pigments overlapping.
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I used vallejo retarder when I was trying to wet blend the capes for the two above minis (yellow and red base), but I still couldn't get it right. I think I need to practice on a larger and flatter surface to get the hang of it. Maybe those gargoyle wings should be next.
 
sukik

sukik

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Someone suggested retarder to me when I was trying to do eyes. Pretty frustrating. I bought the retarder but haven't given it another try.
 
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sukik said:
Someone suggested retarder to me when I was trying to do eyes. Pretty frustrating. I bought the retarder but haven't given it another try.
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Well keep in mind that white is notorious and bad white paint is very very bad. Some pigments are just awful and you will really struggle, but sometimes that's chemical and sometimes that's just translucency making it not cooperate.

Also retarder isn't a magic bullet, if you are rocking 20% humidity in your house you're going to have a bad time. Also make sure you are wetting the brush and making sure the belly is moist if not loaded with paint.

I also think inks are pretty decent at blending since they have such high pigment counts it's a bit easier to manipulate coverage.
 
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Oblio

Oblio

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Some progress and yes that is a cardboard cutout of Danny Devito in the corner. It was gift from my oldest son last Father's Day, I guess you could say I am raising him right :emoji_wink:

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I will get the cords cleaned up soon.
 
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Oblio said:
Some progress and yes that is a cardboard cutout of Danny Devito in the corner. It was gift from my oldest son last Father's Day, I guess you could say I am raising him right :emoji_wink:

View attachment 501628

I will get the cords cleaned up soon.
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I don't know what's going on with that perspective. Is that fan like 3 feet in diameter?
 
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Oblio

Oblio

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Palum said:
I don't know what's going on with that perspective. Is that fan like 3 feet in diameter?
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Haha, it is 2' also used fisheye lens.

My office in the basement with low ceilings so I couldn't do a ceiling fan. It is too loud to have on when I am working, so I bought this quieter modern looking fan, but I have to figure out how to mount it.

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