The Art of Coarse Airbrushing

Say 'ello to my leetle tank

I picked up an airbrush last year and to be frank, I've found it quite difficult to get to grips with.  I had trouble with keeping it clean, it seemed to be constantly clogging and I was spending quite a lot of time on it to little result. 

But after several attempts and over the course of a year, I've gotten to a stage where I'm happy with it. 

The trick appears to be; 

1. Always put your thinner and flow improver in first

2. Clear after every colour change

3. Use Isopropyl alcohol in a solution for cleaning

4. Use special airbrush paints until you are *very* comfortable with thinning your own  

The plus side is that when the airbrush runs well, it's an absolute dream.  

Thin, even coats of colour, applied very quickly.  There's a good bit of work in setting the airbrush up to work, but once you get it going, you can get a lot done very wuickly

I've a very basic Spamax model which I picked up with a compressor and some other equipment and very good it is too.  My pal, Savage, has a compressor which can handle multiple airbrushes at a time, so I went over to his place to do a bit of airbrushing together.  It was a very pleasant evening and we're hoping to do it again.  

The plan is to do a Courland scenario later in the year and that's going to require some suitably snow camouflaged big cats (and which will eventually be deployed to the Bulge), so I tried an old modellers trick with cheap hairspray.  

I had first painted this panther in the early 2000s and didn't make a particularly good job of it.  I gave it a coat of Hairspray and let that dry.  I then gave it a coat of Vallejo White German Camo (there's a funny German name for it which escapes me) and then let that dry. Once that was completely dry, I went back with a wet baby bud and reactivated the hairspray around the high traffic areas. 

This is called "chipping" and gives the impression that the paint has been chipped and worn and adds visual interest to a fairly monochrome vehicle. I'm told chipping fluid from a proper model shop is better, but I was quite pleased with this.  I've a few more tanks to do, but this should make it a lot faster and easier.  Just add some weathering and a few decals and we'll be done. 

The fruit of two hours work and very pleased I am too.  A certain amount of that was setting up the airbrush and cleaning it afterward, but once I got into the swing of things, I got paint on tanks very quickly. I think one of the ways to get the best out an airbrush would be to plan to do as much airbrushing as you can in one sitting.  This would mean that you'd get the most amount of painting for the least amount of set up time. 

Location, Location, Location Endor Edition

Of course Savage, turps drinking artistic type that he is, got rather more out of his painting session - it must be the smock, the floppy hat and the red haired ladies in a state of dishabille. It's a testament to just how much work you can do with an airbrush that he covered some very large spaces in jig time with a relatively small amount of masking. 

And very impressive it is too.    

TT Combat Paint Rack

This arrived yesterday, bought mainly I'll confess because Mrs. Kinch was giving out about not being able to see what paints we had.  I tend to throw all my paints in an old shoe box when I'm not using them.  They lie there in a satisfying higglety pigglety pile of pots. I then assemble the few lads that I need after picking though the box and then work from that small selection.  This preserves an element of mystery regarding what exactly paints are in stock and adds a touch of romance to what could otherwise be considered a rather pedestrian occupation. 

This is not the way to do business so far as hard headed Mrs. Kinch is concerned and something needed to be done.  As you can tell, I was cut to the quick at the prospect of abandoning the old messy ways and more to the point, appalled at the prospect of such wanton expenditure (which could be more profitably spend on toy soldiers or gin). 

However, bowing to the inevitable, I found this on eBay and a few days later, here it is. Costing about twenty quid* including shipping, this is a laser cut MDF kit that when assembled holds 40 pots of Vallejo, which should be enough to keep anyone happy. 

The pieces punch out relatively easily and have a pleasing burnt wood scent about them. A dry fitting would seem to indicate that the cuts are precise and the whole edifice should hold together relatively well given some glue. 

We shall see what exactly Progress looks like once it's put together. 

*That's Euro to those readers in the Free World.

The advance of progress

I put this chap together the other night and it's holding together rather well.  It is rugged enough to be picked up and carried about without flexing alarmingly. The pots are secure and can all be seen, which will reduce the amount of time I spend clucking and furrowing my brow. 

I have also learned.

a) I have a lot of different shades of blue, mostly as it happens from painting a few Space marines and the odd Napoleonic frenchman. 

b) I also have a ridiculous number of browns, khakis, ochres and other tans, chocolates and flat earths. Seriously, there are about twelve different shades of brown.

c) The citadel colours are going to have to live at the back, perhaps in some kind of ghetto?  Progress is already beginning to look a bit like the Milgram experiment. 

d) Notwithstanding the fact that there are spots for 40 pots of paint, there is still an overflow and that's not counting the citadel colours. 

e) Why do I have an orange (pictured) and a hot pink (in the overflow)? I have no memory of purchasing these. 

Two schools of painting

Jolly Old Saint Nick

Life here is busy, but not eventful and Mrs. Kinch and I are both looking forward to some time off at Christmas. In the mean time, I've done a spot of painting. Mrs. Kinch has finished all the rest, leaving me the task of painting Jolly Old Saint Nick and some Christmas stockings. 

Rather simple of course, but effective at what it does I think. 

Jolly Old Hungarian Hussar

Rather more complex and impressive is this fine fellow, a Hungarian hussar painted by Krisztian. Kris has promised me a couple of squadrons, which should fill all my light cavalry requirements for my Napoleonic Austrian army and in fine style. 

This fine fellow is also suitable for the 1848 Hungarian revolt.  Not that I am contemplating another another period of course. 

I can't help but feel like one of those comparative Art historian fellas, holding up the daubings of a cave dweller next to a Rembrandt.