I started using my airbrush!!! Yup, THAT'S the exciting news lol. It's the start of a new year and I was tired of letting all my supplies gather in the corner so I decided it's a good time to reach my goal of finishing TWO garage kits (wow big dreams guys) by learning how to use my supplies. I don't have too many pictures but there is one thing I realized...it is really quite difficult to get work-in-progress pictures when you are in the zone and the paint comes out so quickly. x_x There are many things I'm still learning while getting into this aspect of the hobby and there are countless tutorials available so if you are looking to get into airbrushing don't be overwhelmed either! If you are a reader like me and like to know what you're getting into I found this guide very helpful: Airbrush Basics It gets more into the technicality of using your airbrush but the guide is still very easy to understand so I really recommend it. Youtube videos are also very helpful especially if you have a certain brand of airbrush or if you're just looking up basic techniques on how to use it.
Stuff I recommend before actually painting a figure that I've learned:
- Take your airbrush apart beforehand so you will know how to clean it between changing colors! Once you start touching your airbrush and learning where the parts go it becomes a lot less scary. For example, I was really worried about bending the tip of the needle in my airbrush since it is supposedly very fragile but the whole piece is sturdy metal so as long as you are careful with it you should have no problem.
- Practice with food coloring and water so you can get an idea of what pressure works best and how the trigger works. This was really important on my end since I started out with Tamiya flat blue acrylic (see some of the pics below) and it was coming out all spotty. When I practiced with water and food coloring I realized that I wasn't thinning my paint enough. It has to be really, REALLY thin to work properly.
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| My madman scribbles before any painting even occurred |
- Do NOT forget to wear a good mask and keep your area ventilated! I had a mask on when spraying paint and alcohol so obviously I didn't smell anything but after I took that mask off...well my room smelled like a chemistry lab even with my window wide open and I know that because I have had experience in chemistry labs lol
- Save yourself some work and buy a tabletop cleaning station. They are designed where you put your airbrush in a little hole and spray into it to clear out excess paint or to spray alcohol/water through it to clean your airbrush (see below). This allows you to keep all of your waste in one spot and dispose of it safely later.
And now more for the fun part :p Here are some work-in-progress pictures of Remilia and my airbrush:
I use an Iwata HP-CS airbrush and an Iwata Smart Jet compressor. I will be using Tamiya acrylic paints for Remilia. I thin them roughly 1:1 with 91% isopropyl alcohol. I tried 70% isopropyl alcohol at first because I had it on-hand but it doesn't dry fast enough. I have also read that you can use Windex safely and effectively.
Another thing I realized that is so different from hand-brushing...the paint goes on so thin! I know that sounds like common sense but you really have to make sure your paints are highly pigmented because they can come out completely different on a figure vs. in the bottle.
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| To get this color I added in a bunch of Tamiya Red and a little Yellow |
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| After like 1 coat? |
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| It came out SO bright orange! I don't get it since the color is so red in the cup D: It's what I wanted but still lol |
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| Not sure if I like this color...I mixed some Tamiya Red and one drop of Black and then covered it with Tamiya Clear Red |
Another small kind of 'duh' moment I had was using different color primers. I have only ever really used grey Tamiya primer since I could hand-brush many coats of paint over it but now I'm realizing with an airbrush that isn't possible. Now I have to strip the primer off of Remilia's skin and re-prime it in white so I can spray flesh tone on it...>_>
Anyway that's all the pictures that I have right now. I recently came back to my apartment so I have to get everything set up again so it may be a little bit before I finish this kit. Using an airbrush is much easier than I thought though, you just have to make sure that your paints are thinned appropriately and you understand how color mixing works since that will really help you. I hope that posting this inspires some of you to try airbrushing if you're a little scared too. Until next time!
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