Hey, I just opened my first ever merch store. You can grab sweet cutting mats, mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, and a patch for your blue jean vest! Check it out: miniac.bigcartel.com/
@@seanmapley7417 I already have one (though a lower end one) but still watch a lot of videos before spraying my first real miniature. Only dabbled a little bit with Cosplay and baord game miniatures.
When I got back into mini painting about a year ago I decided to get an airbrush. Once I figured it out (still haven't figured everything out) it made priming and doing armor so much easier. I can paint a Khador Warjack in a couple hours where with a brush it would take me a week or two. It really is a great tool to use even if you're just priming models. And this video is pretty much all the things I figured out over the year and some new things I didn't know of. Thanks!
Love your vids dude, always feels like just listening to someone who's had the time to experiment and really put in the work to get down to some of the secrets to stress free painting. Your tone in these videos stays really humble and honestly takes a lot of the frustration out of looking at expertly painted shit without actually learning anything from the painter. You have truly captured the grind necessary to become a dope painter
I thin my paints using airbrush medium (from golden iirc, but I guess other brands would give a similar result) and never had to wait several hours to use a brush on the mini. Other thing I do is I use a sponge instead of a paper towel when I want to create a backflow in the cup. I found the towel would get too wet too fast and I had to get a new towel way too often. And if the sponge is dirty, I can wash it with some water and reuse it. And last thing for anyone starting or willing to start with airbrushing: wear a respirator. You really don't want paint in your lungs. Once it's in there, it's not leaving and the buildup will be a problem down the road.
I have painted full size autos. Agree totally on a Respirator. I use a 3M dual cartridge K95 VOC filter. 3 stage car paint is nasty stuff. Had the check valve stick momentarily. I had to stop and walk out of booth. Body and paint guys have a high rate of cancer in their late 50's. Use Gloves and goggles too. For auto paint, The charcoal cartridges for the mask must be used within 24hrs once opened. Not cheap, they are about $30. I know that the water based acrylics don't require 3M VOC level protection. However if you step up to auto paint, your going to have to watch a bunch of do's and dont's vids. One of those mini paint boxes with a fan to pull away offgassed paint fumes. Just build one out of cardboard with a light and a muffin fan to pull vapors away. A turntable for inside the paint box with a lazy susan to rotate your Miniature while painting Cheers!
Here are some tips I learned in my 10 years of airbrushing fine art, and after earning two degrees doing such. Bubbles in the cup can be from paint buildup in your needle/air nozzle, but if you have bubbles after a full cleaning, and spraying water thru it you probably have a flared or cracked nozzle. Use the medium for the paint your using plus water for deloutuon of water based paints like acrylics. Solvent based paints are another story. If you have your needle spring set really soft for a light trigger you're doing yourself a disservice. Too little pressure won't allow the needle to return to a fully seated position in your nozzle causing ghost tip dry Learn to paint with a folded paper towel next to you to blow off hard into in between detail runs. It will blow off some tip dry and help with delayed starting or sputtering And don't use gun lube, also if you have air leaks around your nozzle (you can check by blowing air and adding a couple drops of cleaner around where each section threads together you'll see bubbles) seal the threads with a little colorless flavorless chapstick I have a few hundred more. Lol but you'll have to take my intro 3 day airbrush workshop this summer.
Heelp, if you had only $70 dollars, ¿Wich airbrush would you buy?(I'm going to use it for automotive paint and i'm looking for a gravity feed dual action airbrush) I'm from Colombia, ¿Wich website should i use?
You just offered us newbies something all the other videos don't. You are reflecting on your trial and errors. It's invaluable. You got yourself a new subscriber.
Drop your air pressure, it's an airbrush not a full on spraygun.. It's all about scale.. with a airbrush 16psi should be the highest you need for spread and down to 10psi for detailing especially when well thinned.. best way to remember it is: Scale is everything even down to the painting .. happy weathering. ;)
12 tips in 12 minutes. Good job keeping it short and sweet. I've been airbrushing for a year as well and still learned a lot from this video. Good job!
At around 9:00 you mention using gun oil, a nice alternative to gun oil is sewing machine oil. it's a very fine mineral machine oil for anyone who wants to look around the hobby shop or the fabric store for their oil needs. Great Vid, makes me feel more confident to to set the brush down and pick up the air brush this weekend, and.... PAINT MORE MINIS!!
I personally had nothing but issues using that Vallejo Thinner. I was unclogging my airbrush more than I was actually painting. I then switched to just using their Flow Improver + a little water and never looked back. I also recently bought an Ultrasonic cleaner for stripping minis but found that I love it even more for cleaning my airbrush at the end of a session.
Exact same experience! Changed my airbrishing life after working it out - thinner dries water based acrylic out which encourages clogging. Now I only use it for paint with polyurethane in it, like the Valejo primers. I was thinking about using a sonic cleaner for the airbrush also...hmmm!
Interesting, I don't have any problems with it at all. I do use a drop or two of flow improver though at the same time. In fact I like the Vallejo thinner so much I use it for all my thinning, seems to to work much better for me than water for my paints.
So the thinner is basically distilled water with very little else in it, I think something to break the surface tension but that's all, when you thin your paints with thinner it doesn't make them dry quicker, it just leaves them drying at the same rate they were. Flow improver actually does several things including extending the drying time of the paint. So you should be using a drip of flow improver with your thinner, particularly with pale coloured paints.
I have been using an airbrush for years, and also have a sotar. All the advice in here is rock solid - especially the one about using quality products. thanks for the vid. one other tip (at least for me,as I am a klutz). After my airbrush is clean, I store the needle separately - outside the airbrush. Helps things dryout better, and less chance I accidentally damage the needle. I just have piece of foam next to my airbrushes, that I stick my needles into (a piece of closed cell foam, left over from a terrain project). Thanks again for the video.
I love the part about using an actual Airbrush Thinner. It is SUCH an improvement over the other things people say to use like Windex and whatnot. Great to see you discovered it :D
I use 70% water 30% alcohol to thin Tamiya, Testors, Vallejo, MIG, AK Interactive, and all kinds and brands of craft paint and have never had any problems. There is nothing special about brand name thinners.
This is the best all round video I have found after monotonous hours watching many other tips out there! So clear and easy to listen to, thank you for spending your time doing this!
Oh wow, within the first 3 mins of the video you answered a doubt I always had. It never occurred to me to lower the psi when painting really close to my model!!! Thank you so much, my shadows and details will look better now!!!
These have been excellent tips. No time wasted! I am considering getting an airbrush later this year and this video helps clear up a bunch of questions I had about the process.
Almost 2020 here. This is a great video. I just started airbrushing about 6 months ago. Some of the things you talk about, I had to learn the hard way after hours of frustration. I also picked up a few good tips from this. I wish I had seen this vid 6 months ago. Excellent starter video for airbrushing. Thanks and good job!
There are a lot of airbrushing videos with better production values etc, BUT you clarified issues I had with thinning paints better than any of the 20+ videos I saw on that exact topic. THANK YOU! Subscribing and checking your store.
G'day Miniac, I've come back to modelling after many years. Back when I started there was only brush painting. So, I've been watching airbrushing videos from people with decades of experience. I've found this to be extremely confusing because they assume you have knowledge about airbrushing '101' that you don't have. I found your quick video had more useful info than all of the 'experts' put together. Thank you, because now I have the basic concepts. It's like learning brush painting when you're a kid, you just keep doing it until you get it right and it feels and looks OK to you. I'm certain I'll mess things up but that's cool because I'll practice on left over bits of old kits that I've already built. I've also found that modern decals are better than I recall from way back but they are much more fragile so, I developed 'decal fear'. Here again, I just got some old decal sheets and stuck decals at random on bits of old plastic, learning how to use microsol etc. Nothing really replaces the learning of doing something over and over again until it all fits together. I'm sure you're much more experienced now so I'll check out some of your more recent videos by subscribing and 'ringing the bell'. Cheers, BH
well done. I do not do miniatures, but I have seen a LOT of instructionals for airbrushing, and the information on this vid was succinct, and well delivered. I would recommend making more of this type of video, you have a gift for teaching. I may be a glass engraver, but I recently picked up this tool, and it is such a satisfying experience-once you get past the troubleshooting involved. If I had had this video on day one, my journey would have been so much easier. Thanks for spreading your knowledge!
Yea gotta say you really are extremely helpful and also easy to listen to, great videos man heaps well made and so much advice I’m watching your stuff constantly for inspiration.
Thanks for this. I could have used this a lot more about a year ago. One other thing that I've noticed, cheap paints don't like to be thinned and as such really cause some problems with airbrushes. When I was brushing only, craft paints worked fine. I had to upgrade to higher quality paints to paint with airbrush. I dig your videos man. thank you!
If you experiment you can use almost any kind of paint (even cheap craft paint) and great a really nice finish. I just finished a model where I used two different colors of cheap craft paint, then finished it off with some dollar store clear nail polish. Different paints need different thinning, or add floor wax to get better adhesion and durability. You can even use latex house paint. Pint cans of Rust-Oleum enamel. You can use almost any paint you just need to experiment before putting paint to your project
Hey Miniac, love the vid, I love help vids, especially airbrush ones. I've been a custom painter and Airbrush artist for pretty close to 3o years now (That wasn't as much fun to say as I thought it would be, "What a drag it is getting old")(I can hear my kids laughing at me now) Anyway, I got a couple things I thought might help to go along with your learnings. You and probably most on here have heard about some of them, I assume you're aiming your vid at beginners so I'll write em out and hopefully they help. A lot of the things I have you can find on vids threw out youtube but sometimes it's just nice to be able to read. The point you made about air pressure and thining paint. For sure it's always a safe bet to take every precaution you can. Turning down your air pressure and checking your thickness is important. Sometimes you're just spraying a perfect paint mix and things are hooking up nicely and then you have to go in tight and it's not always practical to stop and do all the adjustments, you lose your spot and momentum, it can be a pain in the butt. Here is a rule of thumb in painting. PSI+Distance+Hand Speed divided by Paint Flow & Mixture Written out it looks like this. With a dual action airbrush you push down for air pressure and pull back for paint flow (As you so elegantly stated in the vid) and your distance determines the width of your line. Depending on how thick or thin your paint is will dictate your hand speed, the thinner your paint is the quicker you want to move your hand. If your paint is thin and wet you want to move quickly if it's thicker and a little dry you slow down a bit so that it sticks. I liked your point about keeping the trigger down and pulling back as you go and this is the most practical way to operate, although, letting up on the trigger will reduce your air pressure and it's always good to be versatile in your technique. This takes some practice, so here is an exercise that's commonly taught for this formula. On a piece of paper, cardboard or whatever works for you (I sometimes use the walls in my shop) practice making different sized dots and lines, from big to small, start with pushing the trigger all the way down and all the way back and move your hand in and out until you achieve a dot/line that is uniform in all aspects. (quick tip; Don't draw out a circle with your brush and fill it in, just point and shoot and let the airbrush make the dot/line and keep reducing them from the biggest your brush can make to the smallest you can make with it) Now practice moving in with your distance and not pushing or pulling the trigger as much as your last dot and with the line try moving faster or slower to see if it's going on to wet or to dry. The tricky part now is finding that balance between down and back as it relates to the thickness and color you actually have. The goal is to train your trigger finger to react to what your eye sees. I'm not saying that this technique should be a mandatory elimination for actually turning your PSI down but when you're into a flow and the thought of stopping to make adjustments just isn't in the cards...a light finger can save a lot of time. The more you practice the dots and lines the more confidence you have in the outcome. Another exercise to do is Whip-Its! (I don't mean going to the grocery store and hitting the cool whip isle :-) ) Spray a line holding the airbrush close to the sub straight and while moving across, start pulling your hand up while letting the trigger go back and up to the off position. So you're making a line that starts thin and progresses to wide in a quick motion. As you progress with this concentrate on making the whole movement a wrist motion. WhipIts come in handy in lots of ways in all kinds of different projects. As far as Paint not sticking due to mixtures, I find it's always helpful to apply applicable adhesion promoters. Fail-safes are a must! with an AP you apply it one time about 3 to 5 minutes before painting and gets to places you can't always reach in the prep phase. When I say applicable I mean, make sure your adhesion promoter is compatible with your medium. Anyway, hope some of this helps. Thanks for the vids man! Keep being you! \00/
Two things keep a small sponge in a little dish with windex in it. Take and get in the habit of pushing it on and into the tip before you have problems. When cleaning fill with cleaner cover the tip with finger or a sponge and bubble it spray it out then do the same with water a couple times. Use some bee's wax on your threaded parts to avoid air leaks. These few tips make it easy to avoid problems that cuts down on your painting time. Craft on.
For pressure I have my compressor set at 23 or so, and they I have the small adjustment knob on my main line (it came with my masters kit) to really finesse it down to the lower pressures.
Keep the Airbrush body clean! Paint in weird spots on the body can help diagnose flow and AB problems. This is how I discovered a blown seal on one of my brushes.
nice video. especially like the parts where you talk about the relation to air pressure and paint thickness and tips about how to tell if the paint is to thin or thick. i've heard the "it should be the consistency of milk" thing in a bunch of other videos, but this showed how to actually troubleshoot the issue.
Your right. But everybody needs to always experiment to fine tune your airbrushing techniques for different paints before putting paint on your product.
I've found those triangle shaped make-up sponges to be an amazing tool for airbrushing. They allow you to do the 'back flow technique' (where you plug the tip of the airbrush to mix the contents of the cup) very well, and you don't risk getting fibers from a paper towel onto your needle, and you don't stab yourself like you tend to do if you just use your fingers. They are also awesome for quickly and easily wiping / pulling off paint that has collected on your needle. Because they are a sponge, you can even pull away paint that would otherwise be a bit inaccessible as you 'squeegee' into the area where the needle enters the airbrush itself. Side note: air brush thinner is a paint drying accelerant! Clogs and dry tip happen more often and quicker if you use too much, especially if you don't have a lubricant also added. Vallejo Flow Improver is a friggin magic potion, paint never enters my cup without it. Great vid as always, Regdab Yob!
Heelp, if you had only $70 dollars, ¿Wich airbrush would you buy?(I'm going to use it for automotive paint and i'm looking for a gravity feed dual action airbrush) I'm from Colombia, ¿Wich website should i use?
Great video. I've been airbrushing over a decade and did paint and body work for 20 years prior. Great tips for new airbrushers. I learned a few things too.
I do all my mixing in the airbrush cup. first I put in thinner and a drop or two of flow improver. Then a few drops of paint Then I use a disposable pipette to pull it all up and mix it. Adding paint slowly to the mix until it's the right thickness. The benefit to this is you can test the thickness with a quick spray and add paint as required, plus spare mix is in the pipette so the bowl isn't over filled. Anything left at the end can be kept in the pipette with a bit of tape over the end for next time. Oh and the pipettes are super cheap., a few pence each if that.
Found your videos the other day and you sir, are a legend. loving all the tips and tricks. and the inspiration I get from seeing the stuff you produce.
first rule learn to clean the airbrush properly and how to unblock it.because your going to do alot of it when first starting.also learn temperatures affect on paint.colder and hotter temps affect the flow.
I've studied airbrushing formally and the biggest thing I learnt was to leave my air running through my airbrush as often as I can. As I brush I remember A.M.I, I.M.A. air. Movement. Ink, Ink. Movement. Air. I often only paint at 10% paint with each pass, it's always better to start really light and do multiple passes until I get the colour I want.
5:05 talking about liquid mask. I'm going to try it out on Cypher, after rewatching this video, I'm going to varnish first to avoid pulling up paint. How long does it need to set up before you can airbrush over it?
THE most important thing to me, and i cant stress that enough, was to start with the PSI low, as in like 15 to 18 PSI low. Even with basecoating. I kept seeing "start with 30 to 40 PSI" and the first time i started spraying it was crazy and i almost quit. This is coming form someone who Power washed professionally for many years at 8gpm at 3800 to 4200 PSI. The second time ehrn i finally git the courage, i lowered the PSI and i immediately wasnlike "ooohhhh this is going to be great!' Eventually i worked up to higher PSI, so my advice begginers is to not get so wrapped up in the number of PSI and go with what feels good enough.
Hey Scott, it would be awesome if you could make a video on all the hardware you use to shoot your videos and like a guide to get into streaming or how to connect with other people that like the hobby... love your videos! keep them coming!
Great content. During the video there was a lot of reflection on your glasses from a window behind the camera. Short term solution could be closing the window. Long term would be to get lenses with an AR, anti-reflective, coating. It will help when filming and is good if you work in front of a computer a lot and night driving.
That Neil Young song, 'The Needle and the Damage Done'... That was about airbrushing, the whole time? It can certainly be a frustrating learning curve! Thanks for the vid.
Total nub here, but been using Vallejo flow improver and a little water for thinning and it’s been amazing for the dry climate I’m in. When I used thinner I got a lot of paint drying on the tip.
7:35 - start the air before you point the air brush at the model and when you're done adding paint, push dual action trigger forward stopping paint but continue air Then release the air. you'll never spray start globs again
Been brush painting for a few years, and really want to take the leap and start airbrushing. I'm worried about not knowing what I'm doing, and investing cash in something that I end up hating/not wanting to use.
Did you ever talk about space setup for air brush? Painting inside, overspray... Is it possible to airbrush in a bedroom or somewhere you have things that you dont want paint settling on? (Some of us dont have a choice if we want to airbrush.)
The minimum you want to start for acrylic paint airbrushing inside is a spray booth like a cardboard box, n95 mask, and a fan near your window that pulls air to the outside. As a newbie that is all you need to start with small projects around 1-6 miniatures. If you seriously airbrushing you are going to want a spray booth that has its own vent and fan that leads out of your window and better respirator with a n100 filter. You should also vacuum and dust the room you airbrush in as acrylic paint basically turns into dust when it dries.
Thanks for this man. I've learnt a lot from your videos so far - and right as i am just about to start airbrushing a bunch of primaris marines you release this. I've been doing airbrushing off and on for about a year too, now I feel confident enough to try and basecoat, then highlight at higher angles. Some really great tips - thanks.
i used the airbrush thinner when i fill my citadel colours into dropper bottles to get most of the colour our of the pots. It's also great for painting with a normal brush. my paints are allways nice thinned down. I only need to add a small drop of water or a bit glaze medium and im ready to go. Yesterday i bought my airbrush set am im looking forward to test all the stuff :) but in the end i bought it mostly for zenital and good undercoating ^^
One thing i would suggest in addition with cleaning, shoot Windex through it when you're finished. i've been doing it for a few months now, after a professional car painter told me he did that at work. it's been BEAUTIFUL, and cleans everything.
Max Zwarenstein the issue with ammonia lung is usually fibrosis. Some competitive lifters that abuse ammonium chloride (smelling salts) end up suffering from it. That being said, you really shouldn't be airbrushing without a mask, vented booth or no. Atomized paint is gonna hurt you loooooooong before ammonia fumes will.
70% water 30% alcohol work as good as and brand name acrylic thinner. That's one of the advantages of a double action airbrush is that you can use the same consistency/thickness of paint and pressure at any distance from several inches to up close, just pull back the trigger enough to get the job done and you wont over apply the paint and can get the fine lines you need. Don't have to keep thinning the paint and adjusting the air pressure for whatever you're shooting.
Hey, I just opened my first ever merch store. You can grab sweet cutting mats, mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, and a patch for your blue jean vest! Check it out: miniac.bigcartel.com/
Miniac STOP DRINKING THE PAINT! 😂
Just wondering on HUMID conditions what effects will that have :)
+1
I am an "old" guy who decided to learn how to airbrush. I appreciate the way you clearly explain what to do and how to do it. Great job!
I’m in my 80’s and this kid was helpful. Go for it man.
Who else watching this while waiting for their first airbrush to arive
I mean... 100% That guy... right now. today. ME. Waiting on tomrrow morning
yeah buddy just ordered an iwata eclipse and some Vallejo paints cant wait to try it!
@@seanmapley7417 I already have one (though a lower end one) but still watch a lot of videos before spraying my first real miniature. Only dabbled a little bit with Cosplay and baord game miniatures.
I would actually recommend the Master G233. It’s a great kit, and fairly cheap too!
Me. Mine comes tomorrow hopefully! :)
When I got back into mini painting about a year ago I decided to get an airbrush. Once I figured it out (still haven't figured everything out) it made priming and doing armor so much easier. I can paint a Khador Warjack in a couple hours where with a brush it would take me a week or two.
It really is a great tool to use even if you're just priming models.
And this video is pretty much all the things I figured out over the year and some new things I didn't know of. Thanks!
Love your vids dude, always feels like just listening to someone who's had the time to experiment and really put in the work to get down to some of the secrets to stress free painting. Your tone in these videos stays really humble and honestly takes a lot of the frustration out of looking at expertly painted shit without actually learning anything from the painter. You have truly captured the grind necessary to become a dope painter
nate adams thanks so much, my friend. That's exactly what I'm going for!
I thin my paints using airbrush medium (from golden iirc, but I guess other brands would give a similar result) and never had to wait several hours to use a brush on the mini.
Other thing I do is I use a sponge instead of a paper towel when I want to create a backflow in the cup. I found the towel would get too wet too fast and I had to get a new towel way too often. And if the sponge is dirty, I can wash it with some water and reuse it.
And last thing for anyone starting or willing to start with airbrushing: wear a respirator. You really don't want paint in your lungs. Once it's in there, it's not leaving and the buildup will be a problem down the road.
I have painted full size autos. Agree totally on a Respirator. I use a 3M dual cartridge K95 VOC filter. 3 stage car paint is nasty stuff. Had the check valve stick momentarily. I had to stop and walk out of booth.
Body and paint guys have a high rate of cancer in their late 50's. Use
Gloves and goggles too. For auto paint,
The charcoal cartridges for the mask must be used within 24hrs once opened.
Not cheap, they are about $30.
I know that the water based acrylics don't require 3M VOC level protection. However if you step up to auto paint, your going to have to watch a bunch of do's and dont's vids.
One of those mini paint boxes with a fan to pull away offgassed paint fumes.
Just build one out of cardboard with a light and a muffin fan to pull vapors away.
A turntable for inside the paint box with a lazy susan to rotate your
Miniature while painting
Cheers!
Here are some tips I learned in my 10 years of airbrushing fine art, and after earning two degrees doing such.
Bubbles in the cup can be from paint buildup in your needle/air nozzle, but if you have bubbles after a full cleaning, and spraying water thru it you probably have a flared or cracked nozzle.
Use the medium for the paint your using plus water for deloutuon of water based paints like acrylics. Solvent based paints are another story.
If you have your needle spring set really soft for a light trigger you're doing yourself a disservice. Too little pressure won't allow the needle to return to a fully seated position in your nozzle causing ghost tip dry
Learn to paint with a folded paper towel next to you to blow off hard into in between detail runs. It will blow off some tip dry and help with delayed starting or sputtering
And don't use gun lube, also if you have air leaks around your nozzle (you can check by blowing air and adding a couple drops of cleaner around where each section threads together you'll see bubbles) seal the threads with a little colorless flavorless chapstick
I have a few hundred more. Lol but you'll have to take my intro 3 day airbrush workshop this summer.
You don't want acrylic paint in your lungs. Use a fan with a filter at minimum
Heelp, if you had only $70 dollars, ¿Wich airbrush would you buy?(I'm going to use it for automotive paint and i'm looking for a gravity feed dual action airbrush) I'm from Colombia, ¿Wich website should i use?
@@ep.sdp. badger patriot
Dat chapstick tip tho
You just offered us newbies something all the other videos don't. You are reflecting on your trial and errors. It's invaluable. You got yourself a new subscriber.
Drop your air pressure, it's an airbrush not a full on spraygun..
It's all about scale.. with a airbrush 16psi should be the highest you need for spread and down to 10psi for detailing especially when well thinned.. best way to remember it is:
Scale is everything even down to the painting .. happy weathering. ;)
12 tips in 12 minutes. Good job keeping it short and sweet. I've been airbrushing for a year as well and still learned a lot from this video. Good job!
At around 9:00 you mention using gun oil, a nice alternative to gun oil is sewing machine oil. it's a very fine mineral machine oil for anyone who wants to look around the hobby shop or the fabric store for their oil needs. Great Vid, makes me feel more confident to to set the brush down and pick up the air brush this weekend, and.... PAINT MORE MINIS!!
3-in-1 oil is very good, too. It's basically the same stuff as sewing machine oil.
@@ericmorrell806 I'll have to check it out.
Never hit the subscribe button so fast! I use an airbrush for cosplay and am always looking for tips on how to get better. Thanks for making this!
OHHH MY GOD ZONBI'S WATCHIN' WE'VE BEEN BLESSED
Cosplay?
That tip about the needle not being pushed in fully solved so much of my bubbling problems, thank you!
Thanks mate, I've been airbrushing for about a year too and a few of these tips have really helped me with some troubleshooting issues I've had.
Ditto. Really helped me up my airbrushing game. :)
I personally had nothing but issues using that Vallejo Thinner. I was unclogging my airbrush more than I was actually painting. I then switched to just using their Flow Improver + a little water and never looked back. I also recently bought an Ultrasonic cleaner for stripping minis but found that I love it even more for cleaning my airbrush at the end of a session.
Exact same experience! Changed my airbrishing life after working it out - thinner dries water based acrylic out which encourages clogging. Now I only use it for paint with polyurethane in it, like the Valejo primers. I was thinking about using a sonic cleaner for the airbrush also...hmmm!
Interesting, I don't have any problems with it at all. I do use a drop or two of flow improver though at the same time. In fact I like the Vallejo thinner so much I use it for all my thinning, seems to to work much better for me than water for my paints.
How mysterious! What sort of airbrush are you using?
So the thinner is basically distilled water with very little else in it, I think something to break the surface tension but that's all, when you thin your paints with thinner it doesn't make them dry quicker, it just leaves them drying at the same rate they were. Flow improver actually does several things including extending the drying time of the paint. So you should be using a drip of flow improver with your thinner, particularly with pale coloured paints.
I have a mix of water, dishwashing liquid and vallejo thinner. Works like a charm
Just bought a model air brush set not used yet . Been all over U tube to get info this short film is the most informative I have come across Thank You
I have been using an airbrush for years, and also have a sotar. All the advice in here is rock solid - especially the one about using quality products. thanks for the vid. one other tip (at least for me,as I am a klutz).
After my airbrush is clean, I store the needle separately - outside the airbrush. Helps things dryout better, and less chance I accidentally damage the needle. I just have piece of foam next to my airbrushes, that I stick my needles into (a piece of closed cell foam, left over from a terrain project).
Thanks again for the video.
Just got started airbrushing, and I appreciate the tips. I've a long way to go, but I've taken the first steps on my journey.
You are easily my favorite minipainter! Thats it. Ill go back to painting now
This. This is life.
I love the part about using an actual Airbrush Thinner. It is SUCH an improvement over the other things people say to use like Windex and whatnot. Great to see you discovered it :D
I use 70% water 30% alcohol to thin Tamiya, Testors, Vallejo, MIG, AK Interactive, and all kinds and brands of craft paint and have never had any problems. There is nothing special about brand name thinners.
just got my first airbrush, and this video was really helpful. Thank you!
This is the best all round video I have found after monotonous hours watching many other tips out there! So clear and easy to listen to, thank you for spending your time doing this!
Oh wow, within the first 3 mins of the video you answered a doubt I always had. It never occurred to me to lower the psi when painting really close to my model!!! Thank you so much, my shadows and details will look better now!!!
These have been excellent tips. No time wasted! I am considering getting an airbrush later this year and this video helps clear up a bunch of questions I had about the process.
Almost 2020 here. This is a great video. I just started airbrushing about 6 months ago. Some of the things you talk about, I had to learn the hard way after hours of frustration. I also picked up a few good tips from this.
I wish I had seen this vid 6 months ago.
Excellent starter video for airbrushing. Thanks and good job!
Nice video Miniac. Bubbles also occur if your nozzle is damaged or cracked or the rubber o-ring on it is leaking air.
There are a lot of airbrushing videos with better production values etc, BUT you clarified issues I had with thinning paints better than any of the 20+ videos I saw on that exact topic. THANK YOU! Subscribing and checking your store.
G'day Miniac, I've come back to modelling after many years. Back when I started there was only brush painting. So, I've been watching airbrushing videos from people with decades of experience. I've found this to be extremely confusing because they assume you have knowledge about airbrushing '101' that you don't have. I found your quick video had more useful info than all of the 'experts' put together. Thank you, because now I have the basic concepts. It's like learning brush painting when you're a kid, you just keep doing it until you get it right and it feels and looks OK to you. I'm certain I'll mess things up but that's cool because I'll practice on left over bits of old kits that I've already built.
I've also found that modern decals are better than I recall from way back but they are much more fragile so, I developed 'decal fear'. Here again, I just got some old decal sheets and stuck decals at random on bits of old plastic, learning how to use microsol etc. Nothing really replaces the learning of doing something over and over again until it all fits together.
I'm sure you're much more experienced now so I'll check out some of your more recent videos by subscribing and 'ringing the bell'. Cheers, BH
I thought the 12th tip was going to be to PAINT MORE MINIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS! great video, this helps newbies like me more than you know
Great video, Miniac! And it's another argument for using water-based paints, because everything related to cleanup is so much easier.
Great video man! Just found your channel. Your audio is damn great! I need to up my audio game along with my airbrushing game haha
Literally just got done dealing with multiple issues addressed in this video. Great stuff, keep it coming!
well done. I do not do miniatures, but I have seen a LOT of instructionals for airbrushing, and the information on this vid was succinct, and well delivered. I would recommend making more of this type of video, you have a gift for teaching. I may be a glass engraver, but I recently picked up this tool, and it is such a satisfying experience-once you get past the troubleshooting involved. If I had had this video on day one, my journey would have been so much easier. Thanks for spreading your knowledge!
Outstanding video! My knowledge of airbrushing just increased 12 fold!
This video is 3 years old and it’s useful for me today 🤟 thanks man
Yea gotta say you really are extremely helpful and also easy to listen to, great videos man heaps well made and so much advice I’m watching your stuff constantly for inspiration.
Thanks for this. I could have used this a lot more about a year ago. One other thing that I've noticed, cheap paints don't like to be thinned and as such really cause some problems with airbrushes. When I was brushing only, craft paints worked fine. I had to upgrade to higher quality paints to paint with airbrush.
I dig your videos man. thank you!
If you experiment you can use almost any kind of paint (even cheap craft paint) and great a really nice finish. I just finished a model where I used two different colors of cheap craft paint, then finished it off with some dollar store clear nail polish. Different paints need different thinning, or add floor wax to get better adhesion and durability. You can even use latex house paint. Pint cans of Rust-Oleum enamel. You can use almost any paint you just need to experiment before putting paint to your project
This. THIS. is what I needed. Your my hero !
Been airbrushing for many years but still thanking you for added tips and techniques....very useful instructional video...👍👍👍
Hey Miniac, love the vid, I love help vids, especially airbrush ones. I've been a custom painter and Airbrush artist for pretty close to 3o years now (That wasn't as much fun to say as I thought it would be, "What a drag it is getting old")(I can hear my kids laughing at me now) Anyway, I got a couple things I thought might help to go along with your learnings. You and probably most on here have heard about some of them, I assume you're aiming your vid at beginners so I'll write em out and hopefully they help. A lot of the things I have you can find on vids threw out youtube but sometimes it's just nice to be able to read.
The point you made about air pressure and thining paint. For sure it's always a safe bet to take every precaution you can. Turning down your air pressure and checking your thickness is important. Sometimes you're just spraying a perfect paint mix and things are hooking up nicely and then you have to go in tight and it's not always practical to stop and do all the adjustments, you lose your spot and momentum, it can be a pain in the butt. Here is a rule of thumb in painting.
PSI+Distance+Hand Speed divided by Paint Flow & Mixture
Written out it looks like this. With a dual action airbrush you push down for air pressure and pull back for paint flow (As you so elegantly stated in the vid) and your distance determines the width of your line. Depending on how thick or thin your paint is will dictate your hand speed, the thinner your paint is the quicker you want to move your hand. If your paint is thin and wet you want to move quickly if it's thicker and a little dry you slow down a bit so that it sticks. I liked your point about keeping the trigger down and pulling back as you go and this is the most practical way to operate, although, letting up on the trigger will reduce your air pressure and it's always good to be versatile in your technique.
This takes some practice, so here is an exercise that's commonly taught for this formula. On a piece of paper, cardboard or whatever works for you (I sometimes use the walls in my shop) practice making different sized dots and lines, from big to small, start with pushing the trigger all the way down and all the way back and move your hand in and out until you achieve a dot/line that is uniform in all aspects.
(quick tip; Don't draw out a circle with your brush and fill it in, just point and shoot and let the airbrush make the dot/line and keep reducing them from the biggest your brush can make to the smallest you can make with it)
Now practice moving in with your distance and not pushing or pulling the trigger as much as your last dot and with the line try moving faster or slower to see if it's going on to wet or to dry. The tricky part now is finding that balance between down and back as it relates to the thickness and color you actually have. The goal is to train your trigger finger to react to what your eye sees. I'm not saying that this technique should be a mandatory elimination for actually turning your PSI down but when you're into a flow and the thought of stopping to make adjustments just isn't in the cards...a light finger can save a lot of time. The more you practice the dots and lines the more confidence you have in the outcome. Another exercise to do is Whip-Its! (I don't mean going to the grocery store and hitting the cool whip isle :-) ) Spray a line holding the airbrush close to the sub straight and while moving across, start pulling your hand up while letting the trigger go back and up to the off position. So you're making a line that starts thin and progresses to wide in a quick motion. As you progress with this concentrate on making the whole movement a wrist motion. WhipIts come in handy in lots of ways in all kinds of different projects.
As far as Paint not sticking due to mixtures, I find it's always helpful to apply applicable adhesion promoters. Fail-safes are a must! with an AP you apply it one time about 3 to 5 minutes before painting and gets to places you can't always reach in the prep phase. When I say applicable I mean, make sure your adhesion promoter is compatible with your medium.
Anyway, hope some of this helps. Thanks for the vids man! Keep being you! \00/
Just got my first airbrush. Great tips, thank you!
Two things keep a small sponge in a little dish with windex in it. Take and get in the habit of pushing it on and into the tip before you have problems. When cleaning fill with cleaner cover the tip with finger or a sponge and bubble it spray it out then do the same with water a couple times. Use some bee's wax on your threaded parts to avoid air leaks. These few tips make it easy to avoid problems that cuts down on your painting time. Craft on.
I love your logo. It’s so metal.
Thanks for the share! Just starting my airbrush journey
Thank to your videos I have not only gotten back into painting models and minis and my Iwata Eclipse is on its way!
For pressure I have my compressor set at 23 or so, and they I have the small adjustment knob on my main line (it came with my masters kit) to really finesse it down to the lower pressures.
Keep the Airbrush body clean! Paint in weird spots on the body can help diagnose flow and AB problems. This is how I discovered a blown seal on one of my brushes.
Really a terrific video, I have been airbrushing for about 3 years and learnt a lot. Thank you.
nice video. especially like the parts where you talk about the relation to air pressure and paint thickness and tips about how to tell if the paint is to thin or thick. i've heard the "it should be the consistency of milk" thing in a bunch of other videos, but this showed how to actually troubleshoot the issue.
Your right. But everybody needs to always experiment to fine tune your airbrushing techniques for different paints before putting paint on your product.
Very well explained. Thank you for sharing.
I've found those triangle shaped make-up sponges to be an amazing tool for airbrushing.
They allow you to do the 'back flow technique' (where you plug the tip of the airbrush to mix the contents of the cup) very well, and you don't risk getting fibers from a paper towel onto your needle, and you don't stab yourself like you tend to do if you just use your fingers.
They are also awesome for quickly and easily wiping / pulling off paint that has collected on your needle. Because they are a sponge, you can even pull away paint that would otherwise be a bit inaccessible as you 'squeegee' into the area where the needle enters the airbrush itself.
Side note: air brush thinner is a paint drying accelerant! Clogs and dry tip happen more often and quicker if you use too much, especially if you don't have a lubricant also added. Vallejo Flow Improver is a friggin magic potion, paint never enters my cup without it.
Great vid as always, Regdab Yob!
Heelp, if you had only $70 dollars, ¿Wich airbrush would you buy?(I'm going to use it for automotive paint and i'm looking for a gravity feed dual action airbrush) I'm from Colombia, ¿Wich website should i use?
Goodie peepy says thanks for the tip and just the tip 🥰🤣🫢👀
I just got a Paasche talon first airbrush for me alot to learn for sure thanks for sharing your time
Your video's are on it dude. Keep them coming. Thanks for the hard work.
I’ve just started air brushing and this video was very informative thanks
Great video. I've been airbrushing over a decade and did paint and body work for 20 years prior. Great tips for new airbrushers. I learned a few things too.
Thanks so much. Good vidio and I appreciate your humility in saying you DONT know everything. Just refreshing.
Having recently started airbrushing this video was invaluable. Cheers dude!
Awesome video. Nice pace and easy to understand. Thanks
Thanks for you effort here. It was useful.
I do all my mixing in the airbrush cup. first I put in thinner and a drop or two of flow improver. Then a few drops of paint
Then I use a disposable pipette to pull it all up and mix it. Adding paint slowly to the mix until it's the right thickness.
The benefit to this is you can test the thickness with a quick spray and add paint as required, plus spare mix is in the pipette so the bowl isn't over filled.
Anything left at the end can be kept in the pipette with a bit of tape over the end for next time.
Oh and the pipettes are super cheap., a few pence each if that.
Smart technique. That's how I do it.
Found your videos the other day and you sir, are a legend. loving all the tips and tricks. and the inspiration I get from seeing the stuff you produce.
first rule learn to clean the airbrush properly and how to unblock it.because your going to do alot of it when first starting.also learn temperatures affect on paint.colder and hotter temps affect the flow.
I've studied airbrushing formally and the biggest thing I learnt was to leave my air running through my airbrush as often as I can. As I brush I remember A.M.I, I.M.A. air. Movement. Ink, Ink. Movement. Air. I often only paint at 10% paint with each pass, it's always better to start really light and do multiple passes until I get the colour I want.
Good tips and nicely presented. Thanks.
Super helpful! Keep up the good work.
Great vid. This will help me as i have only been air brushing for a few months. Cheers
5:05 talking about liquid mask. I'm going to try it out on Cypher, after rewatching this video, I'm going to varnish first to avoid pulling up paint. How long does it need to set up before you can airbrush over it?
Some great tips here! Well worth the time watching.
THE most important thing to me, and i cant stress that enough, was to start with the PSI low, as in like 15 to 18 PSI low. Even with basecoating. I kept seeing "start with 30 to 40 PSI" and the first time i started spraying it was crazy and i almost quit. This is coming form someone who Power washed professionally for many years at 8gpm at 3800 to 4200 PSI. The second time ehrn i finally git the courage, i lowered the PSI and i immediately wasnlike "ooohhhh this is going to be great!' Eventually i worked up to higher PSI, so my advice begginers is to not get so wrapped up in the number of PSI and go with what feels good enough.
Always been interested in trying out the airbrush. thanks for the video!
Flow Improver personally made a huge difference for me.
Tip number 1: Drink your own thinner
Joking, another great vid dude !
It’s a terrible way to go but a great finish.
Silly putty is great for masking. Me and a friend used to use Windex to dilute paint for our airbrushes, worked pretty well.
A little intimidated by my airbrush. Thank you for the video. I think I'm gonna just spray some paint on some cardboard now and just get a feel. TY
A Morbius poster? You are a man ahead of your time. I bet you've watched that movie at least once a day since it came out
Can we get a video about air compressor maintenance and taking care of it.
Got my first airbrush and the three big things I have learned is: get a compressor and get a double action airbrush and thin your paints with Windex
Hey Scott, it would be awesome if you could make a video on all the hardware you use to shoot your videos and like a guide to get into streaming or how to connect with other people that like the hobby... love your videos! keep them coming!
Great content.
During the video there was a lot of reflection on your glasses from a window behind the camera. Short term solution could be closing the window. Long term would be to get lenses with an AR, anti-reflective, coating. It will help when filming and is good if you work in front of a computer a lot and night driving.
Good advice! That could probably also work for the glass on my posters that are reflecting my light fixtures.
That Neil Young song, 'The Needle and the Damage Done'... That was about airbrushing, the whole time? It can certainly be a frustrating learning curve! Thanks for the vid.
Total nub here, but been using Vallejo flow improver and a little water for thinning and it’s been amazing for the dry climate I’m in. When I used thinner I got a lot of paint drying on the tip.
Same here - Flow Improver + Distilled water works super well for me.
Jason Larsen Flow improver is the best!
Same here!
Jason Larsen use high temp or slow reducer
Great stuff brother! I'm just learning the techniques myself and this helped alot. Glad I found your channel
any tips on making my channel better?
7:35 - start the air before you point the air brush at the model and when you're done adding paint, push dual action trigger forward stopping paint but continue air Then release the air. you'll never spray start globs again
I would be very interesting i seeing your airbrush setup deskwise and how you do everything.
Spot on mate. Well paced and helpful. Thanks
really great video, would like more of this trouble shooting problems thanks
I see a Miniac video I leave a like.
This man was Morbing before any of us.
This video is so helpful. Thank you for posting it. Subscribed right away!
Been brush painting for a few years, and really want to take the leap and start airbrushing. I'm worried about not knowing what I'm doing, and investing cash in something that I end up hating/not wanting to use.
Good tips, all of them. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Finally ! Someone that explains alot to me
Best cleaner I have used is vallejos. It goes a long way and keeps your brush working smoothly better then any home recipe I have tried.
Did you ever talk about space setup for air brush? Painting inside, overspray... Is it possible to airbrush in a bedroom or somewhere you have things that you dont want paint settling on? (Some of us dont have a choice if we want to airbrush.)
The minimum you want to start for acrylic paint airbrushing inside is a spray booth like a cardboard box, n95 mask, and a fan near your window that pulls air to the outside. As a newbie that is all you need to start with small projects around 1-6 miniatures. If you seriously airbrushing you are going to want a spray booth that has its own vent and fan that leads out of your window and better respirator with a n100 filter. You should also vacuum and dust the room you airbrush in as acrylic paint basically turns into dust when it dries.
Thanks for this man. I've learnt a lot from your videos so far - and right as i am just about to start airbrushing a bunch of primaris marines you release this. I've been doing airbrushing off and on for about a year too, now I feel confident enough to try and basecoat, then highlight at higher angles. Some really great tips - thanks.
i used the airbrush thinner when i fill my citadel colours into dropper bottles to get most of the colour our of the pots.
It's also great for painting with a normal brush. my paints are allways nice thinned down. I only need to add a small drop of water or a bit glaze medium and im ready to go.
Yesterday i bought my airbrush set am im looking forward to test all the stuff :) but in the end i bought it mostly for zenital and good undercoating ^^
One thing i would suggest in addition with cleaning, shoot Windex through it when you're finished. i've been doing it for a few months now, after a professional car painter told me he did that at work.
it's been BEAUTIFUL, and cleans everything.
J Tick that stuff is not good to breath in. Ammonia is a pretty strong carcinogen
Ah yea....that's why you own a mask...
Max Zwarenstein the issue with ammonia lung is usually fibrosis. Some competitive lifters that abuse ammonium chloride (smelling salts) end up suffering from it. That being said, you really shouldn't be airbrushing without a mask, vented booth or no. Atomized paint is gonna hurt you loooooooong before ammonia fumes will.
sick morbius piture also that spider webbing has a cool 3d effect!
Awesome tips!
70% water 30% alcohol work as good as and brand name acrylic thinner. That's one of the advantages of a double action airbrush is that you can use the same consistency/thickness of paint and pressure at any distance from several inches to up close, just pull back the trigger enough to get the job done and you wont over apply the paint and can get the fine lines you need. Don't have to keep thinning the paint and adjusting the air pressure for whatever you're shooting.