Airbrush Supplies

So I did it. I dug my Airbrush out of the basement where it's been these past 5 years - untouched.

I had inspiration. Saw a video of a guy actually using an airbrush to great effect, and Now I am wanting to become a pro (HA! right?!)

Anyways, it's my understanding that Hobby World closed? That's where my airbrush came from, and that's where I bought my supplies for it back then. Now, where do I go now a days to get the cleaners, mixers, masking materials, cork and needles to hold my mini's, and paint on cover-type-masking (saw a guy paint on this stuff, then airbrush his colors, then use a toothpick to scrape the stuff he painted on to reveal the color he wanted to protect under it)...

I see on google a place in Stoon called Express Hobbies... are they new Hobby World?

Thanks guys!

Ha.. yeah, strangely enough the Hobby Express guys are the orig9nal owners og Hobbyworld. They sold it.. they Hobbyworld went under.. so they opened a new store.

I keep meaning to go there.. but each time its just been when ive been driving down quebec.. so havent stopped in yet. I know they do a lot of.model train stuff, but someone else will have tomweogh in on if they have the same suppies.

Yea, Express Hobbies is the old hobbyworld we knew and loved. When he sold it to the guy that didn't have a clue what the customers wanted, there was a clause in the sale that said he wasn't allowed to open a second hobby shop in town so long as the now-sold hobbyworld was in business, because customers would go to him instead of the new owners.

He does sell all of the airbrushing supplies he had before in the old store, so no worries about that. Looked like the selections of paint increased in the new store as well.

Anything he doesn't have in terms of cleaners, you can usually find over at Michael's at Preston Crossing. turn right after entering the store, go to the far right aisle before the wall, and walk towards the back until you see an aisle with paint brushes on your right; that's the aisle with the paints and cleaners; airbrush stuff is near the end.

Barring that, you'll have to order in anything you want that isn't on the shelves at either store; some of it's specialty stuff that doesn't sell often enough to be worth stocking regularly, and others are order-online only stuff.

And since you're bringing it out for your 40k stuff? im guessing? Darren can order you in Vallejo Model Air paints at the den. they come pre-thinned for airbrushes, so you just have to pour and spray. If you search for Angel Giraldez, or goto his facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/StudioGiraldez, all of his models use that stuff. He's the guy that paints all of the official painted showcase models for Infinity

Yes, exactly why I am bringing them out, for my 40K.
It's easy to lose track and will to paint your mini's, but when you actually start using them the fever to paint comes back. Plus, I got the Airbrush for Christmas about 5 years ago, used it 3-4 times and stopped because I was a noob, didn't consult videos, and had my regulator on my compressor WAY TOO HIGH, so every time I pressed the trigger on my airbrush a torrent windstorm of paint flew out, knocked models over, and created a haze in my basement...
But, since I found that people tend to use their compressors around 25-35 psi (mine was at 75), I have since turned it way down and just by doing that the level of control was way better.

Yeah, I heard about the Vallejo paints, and they're pre-thinned so I'll probably pick up a bunch of those for sure.

Matt i know you like flamers and torrent weapons in 40k but thats not how an airbrush should be!

Also, if you are looking at ordering paints, Curry's has some good stuff and is a Canadian store.

Couple of questions? I've been debating going to an airbrush if only for basecoating, I can branch out into the other stuff later.

Badger is a decent brand? you want double action/gravity feed right?

How big a compressor? I'm thinking just a small pancake one?

Is there a good article for a decent setup?

Good questions.

I have no experience with Badger. The one I have is a Iowata Revolution CR. It looks real nice, is a gravity fed one (I heard those are the best), and have an adjustable trigger on it to get different sprays, but other than using it many years ago, I have no experience with it used properly. I need paints, and supplies before I can start using it, and I am an eager beaver to do so.

Pancake compressor? Not sure what that is. But I have a little compressor, probably about 8-10" in length and about 6-8 in height.

Air brushes are AMAZING for priming/basing minis. I used to use the spray paint style primers for a long time, but found myself limited to the summer months due to other people in the household not wanting them used inside. With an airbrush, though, you get rid of all that nasty other stuff that is used in canned propellant.

Gravity feed is the least wasteful way to go, and has less bits to clean up afterwards. Suction feed requires a minimum amount of paint in the jar for it to even pull anything up, so there will always be left over stuff in your jar as you can never use it all, even if you only needed to touch up a tank or something. The worst you have to worry about with gravity feed is a bit of residue inside the bowl.

I have a little Ninja air compressor that is around 8"x8"x4" that is currently still packed away. It's pretty great, as it's top end is around 35 psi, so you can't really over-shoot optimal air flow by too much.

since you'll be doing fairly steady spraying when doing basecoats, you'll want to make sure your air compressor has a minimum tank capacity of at least 1L. preferably 1.5L. the reason being that anything under that isnt meant for basecoating squads worth of models at a time, but rather something smaller, like a single rhino; the motor cant keep up the compression, and will overheat and/or burn itself out.

dusktiger wrote:since you'll be doing fairly steady spraying when doing basecoats, you'll want to make sure your air compressor has a minimum tank capacity of at least 1L.  preferably 1.5L.  the reason being that anything under that isnt meant for basecoating squads worth of models at a time, but rather something smaller, like a single rhino; the motor cant keep up the compression, and will overheat and/or burn itself out.

I don't even know what my tank reserve is. Hmm, wonder if its labelled on it somewhere.
But yeah, back when I first failed at using it, I did over heat it, but that was when I had the regulator set at 75-80... I wonder if having it set lower now would help stop that from happening again.

From the dimensions, I'd guess yours probably has a 1/2L tank. Mine's a 1.5L I got from CanTire for $80 on a sale. They don't have a high demand, so compressors are usually on sale once a month just to get rid of them. This one I got is meant to have enough capacity to use things like air guns and air drills; any you find at the store rated for those kinds of tools will be able to handle painting entire armies. They are much noisier than the little "hobby" units meant for painting sections of a single model car at a time though. So there's that to remember. Mines startled me a couple times when it kicks in to refill the tank.

So I recently visited Express Hobbies on 34th street, and yeah, Pleasantly surprised by their stock. Everything you would need for airbrushing is there.
They even stock the Vallejo Model Air paints. They didn't have a good supply of them yet as the stand and supply they ordered was a new thing for them, but by the end of next week they said they'll have a full line up of their paints. So that's awesome. As much as I like giving Darren the business, the idea of ordering and having to wait for your paints is, not nice, when you can readily just go pick them up from Express. They also have a full line of all the other Vallejo paints, though I didn't see the "Game Air" colour paints yet.

Just need some gas masks, and sticky tack and I am ready to delve into the realm of airbrushing!!!!

So... I don't have pics to share as I don't have a place to upload them to, but After placing a priming coat, a base red and a lighter red on a fig, all in the course of 5min, I am a believer in the Airbrush! I can't believe how easy it is....

Just thought i's share that tid bit

Air brushing is simply *the* way to go for rapidly making plastic/resin/metal all of something, be it priming or laying down your primary colour.

Have you tried out the wonders of a basic zenith highlight yet?

I've just barely got my hands wet with this, but I did watch a video briefly talking about this technique. It's interesting and I'll probably try it out.

Right now I am just amazed at how little of the paint you need to actually put into your airbrush... That in itself is pretty stellar....

The dreaded clog....

This got me tonight as I was playing around... I managed to get a base coat of blue down on my libby when things got strange... my trigger was sticking... and I had no idea what was going on.

Then comes ye olde google...

So, yeah... Apparently there are steps to cleaning this thing that I never knew about; for example the tiny wrench to remove the tip... it was hiding at the bottom of the box... So after taking everything I could possibly remove from it apart, and put it back together after spending a good hour cleaning, it seems to be up to par again... I was worried, these things are not cheap.. LOL

Be VERY careful when putting that tiny tip back on again. I once sheared it off when putting it back on because the metal is so thin.