Redditch Tabletop Gamers Forum

Couple of things I've found, and it just takes time to get used to, is the right amount of thinner for your paint. If you're using paints like the Vallejo air range then they can be used pretty much out of the bottle. Citadel paints need some watering down. The general rule of thumb I apply is that it needs to be about the consistency of milk. Sometimes I use water (if it's just a standard base colour) and sometimes I use some airbrush thinner. Tamiya, Liquitex and Vallejo do decent ones. If your paint is too thin, it'll just spider all over the place. Too thick and it'll jam in your nozzle after about 5 minutes.

Play around with the PSI and don't be afraid to crank up the pressure. I tend to use quite a high PSI myself as it reduces spatter and keeps the paint moving.

Little bits I'd suggest buying:

- Some sort of airbrush cleaning fluid like the Vallejo stuff and some shot glasses. Leave your nozzles in there for an afternoon/day to get all of the old paint out of them.
- Droppers/pipettes are your friend especially if you're using Citadel paints.
- The little cleaning rods help a lot as well.

Some videos that might be helpful too....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUwlPztd...U&index=49
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-iuigiL8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLeWGzJbHzI

Thanks for the feedback Alan. I'm using the Vallego Game Air paints at the moment and they seemed to work fine through the airbrush without thinning although I did get a bottle of Vallejo thinners too.

I found just spraying water or thinners through the airbrush after the paint seemed to do the trick for cleaning although it is early days still haha. I'll give those videos a watch.

(23-02-2016, 02:10 PM)jjakaalbinoboy Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the feedback Alan. I'm using the Vallego Game Air paints at the moment and they seemed to work fine through the airbrush without thinning although I did get a bottle of Vallejo thinners too.

I found just spraying water or thinners through the airbrush after the paint seemed to do the trick for cleaning although it is early days still haha. I'll give those videos a watch.

I use Vallego Model Air with Vallejo Thinners for most of my model base colours - 3 to 5 Parts Paint to 1 Part Thinners.

Have also found that the Vallejo Surface Primers airbrush well also.

Spraying Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner through the Airbrush does a reasonable job of cleaning it, but I have found that if I have done a lot of Airbrushing I sometimes have to take the Airbrush apart and leave it submerged in a bath of Cleaner for a few days.

I try and stick to just one manufacturer, as I have had issue where different manufacturers paints & thinners have had strange effects.

Some work in progress shots of the latest purchase...

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Just need a solution to the floppy arm syndrome...

Yeah you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot...

A quick update to my collection:

Dropfleet Commander

2 Princess Class Civilian Liners: "Titanic", "Olympic" - 2 Built, 1 Painted, 1 Undercoated
2 Medium Space Stations - 2 Built

UCM
1 Beijing/Tokyo Class Battleship: "UCMF Liberator" Built & Painted
1 Atlantis Class Battlecruiser: "UCMF Atlantis" - Built & Painted
1 Avalon Class Battlecruiser: "UCMF Atlantis" - Built & Basecoated
1 Moscow Class Heavy Cruiser: "UCMF Rubicon" - Built & Painted
1 St Petersburg Class Heavy Cruiser: "UCMF Astral Blade" - Built & Basecoated
2 Rio Class Cruisers: "UCMF Solider of Fortune", "UCMF Constitution" - 2 Built, 1 Painted, 1 Basecoated
2 Berlin Class Cruisers: "UCMF Ardent", "UCMF Aurora" - 2 Built, 1 Painted, 1 Unpainted
2 Madrid Class Cruisers: "UCMF Punisher", "UCMF Death's Shadow" - 2 Built, 1 Painted, 1 Unpainted
2 Seattle Class Fleet Carriers: "UCMF Waning Tide", "UCMF Midway" - 1 Unbuilt, 1 Built & Painted
2 Osaka Class Light Cruisers: "UCMF Paladin", "UCMF Dire Wolf" - 2 Built & Basecoated
2 New Cairo Class Light Cruisers: "UCMF Sunstar", "UCMF Excalibur" - 2 Built & Painted
1 Saratoga Class Light Cruiser: "UCMF Saratoga" - Ordered
2 San Francisco Class Troopships: "UCMF Conqueror", "UCMF Sanctuary" - 2 Built & Painted
4 Toulon Class Frigates: "UCMF Drake", "UCMF Levant", "UCMF Constellation", "UCMF Titania Sunrise" - 4 Built, 2 Painted, 2 Undercoated
10 Taipei Class Missile Frigates: "UCMF Surprise", "UCMF Undaunted", "UCMF Assassin's Blade", "UCMF Blackjack", tbc, tbc, tbc, tbc, tbc, tbc - 10 Built, 2 Painted, 4 Basecoated, 4 Unpainted
4 Jakarta Class Aegis Frigates: "UCMF Aegis", "UCMF Shield of Ferrum", "UCMF Congress", "UCMF Noble Squire" - 4 Built, 2 Painted, 2 Basecoated
6 Lima Class Frigates: "UCMF Pharos", "UCMF Guiding Light", "UCMF Nostradamus", "UCMF Virgil", tbc, tbc - 6 Built, 2 Painted, 2 Basecoated, 2 Unpainted
8 New Orleans Class Strike Carriers: "UCMF Avenger", "UCMF Aurum's Grace", "UCMF Ocean", "UCMF Everblade", tbc, tbc, tbc, tbc - 8 Built, 4 Painted, 2 Basecoated, 2 Unpainted
6 Santiago Class Corvettes: "UCMF Jolly Roger", "UCMF Queen Anne's Revenge", "UCMF Flying Dragon", "UCMF Golden Hind", tbc, tbc - Ordered

Scourge - Starter Fleet
1 Shenlong Class Heavy Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
1 Ifrit Class Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
1 Wyvern Class Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
2 Harpy Class Frigates - Built & Unpainted
2 Gargoyle Class Strike Carriers - Built & Unpainted

PHR - Starter Fleet
1 Hector Class Heavy Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
1 Theseus Class Light Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
1 Ikarus Class Fleet Carrier - Built & Unpainted
2 Europe Class Frigates - Built & Unpainted
2 Medea Class Strike Carriers - Built & Unpainted

Shaltari - Starter Fleet
1 Obsidian Class Heavy Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
1 Amber Class Cruiser - Built & Unpainted
1 Emerald Class Mothership - Built & Unpainted
2 Topaz Class Frigates - Built & Unpainted
2 Jade Class Frigates - Built & Unpainted
3 Voidgates - Built & Unpainted

My game against Chris' Shaltari

My 2,500pts Battle against Matt's Scourge:

A Clash game of DfC against Will's PHR:

A Clash game of Dropfleet Commander against Matt's Scourge: