Hey all.
I'm looking to do a first paint on a few of my ships. I dont have an airbrush or anything so I'm thinking of just doing something simple. Is there a way to apply a base colour without an airbrush I'll then go over it with a brush for the highlights
Sure.
Everything I do, I do with a brush... At best, I prime a flat colour - but that flat colour is never the base colour I paint...
Its a matter of just getting your paint thinned to an appropriate level before painting.
There's a lot of different ways to go about painting regardless of skill level. I have an airbrush, I try to make it do the most work it can to save time, but aside from one or two effects (engines and lights, almost exclusively) it's only there to replicate something I can do equally well by hand. And even engines and lights can be done through good ol' drybrushing and layering. Starting with a primer is advised, but if you plan to use a good sealant (like testors dullcoat, citadel purity seal, etc) you can get away without it. Though I'd still recommend it.
Thin your basecoat, or use a very specific colour that was formulated for it (Vallejo and Citadel both make a high pigment 'foundation' variety of paint). But the practice is to thin your paints to get the consistency and take the time to build up the colour. Often 2-3 coats will be enough if the primer or base plastic is close enough. From there, you can use a thinned paint or a specialized wash/ink to go over the base coat to provide some variety.
From there you have a few options.
1.) Drybrushing.
Some ships take very well to a drybrush method which is minimal effort. For the record, drybrushing is taking a larger brush, adding some paint to it, and wiping it down on a paper towel or the like until almost all the wet paint is off. It should leave only the faintest 'dusty' trail rather than visible streaks, so you don't need much paint Then you lightly brush the surface which leaves paint residue just on the most raised portions. Add more passes for more colour and a more solid coverage. Let the paint dry, and you can go over the lighter raised portion with an even lighter colour. If you want to really make things 'pop' with drybrushing, you can add your wash just in the recesses to provide contrast again.
2.) Layering (Simplified)
If you want to get a more solid coloured ship, you can base coat the ship, then add your colour wash to it. Once dry, you go back to your base coat. Along each plate, paint an 'L' shape in the top and front corner. Then when that's dry, paint another smaller version of it at the top corner with a colour slightly lighter than your base coat. It brings out plates and can be done relatively quickly, providing the slightly complex surface texture brought out by the wash. It's essentially how I do my painting.
Hey all.
I'm looking to do a first paint on a few of my ships. I dont have an airbrush or anything so I'm thinking of just doing something simple. Is there a way to apply a base colour without an airbrush I'll then go over it with a brush for the highlights
That's a big question haha. Check out the tips on this site http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com
I don't use an airbrush either though I do use a rattle can for priming. I've been using testors, but lately, I've had some success with washing the model with a cleaner like Simple Green or equivalent and painting right onto the factory paint. Here is some of what I've learned of have learned from others:
1. Have a work area with great lighting and think about a magnifying glass.
2. Acrylics are the easiest and you can get some great colors cheap at hobby stores but Vallejo and GW have worked very well for me.
3. Have 2 water cups there for working. One will be only for initially moistening your brush before you work the other is for cleaning your brush during and after painting. I've found with the tiny amounts of paint used to paint the minis, the brush dries quick so I frequently will do a "quick clean" followed by a quick pass over a paper towel to remove excess water and shape the brush then back at it.
4. Do not try to get it done in one coat! 2-3 thin coats is better than one coat glopped on there. If you loaded too much onto your brush but didn't realize it, spread the paint around. When I'm doing a base coat, I will heavily load the brush and spread it as thin as I can possibly get it. First coat I focus on the recessed areas and "nooks" and second coat I get the raised areas.
5. Don't handle your models of you can avoid it. I use plastic qtip sticks and I've seen others use gloves. Sometimes it's unavoidable but limit it as the acrylic will come off fast in sweaty hands.
That's al I have for right now, now, back to work.
Most important advice: Learn by doing! Paint up some stuff, know depending on your skill with painting it might be rough, post it here, get advice from the super kind and super skilled guys, and worst case scenario dip it in cleaner and start over.
I don't use an airbrush at all, I prime with a rattlecan, paint with a brush, and it all comes out looking good enough for me! Nothing compared to some of the true artists here, but I typically get a few compliments about my squads whenever I set them on a table.
Just remember you can always strip it down and repaint it if you don't like it. Isopropyl alcohol removes most water based paints, especially 90%, 70% not so well.
Just remember you can always strip it down and repaint it if you don't like it. Isopropyl alcohol removes most water based paints, especially 90%, 70% not so well.
Isopropyl Alcohol will also strip the original FFG latex-based paint job, down to bare plastic...
Simple Green, or a variety of lighter cleaner/degreasers will remove 95% Acrylic Hobbypaints, and leave the FFG paint job untouched.
Just remember you can always strip it down and repaint it if you don't like it. Isopropyl alcohol removes most water based paints, especially 90%, 70% not so well.
Isopropyl Alcohol will also strip the original FFG latex-based paint job, down to bare plastic...
Simple Green, or a variety of lighter cleaner/degreasers will remove 95% Acrylic Hobbypaints, and leave the FFG paint job untouched.
I've never had any luck with Simple Green, though everyone else swears by it. The one I love to use is called "LA's Totally Awesome" I find it in the dollar stores around here. (USA)
Like I said, it depends what you want to acheive with it
Like I said, it depends what you want to acheive with it
Making my minis smell pine fresh.
Pine Sol will do that, and strip acrylic paints, too!