Re: [OT] Airbrushes - Long, but there's a picture!

On Fri, 2002-05-03 at 09:35, Allan Goodall wrote:
> On 02 May 2002 09:50:20 -0400, Flak Magnet

> I have done some airbrushing. The effects weren't bad, but I didn't
get the
> shadowing detail I really wanted due to being ultra careful not to
mess up the
> airbrush work that I'd done.

I'm not that good with an air-brush... honest!	The dusting technique I
described easier requires all the control and finesse that using a
sledgehammer to break cinderblocks does.  It's really easy.  The
highlighting and shading effects of the dusting build up gradually and
therefore you can control it just by stopping when it looks "right".
 
> Your armoured car looks very good! I don't know if I have the
necessary
> control with my airbrush. I have a Badger 150 dual action. I was going
to go
> for an Aztek, but I don't use the airbrush enough to justify the cost.
The
> Badger's finest tip and needle combination is a little finer than the
best out
> of the Aztek, at least as far as my research could see. I think I'd
probably
> get more use out of a compressor, as I'm stuck using cans of air right
now.

Thank you.  Refer to my paragraph above about having the control, it
should allay your doubts.  Your badger is likely better than my Aztec
airbrush.  The dual action is what grants you the control... just get
the air flowing and feed paint until you start seeing it build up (while
aiming off-model) and then sweep it across the model (or models) until
they look "right".

First chance you get, ditch the cans of air.  They bite [very unpleasant
things to have bitten].  As you use them, the pressure drops and you
have to wait for them to warm up and regain pressur before you can use
them again.  That makes your airbrush hard to control, and when
"dusting" models you need more air than a can will provide as it's a
slow process requiring an extended spray-time instead of short bursts.

> The results on the scout car look great. I'd assume it's a pretty fast
paint
> job, too. I also liked how you did the corner of the base for
identification
> purposes. That looks good without detracting from the model.

Thanks again.  I built a jig out of plasticard that lets me paint the
bases white, put them in the jig and hit them with brown.  The jig keeps
the corner white by masking it.  Then I print out the labels on a
Brother P-touch labeler and apply them to the white corner of the base
after the models are based and primed.	Any overhang I trim off with a
hobby knife.  The decals on the German tanks match the numbers on the
bases.

P-Touch labelers: 
 http://www.brother.com/usa/label/info2/pages/whichmodel/index.html
 
> Allan Goodall 		 agoodall@hyperbear.com
> http://www.hyperbear.com
> 
> "At long last, the earthy soil of the typical, 
> unimaginable mortician was revealed!" 
>  - from the Random H.P. Lovecraft Story Generator
> 
-- 
Tim Gray