Re: Airbrushes

De-lurking. . .

Just a couple of additions:

    You don't have to have a sticky mask/frisket if you have study hands
and
a good airbrush, just hold a piece of index card or thick paper close
(on)
the target and paint, being careful to stay on target if you need to go
around something and use short quick bursts with the airbrush.	I have
used
torn pieces for rough edges and cut pieces for sharp edges.

    Though this only works for larger painting projects, use cutouts
where
possible, for example to make a shining star: cut out a thin ,cross-like
object in an index card, place it very close to the object and only
spray
the center , then pull the card away and quickly hit the center of the
cross
with a blast of paint to fuzz it.  With practice these look very nice.

    For a splattered look: with a double action airbrush, pull back the
trigger to release some paint without pushing down to release any air
then
without pulling back quickly press down and release to "spit" the paint
at
the object.  (You can probably do this with a single action but it would
require dipping the end in paint, a prospect that will quickly clog it).

    Most important, play with the brush try spraying with various pieces
of
the nozzle removed and with many different thicknesses of paint and
varying
air pressure, different air pressures can have different effects too.
Practice, practice, practice. . . .

    The funny thing is that despite having worked as an airbrusher for a
lawn ornaments company and done lots of flat work too, I have yet to
apply
my airbrush to a gaming model for much of anything but base coating.  I
like
too much detail, if I could get a needle-thin line with any sort of
regularity I might try it.

back to lurk mode. . .

Ryan Fisk
voivode@voyager.com