Airbrush!
I was meant to leave the house today. Instead I started experimenting with using an airbrush to paint 25mm figures, and lost track of time during the afternoon...
It's already proving itself well worth the investment. I've basecoated and highlighted a Skaven team for Blood Bowl, used mossy greens and earthy browns to shade some Kingdom of Avalon figures for Alkemy, and prepared some Infinity figures for painting. When I've finished work on the study guide books, I'm looking forward to clearing this desk and basecoating an army of Deathwing figures that have been sitting in a box for almost two years. As it is, I've now covered every available flat surface with basecoated models :)
The airbrush isn't very good for applying an undercoat, as the paint can easily rub off a metal or plastic surface. However, it's fantastic at applying colour and shading over a black undercoat - so I use cheap black enamel spraycans from Bunnings, and then airbrush my colours over the top.
With the Infinity Nomads, I'm trying out some new techniques for zenithal lighting - painting each figure with a clear light source in mind (in my case, directly overhead). I've airbrushed white over the black undercoat to pre-shade the figures, helping to pick out areas that should have their highlights or shadows exaggerated. It gives the figures some subtle monotone shading, which I'll try to preserve by painting very thin layers of colour over the top of.
The airbrushed layers are very easy to paint over, too. No brush strokes, no globs of paint obscuring details, and a very matte finish that takes paint and glazes well. I think I've passed another turning point in my painting style, as I'm likely to use the airbrush to prepare all my figures from now on. It feels light years away from the techniques I started with. I'm also a bit horrified to realise that I started painting twenty years ago, and have been steadily working since then...
It's already proving itself well worth the investment. I've basecoated and highlighted a Skaven team for Blood Bowl, used mossy greens and earthy browns to shade some Kingdom of Avalon figures for Alkemy, and prepared some Infinity figures for painting. When I've finished work on the study guide books, I'm looking forward to clearing this desk and basecoating an army of Deathwing figures that have been sitting in a box for almost two years. As it is, I've now covered every available flat surface with basecoated models :)
The airbrush isn't very good for applying an undercoat, as the paint can easily rub off a metal or plastic surface. However, it's fantastic at applying colour and shading over a black undercoat - so I use cheap black enamel spraycans from Bunnings, and then airbrush my colours over the top.
With the Infinity Nomads, I'm trying out some new techniques for zenithal lighting - painting each figure with a clear light source in mind (in my case, directly overhead). I've airbrushed white over the black undercoat to pre-shade the figures, helping to pick out areas that should have their highlights or shadows exaggerated. It gives the figures some subtle monotone shading, which I'll try to preserve by painting very thin layers of colour over the top of.
The airbrushed layers are very easy to paint over, too. No brush strokes, no globs of paint obscuring details, and a very matte finish that takes paint and glazes well. I think I've passed another turning point in my painting style, as I'm likely to use the airbrush to prepare all my figures from now on. It feels light years away from the techniques I started with. I'm also a bit horrified to realise that I started painting twenty years ago, and have been steadily working since then...