Why use an Airbrush at all?

Painting with a model with a hand brush is standard, but if you want to level-up your paint finishes, or if you have a large model that take up too much time to hand paint, then airbrushing is a solution. Modern airbrushes and accessories have advanced to a point that even beginners will find it easy to get started. Though this article and the video below is aimed at the beginner modeller, we hope this will also help experienced hobbyists as well!

Single Action airbrushes

The most basic airbrushes are single action, siphon feed airbrushes. These are most commonly found at art shops and hardware stores, and work very similarly to spray guns. High air pressure forces paint through a nozzle, and the paint is 'atomised' or mixed and thrown into the direction of the air flow. Since you only have limited control of the paint nozzle, these are only ideal for wide sweeping strokes in a single colour.

Double Action Airbrushes

With the double action, both the air and paint are regulated by a single trigger button. The more pressure you place on the trigger downwards releases more air, the more you pull back on the trigger releases more paint. This makes controlling the air/paint flow easier, and produces either a finer line or a wide stroke. The paint is atomised within the airbrush itself, and a fine needle controls the aperture (or size) of the paint nozzle.

Getting Started

Several different brands of airbrushes are available in the market, but we recommend the Hobby Basics double action airbrush set for beginners as it comes complete with a braided hose, spare needles and nozzles to get started. Hobby Basics also has bundles of this airbrush with a compressor included, as well as an indoor spray booth, and even a cleaning pot included!

When you get your airbrush, spend time practising on a piece of card to see what you can do. Check how wide or how narrow the spray patterns can go and how you can manage the consistency of the paint you are using, as well as the amount of air pressure you can use with the brush actions.

With a double action airbrush, you can practice the amount of air (pressing the button downward) with smaller amounts of paint released (pulling the button backwards).

Which paints can you airbrush?

In an ideal world, any hobby paint can be used with an airbrush - as long as it is safely thinned to the right consistency. Being water or alchohol based, acrylic paint is now the first choice for many hobbyists due to the ease of cleaning. Lacquer paints and enamels can be airbrushed, but you will need to use lacquer and enamel thinners to clean. These thinners generate a stronger smell and harmful fumes, so be mindful not to inhale and work in a ventilated area.

For paint to pass through an airbrush, paint will need to be thinned unless it comes in the bottle pre-thinned. But atmospheric conditions (like temperature or humidity) will vary, so oftentimes you need to thin still. A good rule of thumb is to thin it so that the consistency of the paint is similar to milk (the milk rule), where it runs readily off a brush but you still see the colour well and not through. It take practice, but you will learn how to give your paint decent opacity at the right consistency.

Cleaning your airbrush

A single action airbrush is easy to clean - just run the correct paint thinner through the airbrush until the brush is cleared of residual paint. The double action airbrush is also the same, but since the mixing of the paint is internal, you will also need to dismantle the airbrush when paint eventually builds up to clean the nozzle and needle. These are the parts which will need a thorough clean. This makes the Hobby Basics cleaning pot ideal for the task!

Important Reminders

When airbrushing, always work in a well ventilated area, even with water or alchohol based paints. If you are working indoors, make sure you have a window open or you are using a spray booth to blow away atomised paint. A face mask and eye protection is ideal to keep paint from being inhaled or getting into your vision.

It is also good practice to have adequate lighting and a clear, clean work space. Lighting sources may need to be close to the paint subject, and some spray booths, like the Hobby Basics one, has built in LED lights on the actual frame.

A clear area is recommended as the airbrush hose may get entangled while you are moving the airbrush around, and its always good to avoid any accidental spillage!

A final word

As our own Max Shaw mentions in the video, if you have any issues - just ask! The Metro Hobbies team at all three stores - Melbourne CBD, Box Hill and Dandenong - always has an airbrushing or scale model expert around to help with any questions. Many of the team are scale modellers themselves, and we do have painted scale model examples on display, so feel free to come in store and have a chat!

To read more articles about airbrushing, click here!