"Getting into priming with an airbrush, any tips or tricks?" Topic

As the title says.

I finally had to break down and get an airbrush for priming. Just got tired of having to be at the mercy of the weather and seasons for spray priming. Plus all the ventilation hassle when you try to do crazy stuff like priming in a room with the windows open, etc.!

I decided to go with a Badger airbrush and I'm going to be using Vallejo's colored surface primers. I also got a bottle of Vallejo's airbrush thinner which I saw was recommended on quite a few forums.

Any tips or tricks, or things to look out for when I attempt to start doing priming this way?

I really don't plan on using airbrush to any actual painting of miniatures beyond using the colored primers for base coats, like when doing blue for space marines and space marine vehicles, the base coat of a dragon'skin, or a military color for the primary color of a soldier or tank, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Go onto youtube and search for priming with an airbrush and you should find more than a few videos.

I found some helpful youtube videos in the past on this. The key is the psi and the needle size. Try to use a needle that is .4 or perhaps bigger.

I switched from Vallejo to Stynlrez primers. Vallejo tended to clog too much.

Name of the game is practice…and cleaning the airbrush often when it comes to primers.

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated!

I use Stynlrez in a cheap Master airbrush with a large needle for priming. I use both gray and black straight out of the bottle at about 20 psi. Not as much success with the white though, seems to clog more. The Stynlrez gives a great, level coat.

I started this way too.

I use Liquitex Soft Body artist paints, primers (Gesso) and airbrush thinner. It all works very well. Keep everything well mixed, and clean your brush thoroughly. I bought a spray hood and now consider it essential.

I still have a siphon feed, single action airbrush, Paasche. Sometimes I have to get the pressure quite high, 30 PSI. Use the largest tip you can get; you can always downsize, or reduce feed or pressure, if you find it spraying too much.

Previously I had a Badger "spray gun" airbrush. This was also siphon feed single action. Could not get it to run right. Turned out to be a feed issue: the intake hose was too thin. It worked OK with Createx and other premixed airbrush paints, but I gave up on it for artist paints and primer.

The next step is spray can replacement. E.g., spraying washes, "magic wash", and varnish. The same setup works just as well; better even because these are thinner than primer.

From here I will someday graduate to painting parts of models. I expect I can get some success using a smaller tip, but will probably get a double action airbrush at that point.

Awesome, thanks guys!