Global Scale Modeller

To all the old school stick gods out there!

I'm really struggling guys (and gals) with brush painting. I've only recently got in the addiction that is scale modelling and even though I appreciate that these types of skill only come with patients and practice, I cannot for the life of me get even a half decent finish when paint with the brush.

At this moment in time I cannot justify buying an airbrush for three reasons.
1) No room, have had to move back in with the parents to save for a deposit.
2) No money, as explained above and
3) No experience. At the moment I'm still a noob at this and cannot justify jumping straight into getting an airbrush.

Besides, learning and mastering the basic lay a sound foundation for experience right?

Now, I've bought the best water colour brush my wallet will allow, I've tried enamels, I've tried acrylics, I've tried Revell, Humbrol and I'm now on Vallejo (Internet seems to say Vallejo are the best for brush painting).

I guess what I need is a decent tutorial or pointers ideally on a YouTube video as I can read everything I can about the subject but my last resort will have to be 'monkey see monkey do'.

However, any suggestion, books, posts, ideas on a post card will help me massively I'm sure!

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Yours

Geth

The only real tip i have is thinning the paint a little bit
This is for vallejo though
Most vallejo paints are rather thick but have a lot of pigment in there
If you use a bit of vallejo airbrush thinner or the regular vallejo thinner the flow of the paint should inprove
This means the paint will give a smooth(er) finish
And maybe a second tip
Give the paint enough time to dry between layers/coats of paint
This way you won't end up damaging the previous layer

And there is nothing wrong with brush painting
I did it for years and only got my first airbrush 3 years ago
Altough i repainted most of the good models from that time ,i still have a tiger 1 with zimmerit from those days and i think it is one of the best painted models i have (too bad i didn't know anything about weathering)
But like you sayed practice makes perfect
Cheers Mark

I'm still using the stick i usually thin them down a bit and apply 2-3 coats allowing at least a few hour between coats

Yeah I'm thinning down about 50/50 and leaving at least 24 hours a coat........

Hmm I wonder what I'm missing. Maybe too much thinner I'm using distilled water though and not Vallejo's thinner........

Geth

This might help, these are my two pennies worth, along with others

http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3622

I use Vallejo acrylics. 50/50 mix with glaze medium. Use a kolinsky brush or natural hair. Brushes from the Army Painter are affordable and work well. I love them. Any water based paint means working in layers to get the color you desire. So to get good coverage you might need to apply several coats. You can speed up the drying process with a blow dryer. But usually 10mins between layers is all you need. A good result can be achieve by base coating your model, applying a dark wash and then dry brushing to highlight.

I am just learning to work my airbrush. Most of what I do is by brush so if you need help let me know. I learned a lot for people painting miniatures and figures. Oh...Don't forget rattle cans. Army painter also has a great line of can primers. Spray cans and silly putty and you can have a great camo pattern. Acrylic paints and oil based effects is the best way to go.

Here is my method

I use Humbrol enamels paints for airbrushing and also brush painting
After I stirred the can, i take a drop and put it in a pallet and then add a drop of thinners, sometimes two
depends on thickness.
Before I put my brush in the paint I dip it in some thinners just to give it a cote and to prevent too much paint from clogging on the brush.
So far I have not had any issues with this method but it does take some practice to get the whole thing right....

Hope this helps

Humbrol enamels. Stirred, not shaken - sorry Mr. Bond. Save your pennies for a few quality brushes, it makes a HUGE difference. I do the majority of my painting with three or four brushes out of my collection. Learning how to clean them properly and maintain them is another key.

I recommend you download this article from Fine Scale Modeler (a US publication) and read it through.