The Basics of Airbrushing

What is Airbrushing?

Airbrushing is a technique that uses a compressed air tool, an airbrush, which sprays various liquids such as inks, dyes, and paints onto surfaces. In the context of model building, airbrushing is the application of paints onto a surface to ensure a smooth, realistic surface, free from any brush strokes that might happen when you hand paint, enabling some techniques such as pre shading or candy painting to be possible.

That being said, using spray cans will shorten the amount of time spent on your project due to not needing to mix thinner and clean up your airbrush, as well as be cheaper in the short term. However, continuing to use spray cans will eventually become expensive - a Tamiya spray can cost three times as much as their individual paints, and due to the wide spraying angle with the lack of control you have on a can, you end up losing a bit more paint than you’d like.

With an airbrush, you’ll be able to achieve thinner, smoother coats and by mixing paints, you can airbrush with virtually any colour.

Those starting out with the hobby might want to begin with spray cans and there’s nothing wrong with that! Even when you do airbrush, Spray cans are still viable to cover larger surfaces, or if you just want to get something painted up real quick.

What is Needed (One-Time Purchases)

As there are a lot of things required for airbrushing, what you’ll need will be split into two categories: one-time purchases like the airbrush itself, and consumables that are used for the painting part of airbrushing.

Airbrush

This is needed to airbrush. Can’t airbrush without one, after all.

Air Compressor

An Air compressor compresses the air around it, meaning that a lot of air can be sprayed from a tiny hole, breaking any paint into tiny droplets. There are various types of compressors, and these are usually the most expensive items on the list. 

However, recently there are cheaper, portable compressors that plug into the airbrush, but the added weight and the limited battery life mean that longer airbrush sessions are impossible.

Air Hose

Unless using a portable compressor, an air hose is necessary to feed the air from the compressor into the airbrush.

Spray Booth

A spray booth is needed to catch any of the atomized paint and prevent any paint from getting onto surfaces that it shouldn’t. For those airbrushing inside, an exhaust fan and tube would also be necessary as paint fumes really shouldn’t be breathed in, especially lacquers.

Masks

Even if an exhaust fan exists, a mask should also be worn when airbrushing to prevent any paint fumes from being breathed in.

Paint Clips (and something to hold them when the piece dries)

Used to hold onto the parts that are being airbrushed. Putting it onto paint clips is better than holding it with your hand, as it takes up less space than your hand, and can be put somewhere to dry without worry.

If this seems like a lot, to begin with, do keep in mind that there are some sets that come with a compressor, hose, and airbrush alone. This streamlines the process, but the initial cost of getting everything seems daunting at first. 

However in the long run, the small pots of paint and the separately bought thinners are cheaper than buying multiple spray cans, but it does take a bit of time until the airbrush starts saving you money.

What is Needed (Paint)

In terms of consumables, you’re going to need the following, and here’s why:

Paint

Paint is necessary for the airbrushing process as without it, obviously, you can’t really do anything.

Thinner (appropriate for the type of paint you are using)

Thinners are necessary for airbrushing- apart from a few exceptions (The Vallejo air comes to mind) the paint needs to be thinned out in order for it to flow through the airbrush correctly. Failure to do so means a clogged airbrush and no paint will flow out.

Primer

Primer helps any future layers of paint adhere better to the plastic- as the primer is really just paint but with bigger pigments, it also helps cover up minor blemishes and mistakes when building the model.

Airbrush Cleaner (Dependent on the paints used)

Needed to clean up the airbrush, or dried paints might clog up the airbrush and prevent any paint from coming out. Different types of airbrush cleaners exist for different types of paints - it’s good practice to use the same brand as the paints.

Empty jars (optional)

Optional in case you don’t want to mix paints every time you airbrush. Pre-mixing the paints and thinners in advance saves a lot of time, especially if it's a colour you are going to frequently use.

Paper towels

Useful for cleanup. A bit of cleaner and a towel can wipe off a lot of excess paint.

Types of Airbrushes

Despite the many different types of airbrushes that exist, they are either single action, or dual action. 

Single action airbrushes release the paint and air in one go when the trigger is pressed, similar to a spray can. However, most have a dial that can set how much paint comes out. 

Dual action airbrushes need one push on the trigger to allow air to flow through, then pulling back the trigger allows the paint to flow through and be sprayed. The further you pull, the more paint comes out.

How to Airbrush

Prior to actually starting to airbrush, make sure you have all the previous things necessary. Again, the hardest part of airbrushing is getting all the things that you need, and the painting process will eventually become second nature as you paint more and more things with an airbrush.

1. Grab the piece with an alligator clip in a way that won't prevent any part from getting painted. For example, snap built kits can be held by the pegs in a piece as those pegs aren’t being shown.

2. Get the paint and thinners that you need. For the purpose of this blog, I am using Mr Color Lacquer paints with the Rapid Lacquer thinner as the curing time of lacquer paints with the rapid thinner is near-instant.



3. Mix the paint and the thinner together. Generally, milky consistency is the key, but more often than not, there are specific paint: thinner ratios that are specified on the internet (in Mr. Hobby’s case, it’s a 1 part paint, 2 part thinner ratio.)

4. Turn on the air compressor and feed the paint into the airbrush’s cup. Spray on thin, light coats and let it dry to prevent any part from having large pools of paint in them. This can be done by moving your airbrush, and not stopping on the piece. How long it takes between coats is dependent on the paints and thinners used.

Closing Remarks

Airbrushing is a steep step towards painting and customising your model kit, and it really does seem daunting to fully understand but once you get the hang of it, it becomes really easy to do!

Sometimes you don’t even have to do a full repaint, and it can just be as simple as making an inner frame look more metallic.

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Dominic Lee

Airbrushing Addict

I work in Hobbyco Chatswood inside Chatswood Chase, on the Ground floor.

My name is Dominic Lee.

I’ve worked for 3 years now.

I believe in taking care of my model kits, in a slow-and-steady manner, with a nice sanding routine.

When I’m building, if a piece isn’t fitting correctly, I’ll bind it with masking tape while the extra thin cement dries.

I have built a thousand now.

After the cement dries, I use a moderately-grit sandpaper.

When painting, I use lacquer-based metallic candy paints.

Then a lacquer-based glossy topcoat.

And on the panel lines, an enamel wash.

Then I apply a heavy amount of decals,

which I leave on for ten minutes while the waterslide dries up.

I always use some mark softer, with little or no odour,

because it overpowers the addicting scent of Tamiya cement.

Then topcoat, then a few more photos, followed by a final pose before I put it on my shelf.

There is an idea of a Dominic Lee.

Some kind of model builder, but there are too many to build.

Only a pile- of unbuilt kits.

And though I like the smell of paint thinner,

and you can say your favourite model kit is the RG Hi-Nu Gundam, 

and maybe you can sense that our hobbies are alike,

I simply am not there.