I managed to get a couple of quick sessions in with my airbrush recently to try and make some progress with my Warhammer Imperial Guard forces – and I never want to see Castellen Green again. I got a layer of the green down onto my Malcador Defender, Valkyrie, Vulture and magnetised Taurox (Prime). That’s a lot of green.

Warhammer Imperial Guard Painting

I think I broke my airbrush needle while cleaning at the end of the last painting session – although I have not had chance yet to use it so it might be OK. It might not. Anyway I have a new en route from air-craft.net ready for my next session. I have now found my flow I think when it comes to airbrushing – as I have now had zero clogs during my last two painting sessions.

Airbrushing Process

These are things I notice myself doing often and they seem to be working – think of them as newbie/starter airbrushing hints and tips;

• I mix my paints outside of the airbrush cup, I used to do it in the cup because I saw/read that somewhere. But doing that seems to lead to clogging so now I mix it in a little beaker and pour the paint into the cup when its right. When I say mix I mean mixing my paint with airbrush thinner. I use only Games Workshop Citadel Paints – because thats what I know.
• Don’t drain the beaker, I used to get every single little bit of paint out of the mixing beaker into the airbrush cup but this I think leads to clogging because you end up with all the crap at the bottom of the beaker. The heavier bits of paint hat might have congealed a little. So I leave a little left now and don’t drain the beaker fully. Its a small price to pay ad to be honest I lose more paint from Games Workshop’s really badly designed paint pots.
• Wash and maintain the mixing brush, I used to mix with just an old brush because it gets whacked around a lot and takes a lot of abuse when I am mixing thinner and my paint. I still use an old brush but I wash it more often – after each beaker mix, rather than just leaving it be. If I left it be it would get caked up and full of paint, by cleaning it more it remains clean and doesn’t bring congealed paint into my airbrush cup.
• Run airbrush cleaner a lot, after each full cup that goes onto my models I run some airbrush cleaner through to ensure its clear again ready for the next cup full of paint. I even do this when using the same colour.

This might all be obvious to a lot of people but this little process helps me keep painting and losing less time stood with my airbrush in bits cleaning it. Doing all the above also means I can clean it at the end really fast.

Vulture and Valkyrie

It took a year for me to start building the Vulture, and its NOT going to take me a year to paint it. So its gone from plastic to black to green in a week or so. The next question is do I use Zandri Dust on it and make it into my normal Cadian Camo Stripes? Or do I leave it as it is – as green all over? I am siding on the Cadian Camo Stripes simply because its going to look awesome and match everything else. Granted it might not be what you would do in real life – but planes spend time on the ground right? So why not camouflage them for the ground?

Black Primed Vulture Gunship – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Vulture Gunship – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Black Primed Valkyrie – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Valkyrie – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Magnetised Taurox (Prime) with Wheels

This little all terrain bad boy has not seen any action yet but I hope he does soon. Its magnetised fully to be a Taurox or a Taurox Prime. And yes, the wheels, loving the wheels! More on the Taurox Wheels.

Black Primed Taurox – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Taurox – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Malcador Defender

Another model that has yet to see any action! I do love this model though, I think I want 3 in total – even though I have no idea how its going to perform on the table top. But 3 Demolisher Cannons cannot be a bad thing right?

Black Primed Malcador Defender – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army

Malcador Defender – Warhammer Imperial Guard Army