Bought a fancy airbrush, now what? Here are some good airbrush uses to step up your miniature painting experience!
While traditional brushwork remains the staple technique in miniature painting, airbrushing offers a plethora of advantages and creative possibilities.
In this blog post, we will dive into the various uses of an airbrush and how it can elevate your Warhammer painting game!
Base Coating and Priming
One of the most time-consuming aspects of miniature painting is the initial base coating and priming. With an airbrush, this task becomes significantly more efficient.
There’s no real benefit in hand painting your base coat for two hours when the airbrush does it in hardly 20 minutes.
It also allows you to use primer without the hassle of shaker cans.
Zenithal Highlighting
Zenithal highlighting is a popular technique in miniature painting, where light and shadows are simulated by applying highlights from a virtual light source directly above the miniature. It’s often used for the undercoat, where it’s called zenithal priming.
Airbrushes are fantastic tools for zenithal highlighting since they enable you to build up these gradients easily. This technique adds depth and realism to your miniatures, making them appear more lifelike on the gaming table.
Achieving Smooth Gradients
One of the hallmarks of a stunning miniature is a seamless transition between colors, creating gradients and blends that captivate the eye.
Airbrushing excels in this domain, as it enables artists to effortlessly blend colors together.
By adjusting paint flow and spray direction, you can achieve smooth gradations that are challenging and time consuming to replicate with traditional brushes alone.
Batch Painting
For those looking to tackle larger projects or armies, airbrushes are an excellent time-saving tool.
With their ability to cover larger areas quickly and uniformly, airbrushes lend themselves to speed painting and batch painting. You can efficiently lay down the base colors on multiple miniatures, saving valuable hours that can be spent on finer details and customization.
Besides shaker cans, there is no better way to paint your army in no time!
Weathering and Texture
Airbrushes are equally adept at applying weathering effects and adding texture to your miniatures.
From simulating battle-worn armor to adding rust and dirt, airbrushes can achieve these effects with precision. An airbrush is also the best way to paint these effects consistently across a large surface or entire army.
Object Source Lighting (OSL)
OSL is a technique that involves painting the glow of light from an object onto nearby surfaces.
Airbrushes lend themselves well to this method, as they can create smooth transitions for the glowing effect.
Whether it’s the eerie glow of a weapon or the luminous eyes of a creature, an airbrush can make OSL look stunningly realistic.
From base coating to advanced techniques like OSL, weathering, and zenithal highlighting, there are plenty of airbrush uses for miniature painters!
As with any skill, practice and experimentation are key, but once you become familiar with this versatile tool, you’ll find that it becomes an indispensable companion in your journey as a hobbyist.