If you ask me, there’s one thing every Warhammer fan should have in their arsenal – and it’s an airbrush.
I’m not saying they’re an essential purchase, of course. You can get by just fine without them. Countless people do, and their models look incredible. But an airbrush doesn’t half make things easier, particularly if you’re painting a full Warhammer army or larger units. Ever try working on bigger vehicles or monsters? It takes forever – just like painstakingly working through each individual infantryman of a Space Marine battalion by hand.
An airbrush helps you cut corners, reduces time spent on dull but necessary tasks, and allows you to cover more ground in a very literal sense. (Painting terrain? It’s so much quicker with an airbrush.) It also sets you up very nicely for time-saving techniques like Contrast Paints or Speed Paints by Army Painter.
Let’s start with that latter part. If you prefer to get your models on the table as quickly as possible but haven’t heard about the virtues of ‘Zenithal priming’ yet, strap in. After spraying your model a mid-gray color, fill the airbrush with white and fire your airbrush at the model from above and at a slight angle. This will then hit the miniature’s most raised elements in the way that light does, creating instant shadows and highlights. When you then add your Contrast/Speed Paint/quick paint of choice, the model will end up with a lot more depth and drama than it would if you applied the paint onto a flat white undercoat.
How to use an airbrush
If you’re just starting out with an airbrush, there are a couple of things to note off the bat. First, you’ll need to keep this thing clean on the inside between uses to avoid buildup of gunk (you can buy an airbrush cleaner cheaply enough, and it’ll go a long way). Next, be sure to thin your paints with an appropriate airbrush thinner. This allows paint to go through the airbrush and avoid clogs. Don’t worry about needing to use airbrush paints exclusively, either. Speed Paints are actually a good alternative, and I use them a lot in my own hobbying.
Naturally, that’s not the only benefit. I tend to paint in a more traditional way by blending the use of normal paints with the odd bit of Contrast where appropriate, so I’ll usually use my airbrush to basecoat everything in a variety of hues you just can’t get from rattle cans. It’s more efficient, quicker, and much cheaper method that’s saved me a lot of cash over the years.
Once you get properly acquainted with your airbrush and are fairly accurate, you can also start to use it to actually paint parts of your models – it’s how some hobbyists achieve such wonderful gradients. This is particularly useful if you’re painting the likes of battle tanks, or mighty beasts such as dragons.
One of my favourite uses for an airbrush is painting terrain and scenery, though. This is the kind of work that can take forever if done by hand, and you simply can’t achieve the same results as you can via airbrush. Even if you’re finishing by using a drybrush at the end, the wealth of different colors you can layer scenery with underneath can make the end result pop.
There’s no reason to spend the earth on an airbrush either. Even though you’ll get far better results with more expensive kit, I use a fairly cheap model I was given for Christmas a few years ago and it’s served me well (so long as I keep it clean and well-maintained, anyway). If you just want to dip a toe into the water, I’d suggest doing the same and then investing in something better once you’ve figured out whether it’ll be useful to you or not.
So, to summarize: if you want to level up your hobby, I’d wholeheartedly recommend an airbrush. It’s the best secret weapon in the hobby, and while it won’t solve all your problem, it makes things a darn sight easier.
More airbrushes & accessories
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