Curious airbrush question

Ro,

Kind of a tough question to answer--at least for me, since I may be misreading your intent.

As an armor builder, I prime, basecoat, gloss- and flat-lacquer the entire kit with an airbrush, then go back and pick out a few details (ie, pioneer tools, etc.).  with a brush. That's 100% coverage with an AB, but then maybe an additional 1-2% with a brush.

However, washes and dry-brushing account for 100% of the kit painted with a brush.

Gip Winecoff

It's a mathematically tough question to answer.  I mean, I paint 100% of the kit with my airbrush, but I do 100% of my detailing with my brushes.

Generally, I use a spray can to prime after assembly, but all subsequent coats are airbrushed.  I airbrush everything; fuelage, enginge, prop, cockpit and everything else.  But then, I go back with a brush to pick out details and do drybrushing and add weathering.

I don't think you can properly paint a kit without having different skills at hand (though I have seen some kits that were completely brush painted and you would never know).

If you're just trying to decide whether or not to purchase an airbrush, it is one of the most useful, valuable tools you can have. 

-Fred

Guys,

Cool.  No, I already have an airbrush but, over the years, I have not used it for anything other than the major/big parts.  I've probably brush painted 90% of my models and, if I used an AB, it was simply to do the overall painting, not the small/fine/detailed things/areas like the engines, the cockpits, etc. 

What I am now finding is that the quality of paint is going down.  The paints I used for years (Humbrol) were awesome and I could brush paint anything that, when it dried, looked airbrushed.  Now that Humbrol is no more, I have yet to find a paint that has the same quality in terms of brush work.  So, I am now using my AB more and more.

-Ro

Naturally large surfaces get airbrushed.  For small parts and areas that might seem to be more suited to a paint brush, I sometimes still use an airbrush, depending upon a variety of factors.  If there is a lot of intracate detail that would get lost by a thicker coat of brushed paint, I'll use an airbrush.  If the color to be painted doesn't cover well, I may well use an airbrush such as for the yellow leading edges on Spitfire wings or the basic flesh color for tank crew faces.

For an airplane, I would be airbrushing the exterior, the prop, the basic cockpit, the pilot's face, and possibly the engine.  The pilot's uniform, cockpit details, gear struts and tires would be brush painted.

For a tank, I would airbrush the tank, it's suspension, wheels, (the tires if its possible to mask), tracks, basic interior, crew faces.  Uniforms, details, and pioneering tools would be brush painted.