First Time Pre-Shading

I wouldn't feel TOO bad.  That's pretty much what my pre-shading looks like too.  I'm in the same boat-need more practice.

--Chris

Try thinning your paint a little more. The amount of spatter is indicative of the paint not being thin enough (in combination with your air pressure at 8-10 PSI). 

If you're using X-20A, then try two parts of that to one part paint and use a lighter touch on the trigger.

Mate,

Great to see you've had a go - don't be scared of airbrushing, it just take some practice.

I find pre-shading quite difficult too - it's nearly impossible for me to get any form of straight lines by hand.

Phil_H has provided some great tips, but i'm might add a few suggestions too.

I generally find thinning Tamiya 1:1 paint to thinner works best for me (though i use a gravity fed a/b).  At that ratio, i normally have pressure around 10 psi and work close to the model.

I definitely think you need to thin the paint a lot more,  close up the nozzle a bit and be sure to keep the a/b moving (ie, don't stop then release the trigger, keep it moving as you release).

In any event, you're on you're way!  Hope you post some pics of the completed build.

While it is on the heavy side, you have to start somewhere. An idea, which may seem wasteful, go pick up a few of the cheaper revell kits and build just the airplane itself, to give yourself practice mules. Save all the interior bits, undercarriage and all into a spares box.

The beauty of these paint mules is that you can practice all you want and just strip the paint off after a while. I've got a couple of revell P-40's for this. Money well spent. 

Thanks for the feedback!

I will definitely think the paint a bit more (50/50 maybe). I think too that I have to back the AB back a bit. I was so worried about getting the paint in the right place I think I was too close (1-2 inches).

I was thinking about buying another cheapo airfix plane to do as another practice plane. Maybe something larger would be good as B-17 Guy suggested.

I'm glad I am doing it, it's just intimidating.

I was using Vallejo paints but I tried with the Tamiya Flat Black I had on hand as I've been reading a lot of good things about the Tamiyas for ABing. I was happy with the way the paint sprayed (despite my shortcomings) and the job it did on the prop. I think I may use Tamiya for the AB and Vallejo for brush painting.

Griffin

I think too that I have to back the AB back a bit. I was so worried about getting the paint in the right place I think I was too close (1-2 inches).

I don't think that 1-2 inches is too close. Remember that it's the distance from the subject to your airbrush which generally dictates how wide your lines are. I often work inside 2 inches without any problems. Also remember that the lower your air pressure is, generally speaking, you will need to thin the paint more for it to atomise cleanly without spattering.

I just ignore the concept of pre-shading.  I know I'll mess it up good.....

Giffin: just remember that Vallejo produce a line of paints specifically for a/b - they're already thinned in the bottle.

I've heard that the brush painting Vallejo line can be a pain to thin down, so if you still have a collection of these, you may need to take extra care in thinning, or simply reserve them for brush painting.

Do you have a compressor or are you using the cans? I found them difficult to control air pressure without a regulator.

cml

Giffin: just remember that Vallejo produce a line of paints specifically for a/b - they're already thinned in the bottle.

I've heard that the brush painting Vallejo line can be a pain to thin down, so if you still have a collection of these, you may need to take extra care in thinning, or simply reserve them for brush painting.

No one in town has the Model Air line of Vallejo paint. I have the Model Colour line.

Tigerman, I'm running a compressor with a regulator and filter trap.

Not a bad start! I don't share it around much, but in my past modeling life, I didn't really get that thinner was for "thinning" paint. Wouldn't spray through the airbrush? Kept clogging up the works? MORE PRESSURE! Yeah.

These days, complete 180. I've come to appreciate that thinner is better and that a light touch is absolutely crucial when airbrushing, especially any kind of shading (though post-shading still scares the pants offa me).

With that in mind, a few things to consider:

- Thin your paint more. 3:1 paint to thinner isn't going to get you very far. For pre-shading you want at least 1:1, but if you're going after fine lines to follow the panels, 2:1 or even further is probably the better bet.

- Try Tamiya's lacquer thinner. Even if you're totally against it, it's not going to kill you if you're spraying tiny lines at low pressure. I've found it gives me a significantly improved degree of control and much prefer the way the paint performs with it versus X-20A, especially for fine work like this.

- 1-2" is way too far for line-trace work. When I do mine, I get in so close I'm worried the needled might scrape the surface (one thing I love about the H&S Infinity is the ring guard thing that prevents that). Light touch on the tigger, too. I'm often balancing that tripping point between no paint/paint flow.

- Someone mentioned motion. Always. A still airbrush is a pooling or spidering waiting to happen. Keep moving. In the case of panel lines, I go back and forth, up and down, sometimes run panels like Pac-Man. If your paint's thinned enough, a slip-up isn't going to kill you, since you'll be at maybe 50% opacity, and need more than one pass to really darken the line.

- Vallejo. Model Color can be made to airbrush extremely well with Future, Testors Acrylic Thinner, or Windex. I've never been able to get it or Model Air to do the ultra-thin lines Tamiya pulls off with ease, however. 

- The real key to preshading is what you do on top of it. I know modelers who "pre-shade" by painting the entire thing black. Heck, I do it with armor. And I've been experimenting with different streaking shading and such, busting out different colors to add depth and nuance. Saw over on Flory Models I think some brilliant pre-shading work on a sprayed hinomaru that involved white, yellow, orange and pink. Thin enough red on top, and those things peek through.

Thanks for all the comments! Doogs, it's your models I am trying to emulate with my pre-shading. I follow your FB account.

I use a 2-gal. compressor but I think I may want a hobby one as the regulator on my compressor is pretty vague (ie. 4 marks between 10-30 psi.) and it goes up to 125 psi. I have a hard time down-regulating it to 8-10 psi.

Griffin

I use a 2-gal. compressor but I think I may want a hobby one as the regulator on my compressor is pretty vague (ie. 4 marks between 10-30 psi.) and it goes up to 125 psi. I have a hard time down-regulating it to 8-10 psi.

Easy way around that - use a second regulator at the bench. In my old setup, I had a 15-gallon shop compressor at the other end of the garage. Ran an air line to the bench and into a TCP Global regulator. Much finer control...though honestly these days beyond ramping up the "throttle" when I'm flushing the brushes clean, I usually make any airflow adjustments on the G-MAC on the end of the hose.

Hey Doogs. Thanks for your write up. I've been postshading or using plain old Flory. Preshade, and flory would be a nice switch. Also, it'll be good practice for free handing better camo Luftwaffe camo schemes. (I've been using the "cut-out", handi-tac method.)

What scale is that Griffin?

Reasoned

What scale is that Griffin?

1:72 Scale Airfix.

Try practicing making thin lines on a paper towel or styrene sheet, before painting the pre-shade lines on the model. Whenever I'm painting, if I have some paint left in the cup, I'll pull out a paper towel and practice painting lines. As was mentioned, you can get as close as almost touching to make very thin lines. Practice on the paper and you'll see how easy it is. 

Griffin

Reasoned:

What scale is that Griffin?

1:72 Scale Airfix.

 

I thought it looked small.  Again, I'm certainly NO expert on preshading but have read anything smaller than 1/48 scale may deminish its effect.

Griffin...it just takes practice. I think that if you sprayed over your preshade you will find that it may turn out better than you are thinking.

 I have started to make my preshade a little more random. I still use the panels as a guide but I am filling in the panels a little more.

Kinda like this guy does toward the end of the video.

Thanks Guys!

I was using the black nozzle because I was concerned about acrylic paint through the tan one. I also had the paint too thick.

I have sprayed over the pre-shade on the bottom of the plane but I completely covered it. . Oh well - it's a learning experience. I will try to go lighter on the top of the craft and post-shade as well.

Griffin

Thanks Guys!

I was using the black nozzle because I was concerned about acrylic paint through the tan one. I also had the paint too thick.

I have sprayed over the pre-shade on the bottom of the plane but I completely covered it. . Oh well - it's a learning experience. I will try to go lighter on the top of the craft and post-shade as well.

 

The key is to thin the paint really well and make lots of light passes over it.

Don't swet it if your preshading looks a little rough. You will most likely still get a desirable effect once the topcoat goes on.

Do thin your topcoat a little more than you should so you have more control over the coverage of the preshade. I used to really work hard on a preshade and then find out my topcat totally covered all my hard work after one pass with my airbrush...

Another reason why i looked into post shading alittle more myself... Once you get the art of fine spraying down a little it really pays off. Its just the same thing, different sequence of events...

Richard