What are you looking forward to?

[bluepowerade]

The airbrush is your friend! I've started mine and I doubt I would have without one.....

i really should get an airbrush. I've never used one, but I use wetblend highlighting that i think would be about a million times easier with an airbrush. What kind would you suggest for a budget?

[gwensdad]

I had been working on 10th company but taking a break until the new Marine Codex hits (because seriously Apocalypse? A company is 10, 10 man scout squads but no bikes?)
And I'm looking forward to getting my energy and drive back to paint again, and some cash to look at new storage options for what I have.

[Prince Nuada]

i really should get an airbrush. I've never used one, but I use wetblend highlighting that i think would be about a million times easier with an airbrush. What kind would you suggest for a budget?

There are books you can get to teach you the basics. A good one should make recommendations.

[nathaneal246]

currently working on my 3rd platoon for my IG apocalypse army, using the old metal cadians, got the last of them on their way. After that ive 11 more tanks to paint. Its going to be emotional!

[DWest]

I started in airbrushing at Xmas, and here's what I've learned so far.

-For airbrushes, I use an [URL="http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/revolution/cr/"]Iwata Revolution[/URL], which is a very deft tool for the price, ~$100.

-You'll need an air supply, for which I would definitely recommend a full-size pancake air compressor ($100-150 depending on make and model) over the desktop compressors; it's very noisy while filling but then you can switch it off and spray for about an hour with no hassles. However, either type of compressor is vastly superior to canned propellant, which is awful in every way imaginable. If your compressor doesn't have a built-in pressure regulator, you'll need one, Iwata makes a combination moisture trap/regulator for $30 that works pretty well, I've heard. You'll most likely need an air hose as well, $10 at a Hobby Lobby, and if you get a pancake compressor, you'll need an adapter and some thread tape, which should be ~$5 at the place that sells the compressor.

-Cleaning the brush regularly fixes 99% of the problems, and having the right tools makes the job infinitely easier. Iwata makes a Cleaning Station for $15, and this thing is almost more valuable to the airbrushing process than the brush itself! It's basically a glass pot with a port to stick in the airbrush and blow paint/cleaner out. There's a filter on the pot which keeps the nasty fumes inside the pot, and the station doubles as an airbrush holder. It might not sound like much, but I cannot emphasize how valuable it is to be able to clean the brush right where you work, as well as a good stand to keep the brush out of your way while getting paints or models. If your hobby store carries airbrushes or parts, they'll have airbrush cleaner. Get one without ammonia if possible; my Revolution claims to be "solvent compatible" but better safe than sorry. Micro cleaning brushes are another handy tool, they're around $5 and will help in digging out any clogged up gunk. Aside from proper end-of-session cleaning, any time you change paints (and as far as an airbrush is concerned, running the paint pot dry and adding more of the same color is a color change), run a shot of water through the brush to keep it from clogging.

-Now for the paint itself: I use Vallejo paints simply because most everything is going to have to be thinned to some ratio, and droppers make that much easier. I usually thin my paints 2.5 parts paint to 1 part thinner, but that varies on the individual paint, phase of the moon, etc. Generally speaking a little too thin is better than a little too thick; you can get thin stuff to stick by turning down your working pressure, but too thick = a dinner date with the micro-brushes. I find it extremely handy, if I'm doing a large batch of models, to get an empty dropper and fill it with a large pre-mixed batch of the shade in question. This is especially true if you're trying to do a zenithal highlight and want to hit the same unit with 2-3 different colors one after the other. For thinner, I heartily recommend [URL="http://awesomepaintjob.blogspot.com/2013/01/making-airbrush-thinner.html"]Les Bursley's[/URL] make-it-from-scratch recipe. He's got a similar recipe for making washes, and it brings the price per pot down to ~$.75, and that's including buying a new plastic pot for the batch! The initial cost will be somewhat high, around $20, but the amount you get will a very long time. Vallejo also makes an airbrush primer under the Vallejo Model Air line, which works quite well in place of regular spray primers.

In total, for a starter kit, I would recommend: the airbrush, pancake compressor, cleaning station, airbrush cleaner, and a batch of thinner, which will run roughly $325, depending on what deals you can find. It's a fairly large start-up cost, but I have found the investment to be well worth it in time and frustration saved.

[Cactus]

I know this is a 40k thread, but the new Lizardman rumors have me pretty excited. Plus, I can make frog croaks when I play my coldbloods...

[Alex Kinsley]

Recently found 5 old (crappy painted) white scars bikers. Which means I just found my Nurgle biker squad + biker lord. OFF TO THE BITZ BOX!

[The Sovereign]

I'm looking forward to the new codexes for Space Wolves and Dark Eldar, as well as Imperial Armour 13 (more Dark Eldar!) and Horus Heresy: Prospero (more Wolves!).

or just expanding my Wolves to include a pre-heresy sub army.

I'm trying to figure out how to do this as well, but I get the sense you can't do a small HH army, due to points and unit sizes (and primarchs). I could use my current 40K Wolves army as proxies, but it would still require getting several more troop squads armed with special HH specific wargear to use as recon squads, special support squads, and breacher siege squads. That's a lot of new stuff that will only be useable in HH.

[Cactus]

I'm looking forward to the new codexes for Space Wolves and Dark Eldar, as well as Imperial Armour 13 (more Dark Eldar!) and Horus Heresy: Prospero (more Wolves!).



I'm trying to figure out how to do this as well, but I get the sense you can't do a small HH army, due to points and unit sizes (and primarchs). I could use my current 40K Wolves army as proxies, but it would still require getting several more troop squads armed with special HH specific wargear to use as recon squads, special support squads, and breacher siege squads. That's a lot of new stuff that will only be useable in HH.

Yeah, but you can still play your troops with guns, troops with CC weapons, troops with missile launchers, etc. in your 40k wolf army. If I made a pre-heresy Death Guard army, those guys are only ever going to play 30k. I'm fairly obsessive and I have a devil-may-care attitude when it comes to buying models so I'm likely to end up with another army.

[Learn2Eel]

Well, one thing is for certain. A Heresy army is financial suicide But really, for Aussies, we pay $62 per box for ten Tactical Marines, whereas on Forge World, we can get thirty of one of the three Mark (armour) Tactical Marines for about $265. $186 for thirty 40K plastic Tacticals versus $265 (plus/without postage) for thirty 30K resin, much higher quality models where you know you have everything you need is actually pretty darn good. It wouldn't surprise me if that is the reason HH armies seem to be popular down under from what I've seen.

I'm thinking I may just start a Heresy army at one point, regardless of whether or not Thousand Sons are out. I can't see them entirely ditching the regular units.....I would expect them to get Psyker packs for squad leaders and the like, as well as Magnus obviously, but not too much else. Hmmm. ARGH to many choices!