Pre-shading panel lines.

[Sharknose]

Hi, I'd like to have a crack at pre-shading panel lines bit being new to airbrushing, what's the best way to get thin lines?

I've got an H&S ultra with 0.2 or 0.4mm needle. Assume the 2 is best, but what combination of paint,  pressure and distance is a good place to start?

Thinned paint?

Low pressure,  <10ps?

Close to the target?

 

Any advice welcome.

 

Cheers,

Sharky

[Plasto]

The honest answer is it’s difficult to give prescriptive replies when a lot of individual factors influence the outcome.

 

For example:

Type of paint what its thinned with and how much. How accurate is the pressure regulator on your compressor. Are you running a reserve system or total loss type compressor... 

 

 

I don’t preshade but I do spray fine lines I’d do the following.

 

Thin my paint to an airbrushable consistency I’m happy with. 

 

Use a fine tip / nozzle in my airbrush.

 

ensure the airbrush sprays the paint I have thinned.

 

adjust the air pressure on my regulator to give me a fine line with the tip / paint consistency I’m using. I personally use the lowest pressure that gives me the best result.  Spray the fine lines at the distance  and using the methodology I’m happy to airbrush with...

 

The secret to airbrushing is practice and experimentation so you know what your preferred paints and equipment can deliver. 

 

HTH

 

Plasto

 

[Sharknose]

So my first attempt at pre-shading.

Reactive armour on a Challenger 1, Desert camo.

 

[SA80A2AR]

cool.  if i may chip in i fond that not very much paint cumming through also helps

[Sharknose]

Cheers, my further steps have taught me I need to thin out the desert yellow more as I'll need to redo some of this..I went 3:1 paint to thinners but I'm realising it might need to be 1 : 3 or thinner!

Still I just enjoy doing it so repeating is no problem.