How to Airbrush for beginners - LEVEL UP HERE 

If you liked this video and want to learn more, do check out some other videos, as I've been really refining the process in my latest videos. Also, if you'd like to support the channel AND gain access to a private Discord, do think about joining my Patreon www.patreon.com/broadswordwargaming, as your support is what keeps the channel going. THANKS! :)

I am a first time painter. This was easy to watch. Simple to understand. And easy to follow along. Thank you. Great video.

One tip for new people with an airbrush that wasn’t mentioned is switching colors. It’s pretty easy all you have to do is rise with water a few times and spray out the extra paint still in the airbrush rinse one last time and it should be clean for a new color. I hope this helps!!!

THANK YOU for this! It's such a comprehensive look on how to use an airbrush for someone who's never picked one up in their life. I was surprised how may 'how to' vids on airbrushing that I've seen don't actually show you how to do some of this!

A lot of my fears of actually using my airbrush have been myth busted in this video so I think I am definitely going to get mine out and start practicing with it.

Just got my first airbrush so watched this again. Just as good the second time around. Great video.

Overall great video, but just to point out one important thing you said that was wrong - "get a dust mask to filter out fumes". A dust mask only filters dust, it will not do anything at all for fumes. To be honest, those cheap dust masks are not even very good for stopping dust either. Ideally you should get yourself a decent respirator with an particulate and organic vapour filter. Not only does that stop any particles and fumes from paint, thinner and cleaning fluid, but if you later want to use more toxic paints such as enamels, primers etc. you can do so with no worries. Also just to point out that the polyurethane primer you're using has some pretty nasty vapours and you should definitely get a proper respirator if you're using that often.

After much hemming and hawing I finally got myself an airbrush set last week - your concise overview helped me decide. It' s quite interesting finding your feet with a new tool if you've been painting a certain method for, well, decades. But you're right - there's nothing to be afraid of.

Great vid for people who want to start with airbrushing. Only one 'key' thing is missing in my oppinion, something that could frustrate starting people and toss the airbrush aside after a short time: Dry-Tip! One thing to prevent this you mentioned in part 7, small motions of paint, but the big thing here is the technic: blow-spray-blow, thats why they are called a dual-action airbrush. You start with blowing clean air, pull the trigger to control the paint and end with blowing clean air. this way the tip wont clogged that fast. And this gives you way more control over the paint. I see a lot of professional miniature painters do this wrong.. I couldn't see it in your vid, but you seem to do it right. This was the biggest tip I got from a professional (industrial) airbrusher. Keep it up and happy painting!!!

I love air brush so easy to learn & so cool to use!!!

Great video 👍, I agree people think it's so much more complex than it is. Production was very smooth keep them coming

This was fantastic, I've had my eye on moving to an airbrush lately, especially with the crappy weather here for rattle cans, and I've watched plenty of vids on the subject but honestly, yours is one of the best, concise and clear I've come across, really demystifies the whole process, thank you! 😁

One of the best beginner's videos. Straight to the point with all the most important details. Great!

Great video. I actually have this air brush. Love it

Gonna use this as inspiration to paint my Predator tank when I can get thinner/cleaner. I'll post to the Hobby Group page! Thanks Ah-li!

Been airbrushing for a few years, when it comes to mixing I apply thinner to paint in the bottle and put flow improver into the cup first and backflow mix it. Thinner makes the paint dry quicker and so can dry on your needle during a session. The flow improver stops the paint from drying so quickly so helps prevents clogs. Also when cleaning I empty my pot before blasting the remainder first with water and then with cleaner and use microfibre cloths to clean out the pot. This means I am not blasting any more paint than I need too through the brush. Good video btw :)

I have seen a ton of air brush tutorials and I gotta say this is the best one. Thank you!

Really good Ollie! Thanks very much. I bought an airbrush years ago and have never used it but this is definitely making me think about dusting it off and taking it for a test drive! 🎨

Really good video. I see this as the next logical step in my hobby journey and this video really helped out. Cheers!

Amazing Beginners Guide, this is what I was after on youtube and not many people explained what paints you can actually use specially if you have never painted or know any knowledge of painting/air brush painting. will defiantly purchase a airbrush after knowing all of these information

Just got my max3 as the first airbrush and your concise, simple advice is sure to help me get going! Thanks!

Great tips, great delivery

Yes! I’m looking at getting an airbrush this year and one of the things I’ve been worried about is the cleaning part. This video has set my mind at ease, looks simple enough. Cheers dude!

I got a airbrush for Xmas and have watched loads of videos on how to use it effectively, none of which have instilled me as a newbie to the tool with much confidence in using it right, more more accurately, how to fix my errors in using it. This video has helped where those others have not, I feel I know what to do differently when using it in the future, thank you so much! 👍

Thanks lad! Just got my first airbrush! Really excited! This’ll really help!

Great video!

I've use an airbrush for around 5 years now it a great tool, my best tip is always keep the tip clean .......one of the most common problems is clogging which happens on the needle tip itself not within the cup as paint dries in micro layers during use.....get yourself a soft toothbrush ( you can even cut the bristles down to around 5mm to make it more effective) dip it into a glass of water and move your airbrush tip in a circular motion against the bristles, you can do this quite vigorously without fear of bending the needle once your confidence builds. This will solve 90 percent of your issues as long as you thin your paint to the right consistency. Also get a couple of water bottles the ones with the long curved spout you can jet water through the airbrush flushing it out also easier to use than a cup. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Awesome beginners guide! I feel so much more confident going into painting now.

Useful video! Thanks! :)

Thanks great video, Much appreciated!

Thank you for this great airbrush guide!!

Lterally just got my airbrush yesterday , excellent video.

really useful man, subscribed

Hi, thanks for this guide. Ordered mine.

Really comprehensive video! I think you hit all the various points really well without going into too much detail and bogging the video down. I started airbrushing a few years ago and honestly couldn’t do without it at this point. It’s such a valuable tool for a huge variety of techniques.

Thanks for the info.

Best airbrush guide for beginners out there!

Between your instagram and this I feel you are consistently pursading me to get an air brush!!!!

Outstanding video! That helped me a lot

Yess thank you, I've been wanting to maybe start airbrushing!

Thanks, very informative!

Excellent content. Thank you. Just unpacked my air brush.

Nice video dude. Hopefully this will give a lot of people a helping hand when it comes to airbrushing

short and effective, i like video like this, thanks man !!

One thing I learned: using water to start the cleanup process. I've been using straight cleaner. This has cut my cleaning time in half and I now use less cleaner as well. Thanks!

Really helpful video. I'm just getting into airbrushing and found this really helpful. Many thanks :-)

Ultrasonic cleaner will do amazing at cleaning the brush. I use glass pipettes and it cleans them almost instantly. I use alcohol in it hasn't damaged anything, it's been 2 years now. Also at the end you can polish the needle with metal polish, it leaves the needle like a mirror, super smooth and paint will flow through it like the first time you used it.

Instead of using those twisted metal brushes to clean the airbrush, which I found create tiny scratches, I use interdental cleaners. they look almost the same and also come in different sizes, they're cheaper, do the same job and cant scratch the airbrush cos there no metal in them

Only thing I did miss a bit was the PSI adjustments, it might help lowering the PSI if you are moving closer with airbrush to avoid splattering, and vice versa improve psi when moving further away to get larger surfaces. I'm getting a 0.5 needle airbrush and according to several yt reviews it does the job very well on small things also.

Thank you buddy my 1st air brush will be here soon and this video has answered all my questions

The only time my airbrush was that clean was out of the box. Love using it for everything.

Great video...just bought my first airbrush kit..the Iwata Neo CN...

Never enough "how to" vids on an airbrush. With the cheapo £40 versions you can get on Amazon and Ebay now there is no excuse not to have a crack. Sure the compressor isn't amazing but does the job! Also, you can polish up the needles that come with it and they are pretty damn good. I would note that the cheap compressors cap out at low/mid 20 PSI so are harder to clean when you just want to dump in some cleaner and blast it out at a high PSI. Still, for money you can't beat it.

Good video! Would be great if also include examples of what to do if one messes up badly - what to do right afterwards or correct or what not to do to correct. Perhaps show how to strip all the paint and start over.

I've heard good things about that Sparmax 4 airbrush. It's well priced also. I learnt the basics on a cheap one from China which I still use today and then splashed out on top end Iwata Eclipse and a H&S Infinity CR Plus (for slightly better control / precision). So much STILL left to learn with airbrushing though, would love to be a true aribrush artist to say do proper blends - i think some refer to it as 'modulation'. this video gave me the idea of periodically getting an rubbish old brush, dipping it in isopropyl periodically and then applying it to the 'NOZZLE' area periodically to prevent blocking. I always backflow when I first add paint / water / medium to mix it up and then the airbrush is ready to go. My cheap airbrush from China is the go to for varnishing as if you are not quick with varnishing and allow the varnish to dry in the airbrush by not cleaning it before it set within the airbrush then it can wreck your airbrush and be tough to clean. So in a way my cheap airbrush is just as essential as my more expensive ones and don't regret buying it. I love China as for the hobby it provides you with quite a few hobby options that you won't easily find in Europe / U.S. .. e.g. I'm printing out decals which are white, a laser printer cannot print white, a German company is the only one that does a white laser printer cartridge for laser printers that I know of which is very expensive but Aliexpress has a seller in China that sells refill kits for the cartridge which makes the process cheaper in the long run (refill backs of white waxy powder, a tool for making a hole in the old white cartridge and chips which reset the printer count on the cartridge) - all good stuff.

Found the grey version of the airbrush you used on ebay for £148 - 50 cheaper so happy. I can live without an orange compressor! Thank you for this, it has given me the courage to jump in feet first.

Cheers Olly, great video! In honour of this I ordered some more Vallejo Air paints. 😁

Very helpfull. Thank's brother 🤝

For someone who just recently started using one, this is a fairly perfect intro to airbrushing for tabletop gamers/painters imo. Super well done!

Nice intro to airbrushes and helping to reassure those new to airbrushing. The only thing I would suggest users consider carefully is the practice of "backwashing". In the middle of airbrushes are typically a seal or set of seals which can be affected by backwashing. The air really should only flow the one way (from the air source to the needle and forward). The back pressure created by closing off the end of the airbrush can push the seal(s) in the middle of the airbrush back slightly which can then lead to paint creeping back along the needle towards the trigger. This might ultimately result in poorer performance of the airbrush. If this happens with beginners they might not have the understand of what may have caused this loss in performance and feel disheartened. Airbrushing can be a lot of fun and I thank you for helping reassure those thinking about taking the plunge.

Really informative video cheers Olly! Can you do a video on how to motivate yourself to finish a project? I have so many started and none finished... 🤦‍♂️

Fantastic video! New subscriber here cant wait to watch some more vids. I just got an Iwata Eclipse. I think I’m going too heavy on the paint and trigger, I’m getting a lot of clogged detail and the paint looks wet on the model when I’m spraying. I’ve tried lower and higher pressure and more and less thinner. It’s fun figuring it all out tho!

Great video! Loved that you could see the size and shape of spray. Did you list anywhere what model compressor and airbrush it was?

Thanks for this video :-) This seems to be a nice starter set for me. Could you please tell me how loud this compressor is?

I have an airbrush (a cheap one from amazon) haven't used it yet but this video gives me more confidence. Cheers olly 👍

Eu comprei 4 aerografo. Estou no aguardo, ansioso louco para testá-lo rs.

I’d like to learn more color building. Painting with built up layers of thinner color. My big mistake was using too heavy a paint mix. Thanks

Thank you Olly! I've been thinking about getting an airbrush as of late and this seems like a good starter guide. I'm still going to check Vince Venturella's channel(his channel series of "Hobby Cheating" is my go to for learning how to deal with many things and learn new to me painting techniques) to see if he also has a guide on it as well. But now I feel less obligated to ask me about making a airbrush 101 video if he doesn't have one already. I've just been lazy and too busy with work currently for searching his videos on this topic.

Top video buddy 👌 biggest problem I've found using mine is the paint has clogged up the end of the needle housing ( the brass part ) and have had to scrap it out , major pain but my own fault . I probably should but when I deep clean after using it I tend to us methylated spirit after .

Can I use thinned acrylic pain in the airbrush? This is so I can do some domestic touch up’s around the house where a paint brush is not practical.

Great video - any tips on PSI?

Another thing I would recommend is to keep a glass of water handy so that if you're not using your airbrush for a little bit you can dunk it in the water so that any paint that's still in there will not dry up and clog up the airbrush. This is a great thing to do also if you don't want to do a deep cleaning, after you clean the airbrush without taking it apart put it in the water just in case there are still little bits of paint in it. This will keep that paint softened up so it won't dry up and clog up the airbrush.

Looking at buying an airbrush and once again your video helps me enormous, still a bit scared tho ;)

Great video, one step I’d add is to always pull the needle out from the front to prevent dragging paint through the trigger mechanism 😃

Thanx for the video. Somebody stole my compressor out of my garage. But I have an iwata hpc plus, and one got a chance to use my airbrush for a short while. The air came out all funny like the motor of the compressor. So I never had a good smooth finish like yours.

Hi, what is the black paint you used for the Astarte at PAINTING A MODEL PART 6 ?? 9:26 Where can I get that paint ?

Great video and great brush and compressor kit from sparmax. One piece of advice would be to not ‘backwash’ with your finger. You can see in one part that there are moisture bubbles leaking out from the thread seals on the brush. Backwashing can weaken those seals and also force moisture down the hose and into the compressor. It’s a lot easier to just have some plastic or metal mixing cups handy to pre-mix your paint and check the consistency before pouring it into the gravity feed hopper.

This may have been mentioned before but a dust mask will not filter out paint fumes, it may catch some paint particles but that is about it. The most comman masks that can do this are reusable half masks with replaceable filters or full face masks. You used to be able to get activated carbon ffp3 dispoalbe masks however these are expensive and will not last as a long as a halfmask.

What kind of paint thinner do you recommend for acrylic paints??

What pressure do you set the regulator to?

I’ve had an airbrush for a few years, a Paasche, and it was great for priming. Then I got an Iwata HP-CS, and it’s terrible. I can’t prime like I did with the other one, it just sorta little bits at a time. I completely disassemble after each color. That’s the only way I’ve found to prevent clogging at the tip. If you don’t do that you will clog and ruin your mini and waste time cleaning. Taking it all apart, and using the cleaning kit and lubrication, that’s really the only way I’ve found to get it to work.

Thank You , Bs Wg . Cheers Oli' , has to say you sounded like them old TV info-verts , haha , nice one ! :-) .

Damn... I missed airbrushing. My first airbrush was a single-action Badger, before moving onto double-actions. I haven't used them for decades. It was the start of me rendering '3D' illustrations. Now, it is much easier to create 3D rendering / illustrations using 3D Softwares. But airbrushing has a more craft-like and artistic feel to the experience.

Is it possible to just use acrylic paint and water in the airbrush?

Regarding sculptures made from Polymer clay; can I use paint thinner with acrylics, has anyone any experience using them on baked clay materials?

I need a pump like the Arism , wish I could get one sent to me

OK Olly, I’m done. You had me with this one! I switch for the airbrush and stop with 1-these stupid spray cans and 2- approximative and boring as hell brush bases. Thank you for having fear-busted the airbrush for me, as this is the only realistic way to beat this pile of shame and really enjoy it. 🙏

what type of compressor did you use?

what's your view on portable compressors? the kind that are attached to the sprayer as a small tank

how often do you need to clean it like shown? every time you shift paint or just after an ended session?

Thanks for the video Olly. I took your advice about getting the airbrush, but this helps with a bunch of questions I had. Great for beginners like me!

I need to replace the needle of my first air brush I bent it in the back, it looks like it should still theoretically work since the level still pulls it back but I have yet to test it's flow.

I’m relatively new to the hobby, and was wondering what the best way to get that dark outline around the space marine eyes would be?

Now your painting! Good investment !

Great video, I’ve been wanting to try using an airbrush for a while. Out of interest, how loud is the compressor?

What do you think of using a sonic cleaner for an airbrush? I've seen some people say they work great and others say they damage some of the smaller pieces like washers etc?

OPINIONS NEEDED...I'm looking to repair and repaint plastic holiday blow molds. What is the best/easiest air brush to use?

The thing I keep wondering is if I could run higher-end craft paint through an airbrush (thinned down of course and with a drop of flow improver). I just don't like cleaning it when it clogs.

The one thing I can't do while airbrushing is switching colors in the middle of a paint session. It always ends up clogging up a little and no spraying anymore paint of the second color out.

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