How to be an Armoured Farmer, building Hobart’s Funnies in Glorious 15mm (and maybe 28mm if they arrive in time!)

The first thing to say about airbrushes is that it is a very true statement that you get what you pay for. Having said that, if you are looking for something to basecoat with, then go for a cheaper single action brush. Single action means that the trigger doesn’t depress, that the air pressure is always there at the pressure set on the compressor regulator. When you pull back on the trigger more and more paint is allowed to flow into the airstream and out of the nozzle. Most single action brushes have a screw at the back so that you can set the maximum flow and thereby set the size of the line you are spraying. It is a good tool to learn on, you can get used to holding and handling the brush at the right distance and the use of the trigger in the best way.

Once learned, you can then move onto a double action airbrush and generate the muscle memory of applying downward pressure on the trigger to release greater pressure. You can still limit this by setting the maximum pressure on the compressor regulator.

I have inherited one of the airbrushes below. I found that Badger produce good quality brushes for a fair price and that will be a good starting point. I kicked off with a single action 200G  and was then given a 200NH from my father-in-law, as he couldn’t get used to it. I totally understand, it is a bottom feed brush for large coverage jobs and I found it to be unwieldly and that it blocks up far easier than the top feed versions.

The next thing I would suggest is that when you buy a brush, get another needle/nozzle set at a larger size. That way when you get comfortable with a brush, if you want to do fine detail work, simply swap out the needle. I did this with the 200G and when using the fine needle I reduced the pressure to between 10-15psi.

My next purchase was a Sotar 20/20 with a 0.2 and 0.4 needle. This was bought after about 2yrs of practice on the 200G. I would say that when you move to 0.2 and below then it is critical that you thin your paint correctly and carry out regular cleaning throughout your paint session.

For my last birthday I was very fortunate to be able to afford a Harder & Steenbeck infinity CR plus. This is a very high quality airbrush and the difference it has made to my control and use has been tenfold. The higher quality leads to closer tolerances and finer machined parts which means that paint is less likely to adhere to them. I have found that as long as I thin the paints and clean it regularly then it paints amazingly. This brush came with 0.15 and 0.4 needles and I chose to use the 0.4 setup, as I was looking to base coat and then be able to go in and spray higher parts and central areas of large panels with a highlight colour.

Before you spray anything, make sure your area is clear of dust. I actually use my airbrush to blow the booth clear and then go over the bits to be painted. Next I apply any masking required, the best I have used is the Tamiya modellers tape, or the frog tape from any good DIY store. TOP TIP: if you find your tape is too tacky, stick it to your clothes (jeans are best) and then use it.

Next I mount everything I can onto some form of handle so that I don’t have to touch the model. It’s a bit of a faff but you get the benefits of not spraying too much on one area, or missing bits. The mounts are many and varied, including some very old GW paint pots (that still have paint in them).

With everything built and all the gribblies added it was time to get some paint down. Now normally I’ll base coat with a rattle can but if there is a lot of fine detail I will airbrush it instead. I like to base coat tanks in black, so that I have instant shadows when I apply the colour. The colour in this case, for Late British WW2 tanks will be Vallejo Russian Uniform 70924. I use Vallejo base coats through my airbrushes but the one thing to note is that you do need to thin it down (I do 50/50 mix with Vallejo thinner). Whilst plastic models will take the Vallejo base coats really well, you must let any metal models dry/cure for at least 24hrs or there is a chance that it could peel back off.

And here are the finished models, including a Lloyd shot!