Federation Commander

How do people paint the base color of their Kzintis?

I'm trying to get away from spray, since touch ups often don't blend very well.

I've done both a black and a white basecoated mini and both look "meh" since the red is tough to get even since it's thin, like most "lighter" colored paints.

Any ideas?

My Kzintis are Testors Russian Marker Red, which is a reddish orange color I like. I'll try to take some pics and post them sometime.

My Kzintis are basecoated in Citadel's "Blood Red", then washed with Citadel's "Scab Red". I have pics up in the Painting Examples section for the 'Zin.

I used to use a base coat of generic grey primer with a brushed overcoat of Pactra Leather.

At some point I plan to repaint them with more modern paint, but my Kzinti ships are the old castings (that seem to fall apart when I look at them . Thank you, Steve Cole, for updating these castings!). I've unpacked them to decal, but first I have to figure out which drone arm goes with which ship.

I've already basecoated and stripped all my Kzintis at least once. That red is a really tough one to find and be happy with.

I want a nice deep "brick red" color (like ship hulls below the waterline). I really like the look Dale gets too.

I also want to stick to a "stock" color (no more custom-mixes; Feds and Klingons are enough work).

What I'm hoping I've settled on is a Humbrol enamel. It looks to be the darker tone I want. I'll know more once I've done some test-sprays.

Mine are painted Tamiya flat red, then highlighted with CeramCoat Napthol Crimson and washed with a Windsor & Newton red ink: MAgic wash mixture.

The stock color I use on Kzinti ships is Testors Model Master "British Crimson".

Charles Chapel

As do I Charles. Great minds think alike!

Thanks guys.

I think I found the paint that I like, now I just have to apply it.

Basecoating by hand just isn't working.

So I think it's time to buy my first airbrush.

I was thinking about getting something simple, like a single action external mix.

Any opinions? Any suggestions?

Badger makes a very good, very inexpensive single-action, external mix airbrush. I think it's a model 250, but I could be wrong.

I have a Paachse single action, internal mix airbrush I use for base coating, simply because it's easy to clean than the Badger 150 XL I use for detail work.

The elCheapo Testors airbrush is a solid one for base-coating. I used it for years (using canned air) and it was all I needed for that.

Turns out I have an extra one I found it in my model-stash in my Dad's garage. Email sent to ya.

I agree with both Scoutdad & djdood. An upper class unit is very nice for camo work & detailing of larger miniatures or models, but for base coating, just use the Testers air brush.

Rather than start a new thread, I'll necro this one.

Can you use a metallic paint in an airbrush?

If so, can anyone recommend some good brands to use?

If not, how can I get a nice, smooth, non-brush stroke showing metallic colored basecoat, without resorting to spray cans that don't match the acrylics?

I've never had any trouble with metallics in my Testors airbrush. They are a little more finicky about thinners and need to be agitated pretty frequently (they want to settle out), but other than that they went on fine. I also tried the "buffable" metalizer paints that Testors does - those require a different thinner and took a lot more coats but ended up looking nice.

Paul, I've also used metallic paint in many different airbrushes with little or no trouble.

The only thing I'd add to Will's comments is this: If possible, add a filter to your pick-up. It's not as critical in an external mix airbrush as it is in an internal mix airbrush, but a large "clump" of the metallic particles can still clog the intake or the nozzle and cause either sputtering or even a complete blockage.

And definitely agitate the paint frequently. I typically drop a couple of BB's into the bottle to assist in the agitation process (think rattle-can...). In fact, I've probably bought more BB's since I started painting than I ever did when I was younger and had a BB gun. I usually drop a couple of them into every new bottle of paint I buy - so I go through them fairly quickly.