Thread: Attack of the Newbie!

Hello all, I am just starting airbrushing. My primary reason for getting one is to make painting my armies for Warhammer 40k (and a little bit of fantasy stuff) much quicker to paint. Currently, the only airbrush I own is a Badger 155, but I have an Iwata and another badger on the way to me after reading some reviews and getting some suggestions. The main reason I bought the other two is that the badger is excellent at fine detail work (and has a gravity feed) and the Iwata has great reviews, and side feed. I find the 155 to be a bit awkward with the big bottle hanging down from it.

For those who know nothing about it, Warhammer 40k is a strategic wargame set in the timeframe of the year 40,000 (the current date for things happening in the gameworld is 40999) It has a very science fiction theme going, the average human figure stands about 1.5 inches tall, and there are many armies in the game.

The following two pictures are not airbrushed, but it will give you an idea of what I plan to accomplish with an airbrush

This is a baneblade tank, it has the plasma storm style camouflage


This is an Imperial Guardsman, In the world of giant monsters that eat normal humans very easily, he is a normal human. They aren't the most powerful, fastest, best shooting army at all, but they field a lot of people and drive some of the best tanks in the game. The scheme for this guy is kind of an ice world scheme.


I have tons of photos of different figures that I have painted on my photobucket account, if you care to take a look at all, they can be found at: photobucket

I don't intend to do all the details with the airbrush, but if it can lay down the base coat and basic camo on my tanks, then it will have saved me a ton of a time. but I have too much fun with the normal brushes to give them up.

Cool work,,Norsehawk,,if you want the fire(on the tank) to standout a bit more you can add some transparant black around the fire..
just a thought from one who don't know that much about warhammer
/kimmo

Cool work indeed I haven't played warhammer 40K, but lots of other strategic and role playing games in my teens. They are lots of fun and if there are figurines involved it's always fun to paint them

Niclas

Norsehawk,
It looks like it's alot of fun to do! great job!
Brad

Well, some new toys arrived today. once I get a big air cable to go between the compressor and the water filter, I should be set for airbrushing just about anything.



Per the miniature painting forums I visit often, I also picked up some 91% alcohol, I still need to pick up some distilled water now that I think of it as well.

The tabletop cleaning station is still on its way to me as well, being dropshipped.

I'm unsure how to use the auto air colors, I don't have a heatgun, and the plastic in the miniatures I use seems to have a rather low melting point, so anything much hotter than a hair dryer might be problematic. Anyone have any ideas?

so that paint doesn't need any special curing? I'm still unsure exactly how near white and pearl colored paint is going to end up being blue and color changing purple, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt

that is really neat,,,I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT GAME,WHO PLAYS IT,,its on line,,or do you guys have like MEETS or game affairs that you all attend,,SO KEWL

Well, I can toss you a few links, and give some basic background on the game.

Games Workshop a company from Great Britain invented the game. The main product lines they do are Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy battles. In addition, there are a handful of other games that are on a smaller scale that they create as well, usually on a cycle between releases.

I primarily play the Warhammer 40k game. The game is set in the time frame of the year 40,000. There is a huge amount of backstory on the game, as well as some computer versions of the game of which the Dawn of War game and its expansion are the latest, and by far the most like the actual tabletop game.

The different forces in the game are very varied as far as what they do and how they operate. The general rule about the background is that there are not any real good guys.

The game universe is in the Milky Way Galaxy, Humanity as of the year 30,000 had about 2 million worlds under its control. There was a huge schism in the Imperium of man (humanity) and nearly half its forces fell to chaos. Attacks from alien races, natural disasters, and loss of contact has shrunk the Imperium controlled planets to around 1 million worlds.

Imperial Guard are the normal everyday human, often conscripted into service from tithes that are levied against all planets in one way or another. They are issued basic armor, given mass produced weapons that are reliable and not much else. They are supported by many tanks and sheer numbers.

Space Marines are the super elite special forces of the Imperium. At the time of the Horus Heresy, there were 18 Legions of Marines, 9 fell to chaos. The marines themselves have been heavily genetically modified to be super soldiers. As each individual legion was a super powerful force, they were broken up into smaller groups that could be more easily controlled and stopped if they go renegade (which is not unheard of, tho it is a bit rare) The chapters of marines are broken up to around 1000 different chapters, each consisting of around 1000 marines. They are used for lightning quick attacks, surgical strikes, and are autonomous of the rest of the Imperium.

The Inquisition there are 2 major branches of the Inquisition, that root out problems within the Imperium and deal with the forces of Chaos. Two army lists come from the Inquisition, which can be mixed with either the Imperial Guard or Space Marines to make a stronger list.

Non Human forces:

Eldar, there are two types. The main force is just called the Eldar, They are pretty much elves in space, quick, light, the tanks they field are hover tanks of different types. There are many aspects of the eldar forces, each having a set role in battles, and are very differently painted on the role. They are a slowly dying race since their fall (which let humanity take to the stars again due to the nature of the fall, the birth of a new chaos god)

Dark Eldar are interested in enslaving others, and thrive on pain, I don't collect them, but they are one of the least popular armies.

Orks, They are a mix of fungus and animal, reproduce by spores. They are relatively dumb, brutal creatures that love a good fight. The vehicles that they bring into battle are ramshackle at best, but still very deadly. They often steal technology from other races and make it Orky. They outnumber humanity, but due to infighting are somewhat manageable of an enemy. When a particularly bright or powerful Ork starts a campaign, it is called a Waaaaaagh (the common battlecry of an Ork) They are the most comical of the races, and there was a rumor a few years ago that Robin Williams plays Orks.

Tau are one of the newest races, They rose to power very quickly from warring tribes when a new breed of Tau appeared that seem to be able to mind control the rest of the Tau. They are a powerful shooting army with hover tanks similar to the eldar, but they have major problems once their foe gets close.

Chaos is one of the monkey wrenches thrown into the game world. There are 4 major gods of Chaos that operate out of the warp (kind of like the space that is outside of the wormhole when they travel in them in sci fi movies. That area is infested with what humanity has called Daemons, beings that can escape from the warp and cause havoc. To get a firmer grip on real space, chaos uses agents mostly from humanity, since they are easily swayed to chaos. The birth of one of the Chaos gods caused a giant rift in space called the Eye of Terror, where reality is under constant assault. Inside the warp, time has no real meaning, and many of the marines that turned from the 9 legions are still alive in the warp and lead raids out of the Eye. (and other rifts)

Necrons are the pawns of old gods, they are in effect similar to Terminators, skeletal, menacing, hard to kill (they keep on standing back up!) Model wise, they are kind of boring to build and play, but are a very solid force.

Tyranids are coming from outside of the galaxy, There have so far been 3 major hive fleets that have entered and are believed only to be scouting missions. The Tyranids are named after the first world they were recorded to have destroyed. They are nicknamed bugs most often. They attack a world, and when done, leave a bare rock, taking all biomass, water, and atmosphere. leaving nothing behind. The Tyranids are a force that is not evil per say, because there are no real human emotions you can use on them. What they eat is used to make bigger and better bugs. Often times, the force will use survival of the fittest to determine what is going to be on an attack. for every assault, all the attackers are created anew. There is one intelligence controlling the fleet kind of like a huge computer network. The bigger bugs acting like network hubs to control and link the smaller ones to the network.

Some links:

http://us.games-workshop.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000
http://warseer.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=101 is one of the bigger painting forums on the internet, mainly 40k related.
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/ is run by games workshop, they produce super premium models out of resin, produce alternate models, rules, special models, none of which are required to play at all, but make the experience more rich. (not used for tournament play but friendly play (I don't do tournies))