Complete Guide to Airbrush Priming - HC 350

In this Hobby Cheating Tutorial, I take you through everything you need to do airbrush priming. What primer to use, how to use it and how to clean your airbrush after. Hope you enjoy!
#warhammer #primer #airbrush
0:00 Intro
1:50 Primers
2:46 Thinning
5:00 Priming Process
7:13 Cleaning
9:30 Tough Challenges
13:00 Outro
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[@davidm6054]

i used to be the guy complaining about how airbrush is too cumbersome to use but i just zenithally primed a guy in a few minutes and my brush is spotless, i have seen the light thank you saint venturella

[@VinceVenturella]

Welcome to the team!

[@HistoritorJimaldus]

When priming, follows Cpl Hicks’ advice: ‘Remember, short controlled bursts’

[@rossevans3862]

It’s the only way to be sure..

[@Tarrasque87]

I mostly prime at night. Mostly.

[@VinceVenturella]

Love this!

[@waynegoldpig2220]

Short bursts is how you get spatter.

[@HistoritorJimaldus]

@@waynegoldpig2220 relatively short ;)

[@andreyp2810]

At the second year of using airbrush I found out that pressure can be adjusted. At the fourth year of using airbrush i found out that trigger resistance can be adjusted by screwing the valve. Today I found out that primer should never been released from the nozzle during cleaning. Its only 5-7 years and I became an airbrush master! Thank you, Vince, for another great video!

[@VinceVenturella]

It's a long journey.

[@tayloraverett3138]

Can you explain the trigger one? Do you mean just changing the tightness on the valve that connects the brush to the hose?

[@andreyp2810]

@@tayloraverett3138 Yes, unscrew that part of airbrush which connects to the air hose and slightly relese the screw (to do this you need screwdriver because the screw is inside the air tube). Then you can assemble airbrush back and test how tight it became to see if further adjustments are needed. When I use myfirst airbrush out of box I had to press the trigger with so much efforts that my finger most probably got an extra muscules )

[@leonidaspereirafilho499]

I literally learned both of these things in the first 5 minutes of using my airbrush. My guy, what the heck?

[@andreyp2810]

​@@leonidaspereirafilho499 Literally it's a joke. In fact - many of us never look into manual instructions guided by principles: "Who the f**k needs instructions!?" You can learn everyrhing on your own with proper amount of time and efforts, but learning process with teacher or at least basic foundations helps seriously save wast amount of both on this way.

[@TheSilentW]

Incredible helpful tips! Thanks a lot!

[@JM-qz4ik]

This video is absolute gold. It answers so much!

[@timbrown4928]

I am completely new to the airbrush and this was very helpful! Thanks!

[@cuthulux]

I've been waiting for this video for a while. Thank you for making it!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful. :)

[@derekgarcia3069]

Fantastic and helpful content as always Vince, and also extremely timely! I recently picked up an airbrush, and just ordered some Vallejo black and white primer. Definitely feeling more confident about finally getting some minis primed!

[@VinceVenturella]

Excellent

[@benjaminnadeau7305]

350 vids and still amazing tips. What a wonderful library of information

[@VinceVenturella]

Thank you, that means a great deal.

[@michaelredmond1895]

Great help Vince. Thanks.

[@beaulawrence2096]

i wanna say that this video helped me out so much, some of the stuff was "Omg thats so obv, why didn't i think of that" and other stuff i wouldn't even of thought of. I appreciate you and everything you do for us

[@prickswithstix1113]

Such a great video!! Thank you for going back basics!!!!!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TheWhapow]

Thank you for making this! It is exactly what I needed.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@PT84]

I followed your advice after I purchased my third can of primer for $22. I was over paying those crazy GW prices. $66 dollars for 3 cans, I jumped on Amazon and bought an air brush for $100.

[@hhaste]

Jeez, that's really high for primer.. even really good Titan primer in a spray can is $13 for 400ml. Of course bottles for the airbrush are even cheaper but for convenience spray cans still have their place.

[@mikealtschwager3851]

really appreciate it Vince, this is probably the most concise video I've seen on the topic and will be an easy recommendation for our new people in escalation league

[@VinceVenturella]

Awesome! Thank you.

[@TW-dj5zq]

I'm a beginner with an airbrush and I like to use plastic shot glasses to mix the paint in first. I find since they are clear, it is easier to check the consistency of the paint as I can see it flow down the sides.

[@MrAlexandrerobert]

Dropping a little comment to say thank you. Your videos are helping me a great deal in my painting journey and for that, I am grateful

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad to help!

[@GlodansYT]

So many tips in this video caught things I was doing wrong. Amazing, thanks!

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help.

[@grendelb3298]

Very informative video! The reflective light for wet primer knowledge is something I really needed to hear. Thank you!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tairad9474]

Thank you so much for the video. I'm new to the hobby and dont have the ability to prime outside. This has made the hobby so much more accessible to me.

[@amukasa]

Love the video. I would love more air brush tutorials going forward.

[@VinceVenturella]

You got it!

[@adammotter]

Thanks for the tips on the white! I use contrast paints and it's been frustrating dealing with white rattle can primer. Just got my airbrush and eager to try that on my next kit.

[@TheCold86]

Amazing tips! I didn't know there was an actual difference between flow improver and thinner. Thanks Vincy V!

[@VinceVenturella]

There you go.

[@leonnxpumper]

I'll start taking your advice for the white primer. I've having a lot of issues with that one. Thanks for sharing this !!

[@aaronbono4688]

I like the advice on cleaning. I typically like taking the nozzle end off and cleaning up the needle after every session as well. Just don't lose a part down the drain!

[@TravelingAnvil]

Year old video still doing great work. Thanks so much! Really needed a straightforward laid out workflow for this!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it helped!

[@jackdemask4177]

Excellent advice on airbrushing. Video on cleaning airbrush is excellent-a real time saver! Subscribed.

[@VinceVenturella]

Thanks for the sub! Glad to have you along on the hobby journey!

[@1mDozer]

Thanks for the advise specific for using White - super helpful.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@thomasholliday2708]

Awesome video Vince as always it's great to have content that lets me be confident that when something goes awry my fundamentals are not to blame. I'd ask for a video on varnishing through the airbrush, but I'm guessing it's a similar approach. It's just always seemed a little daunting to me for some reason.

[@VinceVenturella]

Yep, same process. :)

[@vendorlucid]

Thanks for all those great hobby cheating videos Vincent. They really helped me a lot improving my hobby and especially getting started with my airbrush. Small and slow steps I am taking and with a lot of room for improvement but you help me making those steps. So thank you so much!

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help as always. :)

[@Andersonzabuza]

This was a good tutorial! The advice on turning up the PSI for white primers (and I imagine lighter primers in general like Ivory) is a really good one!

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help. :)

[@corey13]

ah! this is a response to a tweet convo we had (i'm sure one of many you've had w/ the community) - amazing, thank you!

[@project_hollow6627]

Helpful. Some tips I did not hear about till this video.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Chris-tw5xj]

Watched your airbrushing videos and my leviathan grunts came out absolutely fantastic. I thought it was gonna take years of practice to get anything that good. Thanks!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad I could help :)

[@okham3881]

This video is about to change my airbrushing life!

[@Humatra]

Thank you Vince. Your airbrush videos got me airbrushing confidently! God tier airbrush content.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad to help

[@pyrkol]

Just getting my first steps with a basic airbrush, mostly thanks to you. Encountered some learning pains and your videos have been invaluable. Thank you! P.S. - trying to paint some of the new skaven minis, and here is an official encouragement do do some painting tips or guides on painting the few new rats.

[@VinceVenturella]

You won't be waiting too long. :)

[@DragonNinjaGaming]

I bought myself an airbrush and followed the advise you have given with cleaning and thinning primer / paints. Havent had any issues with the airbrush due to it and I'm so glad I got it. Thankyou so much Vince. You are the MVP of miniature painting.

[@VinceVenturella]

Always hapy to help.

[@NottsModeller]

Massive thanks for the video. Really helped me to understand how to clean during my session and how to thin. Just primed my nemesis invaders in the gloss black primer ready for colour shift paints.

[@VinceVenturella]

Wonderful to hear and always happy to help. :)

[@legionnaireminis]

I've reccomended your airbrush cleaning video to so many people. It's saved me so much time

[@VinceVenturella]

Great to hear!

[@outofthisworldmodelsandmin898]

This video is so timely since I'm teaching my son how to airbrush. Thanks Vince! -John

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help.

[@Blackthorn0451]

Right on time. My spray booth comes in on Wednesday. This will be my first time using an airbrush. This will be a big help. Thanks, Vince.

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help.

[@TwoDogsFighting]

thinner first is a great tip. Thanks.

[@derekstiles5801]

Thanks for this advice. So many KZbinrs miss the mark when explaining how to use an airbrush and this really helps me!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SuperDuperHappyTime]

Friday upload? Nice. Can’t wait to see what comes out tomorrow

[@VinceVenturella]

This just released early, for some reason. :)

[@drewfuller6194]

Liked, and saved to my list. Thank you.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad I could help!

[@woolblanket379]

Your Airbrushing videos have helped me immensely Vince. You've taught me trigger control, thinning and cleaning. The airbrush Is my favorite tool to use now. It's a shame that many people are deterred from using this amazing tool.

[@VinceVenturella]

Thank you, always happy to help.

[@TheJankmaster]

Thanks for the tips. Great video.

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help. :)

[@ProrokLebioda]

Great video! I always have problems with white primer. Now it should be smooth sailing!

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy sailing!

[@00ga-booga]

I wish I had watched this video 4 days ago. I basically broke every single rule. I'll do a deep clean today and start fresh. Thanks!

[@brucesolomon1514]

A well timed video for me personally. I bought an airbrush last year. Kinda been saving it for my stormcast but maybe now is the time.

[@VinceVenturella]

Now is the time.

[@AVikingNerd]

Thank you so much for this! I tried winging it priming my first set of minis with my airbrush, and clogging was a huge issue, as was the coverage/durability of my base layers. This video was very helpful! Also the higher PSI for whites helped immensely!

[@VinceVenturella]

Always happy to help!

[@krzysztofmathews738]

This is a VERY timely video for me, as it is just this past year that I have begun using the airbrush for priming and adding a base coat of color. Special thanks for the advice on NOT blowing dirty water through the brush but pouring it out instead!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@slackeratlarge575]

As a new air brush user this was super useful, thank you

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@xavierwt]

You’re a first-rate educator. Thanks for your good work.

[@VinceVenturella]

I appreciate that!

[@Strkr3]

Perfect for me as a noob airbrusher! Saved! Thanks Paintfather!

[@VinceVenturella]

Always happy to help.

[@deliciousrelish]

Swear to god i come back to this every few months because i keep finding a new snippet anytime i come back. Also I'm still bad at priming but much better than i would be otherwise with this and I'm an airbrush cleaning champ now lol

[@tabbyplays930]

I'm not a beginner, but I didn't actually know some of this. Thanks a lot.

[@thelonepainter4760]

I love your tutorial videos.😊🤟🏽

[@VinceVenturella]

I appreciate that!

[@nameisbad]

Oooh, so that's what I did wrong. I dunno where I'd be without you vince haha

[@edgarbaez516]

I took the time to learn my PSI settings, bought some dropper bottles to make easily accessible mixes of thinner/flow improver, and my worked on my airbrush technique. I went from priming 7 plague marines in 90 minutes to 77 miniatures in 2 hours! I found having the premade mix of thinner/flow improver in a dropper bottle, as well as IPA, super helpful. Taking the time to pour exact mixes of all 3 into my paint cup was a chore. The dropper bottles make it fast and easy. I wish I bought these 2 dollar dropper bottles sooner!

[@garyjenson8262]

Thanks Vince I just bought an airbrush (minutes ago) so this was very helpful.

[@VinceVenturella]

Awesome!

[@Velzhaed]

Thanks for this- was having a hell of a time keeping my Stynylrez flowing. Found out my psi was too high, wasn't using thinner, and was asking for trouble blasting out my excess paint. Everything working smoothly now.

[@VinceVenturella]

Awesome.

[@fredrikhultman557]

Even though I've already watched more than a few videos about airbrushing, there was a bunch of helpful stuff here. I'm one of those that dread airbrushing since many of my sessions seem to be 5-10 minutes of painting and then 1 hour + of taking it apart and trying to get it to run properly again.

[@VinceVenturella]

Hopefully this gets you going faster. :)

[@deleriom]

Thanks Vince! I don't airbrush much except for priming and this helped. I'd tend to try to get the maximum amount of working time out of the primer in the cup. This is likely what has been messing me up on occasion :)

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it helped

[@holunder2436]

I also got an airbrush as a gift and use it very little because I haven't gotten into that rutine. Good video!

[@VinceVenturella]

Hope this helps you get airbrushing.

[@FrenchToastAndMeeples]

Thank you so much for the advice concerning the mid-cleanning part, with alcohol and water. I tried it today and never had my airbrush stuck in the middle of my painting session like I always do. I've been painting almost every day (started airbrushing 2 weeks ago), and it was such a pain in the attic (that's where I paint). Sincerely from France !

[@VinceVenturella]

Always happy to help.

[@wilhelmhuber3270]

Excellent presentation. I am a model railroader and it took me decades to figure out what Vince explains here in a matter of minutes. If you are new to airbrushing, this is the best place I've found to start. Thank you Sir. Cheers,

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TheCypher19]

Great video. I stumbled upon preloading the cup with thinner on my own awhile back, single greatest tip for enjoyable airbrushing

[@VinceVenturella]

Good stuff!

[@JJ-ew1vt]

Do you mix it after you put the primer in?

[@TheCypher19]

@@JJ-ew1vt quick run down of my work flow. 1. Add thinner to the cup 2. Spray a small amount through 3. Add paint and more thinner if needed 4. Mix 5. Airbrush

[@nazdreg21]

isopropyl alcohol in with the primer, i would never have thought of that. I've recently run into issues with the primer just glooping in the cup and blocking my nozzle within 3 bursts of starting. I figured i need to work on my ratios, i think this video may have just saved me hours of ball ache!

[@MrLems87]

Really topical! I had a Facebook post about this the other day when I was having issues specifically with priming with my airbrush. Turned out the primer itself had gone bad and lumpy. New primer solved all the issues.

[@VinceVenturella]

Excellent.

[@LuisCastillo-tg6xw]

I just started today and did all wrong already. Thanks for the great video!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it helped!

[@hellglazer]

Been painting a few years now and never really used my airbrush for bpiming before so was unsure of approximate ratios. With the help of this vid, I was indeed able to prime my model in less time than it took for the video to run. Top notch

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad I could help!

[@GordonCBurns]

Another helpful video. Thank you. Just picked up some 97% IPA.

[@VinceVenturella]

Excellent. :)

[@aerouge4492]

Thank you very much! This was a tip I urgently needed. Especially with those airbrush cleaning-cups where you blast excess paint into beeing THE "customers also bought" item.

[@Tarrasque87]

Vince's airbrush vids are my first exposure to airbrushing. Now I see others using those cleaning cups and blasting excess out and I think "why the hell are they doing that?" It makes no sense!

[@VinceVenturella]

Always happy to help.

[@ReallyBigNostrils]

This is the video I needed.

[@VinceVenturella]

Awesome!

[@oldb-1kenobi]

Just had my first experience spraying Vallejo white primer this morning, what a disaster! I ended up resorting to the trusty old rattle can but after finding this video, I now know where I went wrong and will be trying it again. Thank you!

[@Gawl88]

It's me, hi, I'm the guy who has an airbrush and still buys citadel rattle cans. Thanks to this video though, no more! The lightbulb for me was thinner first, then paint! Sucessfully primed up Dante today with pro acryl black and...had the confidence to load up a color and base him up in retributor armour! Wishing I would have used the gold recipe you have though but wasn't sure how that would do through the airbrush. I've watched a lot of other KZbinrs and really wish I would have landed here first vs 5 months in. Thank you for this wealth of knowledge!

[@grandpaspaintingstudio]

Thank you. I needed this bad.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad I could help

[@tringuyen4743]

haha Newbee here! First time using primer on my airbrush, and I did NOT use thinner. After two parts my airbrushed was blocked. Such a pain in the ass. Thanks for the advice in the video

[@dv_xl]

I LOVE using Molotow One4All black as a primer. NJM turned my onto it and it's perfect. It's super thin, flows perfectly through the airbrush, never clogs, and dries glossy and super strong, perfect for the zenithal right after.

[@VinceVenturella]

Yep, it's a great primer, harder to get in the states.

[@kevingarlick4617]

The alcohol was the secret ingredient I was missing to solve priming headaches. Thanks!

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful. :)

[@ehhhsteve8582]

THANK YOU. I’ve always felt like airbrush primer primers held back some crucial info and said “see, it’s simple!” This video pointed me to the error I kept making and it’s now resolved. I don’t need to fight my airbrush anymore.

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@raphaellemoreau6872]

Praise be the squeeze bottle. Bought one with my airbrush 2 years ago and you saved me a lot of unecessary cleaning. It's so fast to change colour and end a painting session. Also I might be the weird one using a seperate siphon just for priming my mini

[@VinceVenturella]

Nothing weird, you do you. :)

[@andreyp2810]

You can also try using pipette for quick cleaning and paint replacement, but, yes, having some water reservoir with convenient nozzle is superb!

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@VinceVenturella]

:)

[@kofmanmi]

Great vid. One additional tip that helps with lessening the chance of primer drying in the airbrush cup: use the cup cover. It limits primers access to oxygen, keeping the paint wet longer.

[@VinceVenturella]

I never had, but it's a great tip.

[@KentGustavsson]

I find the lid of for the airbrush cup to improve the situation, not only for the paint to not dry but also I find the flow somehow improve, but this might just be my imagination of course.

[@AlexFaguy]

Another helpful video! Tx :)

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Dash277]

Priming, base coats, zenithal and varnishing. It's so worth it! Low learning curve to those things too.

[@VinceVenturella]

Yes indeed. :)

[@crafty_android]

Great video thanks

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@arnaud3299]

Absolutly useful 👍👍👍

[@VinceVenturella]

:)

[@jigglywiggle]

Amazing content, thanks Vince. Could you do one covering varnishing with an airbrush too?

[@VinceVenturella]

So I will add it to the list, but I will say, it's very much the same process as here, bullet to bone. :)

[@jigglywiggle]

@@VinceVenturella thinning at a 1:4 ratio? Any increase on the psi?

[@leozone2759]

This helped so much

[@VinceVenturella]

Always glad to hear!

[@spacedock873]

😆 Love your demonstration of how to clean your airbrush - with what I would consider a disgustingly dirty airbrush! Admittedly I am a bit OCD about cleaning mine - thorough clean between paints and partial strip/re-lube at the end of a session, but it is very satisfying to keep my (quite expensive!) airbrushes in "like new" condition. Also, one of my airbrushes has a castellated tip guard which prevents the use of the blow-back technique. Having said that I have never had any real issues priming with an airbrush. I have a couple of Iwata TRN2's specifically for the job - one for water based paints and one for lacquer based paints. They are decent quality, easy to hold for extended periods thanks to pistol style grips and have the option of large capacity cups. Obviously this is more relevant for my bread-and-butter spaceship models but I find them perfectly suitable for minis too - even 15mm scale soldiers. As always, looking forward to the next video 👍🙂

[@VinceVenturella]

Glad you enjoyed, and you can still backflow with those types of caps. You can use a rubber glove, a wet paper towel or just use the tools that they make for it. :)

[@JamesPa]

thank you boss for the tips !

[@VinceVenturella]

Happy to help.

[@TheEnd]

Sup Vince how’s it hanging brother, thanks again for more of that awesome sage wisdom!

[@VinceVenturella]

My pleasure!

[@tbrizius]

What sort of wizard are you? After a year of hating my $30 airbrush, I stepped up and bought something decent. Then I watched this video and your other one on cleaning your airbrush. I have seen the promised land. It’s so fast and easy now, a joy to use. I look forward to using it. Thank you so much, this has changed my hobby time infinitely.

[@VinceVenturella]

That's awesome!

[@kukenstar6684]

I bought an airbrush a week ago and the first thing i wanted to do was zenithal priming. I made sure to look at alot of videos in order not to screw anything up but of course I screwed something up. I could not get the white primer (Vallejo Mech White) to go on to the model nicely. You're the first one to bring up the higher PSI and being patient with alot of layers. Thank you for being so thorough in your explanations. Alot of videos skips over details which could be very important to beginners.

[@VinceVenturella]

Thank you, always happy to help. :)

[@fateweaver9844]

White is notoriously chalky. My favorite white is any of the White from Createx. Createx Wicked line is designed for automotive painting so obviously have to go on smooth as glass.

[@pookelywoo3954]

For me the life changing tip was learning the dual action properly and just getting that second nature. If you activate paint and air at the same time and then deactivate both at the same time you’ll have a bad time!

[@VinceVenturella]

There you go.

[@tadelong]

The humidity here is only below 80% for a few weeks a year; it's like I'm watching videos from another planet. Thanks for great tips from the far off world of eastern Canada, V V!

[@VinceVenturella]

That is wild.