Barwell Body Shop - Wargamers airbush course

So last weekend I wandered over to Sunny Barwell in the depths of Leicestershire for a 2 day course at Barwell Bodyshop.

I went in with a fairly open mind and a harsh choice of either I crack this airbrushing lark or stick to the traditional brush technique that I've used for the last *cough* "few" years.

The day started with the basics of how an airbrush works and how to strip it for cleaning and loads of tips from Steve and Frank for the complete novice, 

It was then action stations and we spent a while doing lines, circles and the like so that I could get a feel for the amount of paint I was using and look at techniques for certain looks and effects, which was really interesting as the versatility that you have is quite impressive.

I was asking questions throughout both days and the chaps were more than willing to give in depth technical answers.

We were told to bring scrap models that could be messed up and in the usual Anton fashion I bought a fair few as  didn't know how quick or slow it would be done painting wise, however I did get outdone by a chap sitting opposite me who had loads tanks and the like, some really nice kits as well.

I decided to pick on the stug that I've had for a fair while and after a bit of playing about I'd managed to get the base coat of colour on.

I was really chuffed with it and was feeling eager to give it go when I got home, Until I got conned into babysitting for my sister, but I did get to watch American Sniper.

So day two started off with a quick refresh of what we covered off on the previous day and warming up with a bit of pratice and we were let loose once more, this time on painting a 28mm model.

I though that emperors children colour scheme would be good to try as IF I ever did sell a lung to fund a 30K army then these are the guys that I would do, painting this small I found quite frustrating due to the lack of flat surfaces and a few times I wanted to do more on the model but had to step back and stop myself.


Once I'd got the confidence on the marine biker we were suggested that we did one of our own infantry models or could "borrow" some from the workshop from the reaper bones range.


I'd threw into my box of goodness some scorpions from Myth as I've a crazy amount of models and a couple wouldn't matter.

I painted each one slightly different, one with ghost tints or inks/washes as I know them and the other in a zenith lighting style and then I redid the black in the recesses of the armour plates after some "encouragement" from the guys sitting close to me and the final result I'm really happy with.

Overall the weekend was really good and well worth the money, I picked loads of info with regards to airbrushing in general and from wandering in on the Saturday morning not having a clue what I was doing to walking away on the Sunday after noon with the stug camo'd up and some basic weathering on the tracks for good measure.

The two days were at a good pace and catered really well for the difference in learning curves that were present within the class.

There was lunch provided on both days as well as snacks and hot and cold drinks throughout the day, So being well fed and watered was a surefire winner for me!

I finished off the bases on the scorpions and put some finishing touches to the stug in the form of sponge weathering and more mud weathering.

If your pondering about if you should or shouldn't hopefully the pictures of the finished results should convince you and that was just after a couple of days. The real bonus is that they carry a huge amount of paint so as its only 20 mins down the road I can wander over and get supplies when ever I like and if your at Hammerhead this weekend they guys will be there so pop over and have a chat its a real eye opener!

www.barwellbodyworks.com

So finally onto the "pledge"

its been a superb month!

bought - 55
painted - 160!

most of those were 10mm Napoleonic french which when they are all finished will be posted up.