Tutorial Tuesday - Airbrushing Modulation

Hey guys, Greg here with my first run at a Tutorial Tuesday article. I'd be grateful for your feedback on if this was helpful or if I should just leave it to the professionals (i.e. Mike).

So let me start by saying that I have been painting toy soldiers on and off for about 20 years and you'd think that over that time I would have developed some decent skills. Truth be told that because of the on and off nature of my painting and presence in the hobby, I just haven't honed and developed those skills until the last year or so. Now, my painting is at a level where I'm comfortable that it looks good for me. I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not going to be taking on commissions or winning painting awards any time soon and honestly, I don't think I want to.

I have always, always been a brush painter though. I have never once used an airbrush and have, for the most part, considered it cheating on some level. Don't ask me why, I've got no clue. Recently though, I've started seriously considering getting an airbrush and starting to use it, mostly on my Bolt Action tanks and other bits but potentially for my Flames of War stuff as well. 

I really like seeing the results that people get from colour modulation on their tanks, there is just something that really pops about them when they're done right so in that vein, I looked around the YouTubes for some beginners guides to modulation. A couple of really good ones that I have come across (and this is my opinion only) are the following ones:

International Scale Modeller

This one is a noobs guide to German Grey (Dunkelgrau) modulation using the AK Interactive Panzer Grey kit. Its a long and detailed video at 50 mins and has some great tips for airbrush noobs like me. This was his first time doing any kind of airbrushing and I think it looks pretty good.

Carsten the Tightheadprop

Again, this is using Dunkelgrau modulation but this time on a 15mm StuG and shows a bit more of the detail in terms of masking to get the right mix of shine and depth. Another very good video in my opinion.

I'm now seriously investigating my options in terms of buying a decent starter airbrushing set and really getting hands on with the devil! If you have any recommendations, let me know!

Are there any other channels I should be looking at for tips? Let me know in the comments team!

- Greg