About a year ago I took a Hobby University class on airbrushing at one of the HMGS shows. The excellent instructor suggested the How to Paint With the Airbrush AMMO Modeling Guide for further information. I bought it while I was there and haven’t looked at it until today when I decided to do a brief review. I figure the timing is perfect as I just managed to use my airbrush to get some base colors on my 40k Second Edition Challenge army and earned a Hobby Bingo square in the process! The softcover book comes in at 180 pages and retails for $49.99. The book is a large format as it is 8 3/4″ wide by 11 1/2″ long. It is full color and contains plenty of supporting pictures. Shockingly it was only released in 2022 so I’m not even that far behind in reviewing it! The book covers a range of topics from General Theory to advanced techniques such as Pre-shading and Camouflage.

The basics of airbrushing are covered including brush technique, airbrushing distances, and common mistakes.

Not only does the book use examples of historical models it uses science fiction models as well to show how the techniques can be used across a wide range of subject models. Throughout the book their are QR codes which link to the AMMO line of products to make finding what they used in the book easy. While almost all the products they recommend are AMMO products I do appreciate the section on choosing an airbrush lists a few other high quality brands and the book suggested compressors from other manufacturers as well.

The beginning chapters of the book (Introduction, Quick Users Guide, General Theory, The World of the Airbrush, Cleaning and Maintenance, and Possible Problems and Damage) are all perfect for Airbrushing newbies and those with some experience who just want to learn more. The one page chapter on Priming leads nicely into the more advanced Pre-Shading and Basecoat chapter where more advanced techniques are covered. Camouflage covers a variety of tecnhiques including soft edge and hard edged camouflage as well as digital camo and other techniques. The final chapters on Lighting and Shading Effects, Stencils, Varnishes, Transparent Colours and Shaders, Different Uses of the Airbrush in Weathering and Dirt Techniques, Dioramas and finally Figures all give advanced techniques of varying difficulty. There is a final annex on The Airbrush as a Beauty Tool in case you feel like applying makeup or doing your nails! While I doubt I’ll use the Annex I really look forward to trying out the weathering and dirt techniques, and now that I’m not afraid of the airbrush quite as much I have some stencils I want to try out!

If you are interested in airbrushing and prefer having a book in hand I cannot recommend this book enough. It is full of great information, looks terrific, and is easy to use. I figured I’d take a few quick pictures and post them but I spent an hour pouring through the book completely distracted to my original goal of this blog post!

-Wachtmeister