Wargame Airbrushing 01: multi-purpose rigs

To get an airbrush rig on the table top, I got to combine two of the great things in life... modelling, and home improvement stores.  For this particular build, I had a few criteria:  keep it multi-purpose, portable, and suitable to long painting sessions (my preferences), and keep it quiet (my wife's preference).

This particular setup has a few bells and whistles that are not required for basic airbrushing...I will make note of those optional components when they come up.  The order I list them is the order I connect them in the final rig.

British 25pdr Battery Part One: Artillery Crew

To help a friend of mine get started in Flames of War, I am painting some of the British minis I have had in various stages of assembly for about five years a little while.  Called around to find some folks willing to trade some primed American stuff for primed British, and off we go!

First up is a two-section battery of 25-pounder artillery pieces and assorted staff elements.  I decided to start with the arty crews, as they would be the most time-consuming part of the unit.  He is going for late-war Desert Rats, so brown and brown it is, with a little khaki thrown in for flavor.  He will be using a maxed-out battery, so it will have eight crew teams, three command teams, two observer teams, and a staff team.  There are associated vehicles, but I'll be doing those later, at the same time as the guns themselves.

Spray-painting invasion stripes

L4 AOP w/ Invasion Stripes

Used by US forces in the latter part of WWII primarily as an artillery spotter, the L4 Grasshopper Aerial Observation Post was a nifty addition to the arsenal.  Google it for some additional coolness...some nutso pilots decided to arm them with bazookas and go into ground-attack mode!

Now, you could paint it by hand, but I'm going to use some masking techniques and spray paint to get a Grasshopper AOP on the table.