Quantity over quality

Having experienced growing pains of learning airbrushing, I would suggest you start with a higher quality name brand airbrush. One of the biggest complaints I read/hear about airbrushing is they buy a cheap airbrush to try and then get mad when it doesn't work right. Then someone suggests a higher quality brand and the response is "no I've tried airbrushing and it sucks".. It becomes and endless cycle.

My number one advice would be to buy a name brand, high quality airbrush. Badger, Passche, Iwata all come to mind. I prefer Badger as they have life time guarantees for any airbrush. Yes you will spend a bit more but you will enjoy it much more.

https://usaairbrushsupply.com/products/105-3n1-patriot-airbrush-with-all-three-needlenozzle-size-set-ups

https://usaairbrushsupply.com/products/the-breeze-compressor

https://usaairbrushsupply.com/products/6ft-braided-hose-female-1-4-fitting-w-propel-fitting

$77+ 115+ 22= 214+ shipping.

Yes you'll spend more than the amazon price but still will with your budget.

From past advice about

From past advice about airbrush topics, I expect you will get a confusing array of this is best and that is best, from Awata, to Passche to Badger to even Harbor Freight.  Even some I haven't heard of.  But I guess you'll probably have a lot of choices!

Airbrush Thread

You may want to read through this thread.  Help Selecting a Trigger type airbrush

Bernd

What Craig Townsend said

Done and dusted.

have 'em both. Still use them 30 years later. Badger single action, Paasche VL and most recently Paasche

 Talon.

Cost?

Do you already have an air compressor? You can just add a water trap filter to a common home shop compressor, no need for a dedicated air brush compressor unless you must work quietly in the house. As for starter brushes it's hard to beat a Paasche VL kit , the airbrush with three sizes of tips and needles. Last I checked they were selling for around $75 ......DaveB

Ease of cleaning

One of the big issues I always hear about with new airbrushes is how long it takes to clean. With this in mind, I would recommend a gravity feed. With a gravity feed you can use just about every drop of paint and not waste a lot. Also the cleaning is super easy. Rinse the cup out, refill with cleaner/thinner and spray. Put away. I hardly ever break down my airbrush unless I absolutely have to. And even then it only takes a few minutes to clean.

With a bottle/bottom feed brush, you now have to clean the bottle, and then clean the airbrush.

The easier it is to clean, the more often you'll want to use it. The more often you use it, the better you'll get at airbrushing. If you have a crappy low end airbrush that's hard to clean and a pain to use, you'll hate airbrushing and wonder why you wasted your money.

Off the beaten path

Hi,

when I started with the blow-brush thing, I was seriously intimidated by the "cleaning madness" thing.

Finally I bought a set with a small compressor and a "throw-away" airbrush. I was able to get a nice spray pattern with water, but not with anything much else. Even after trying to spray a minuscle amount of paint, it took me longer to clean than I wanted to...

After a while of "oh no" I bought a very simple external mix airbrush. I figured if I couldn't get that to work, I'd get rid of the idea.

The simple external mix brush worked right out of the box. It is not the tool for fine detail work. But if you want to spray an area, e.g. for a primer coat, for some quick and simple track weathering or even some small piece of furniture, it'll get you there.

I will go and try a "better" brush some day, but for now the external mix one is what does the job for me. Not perfect, but quick and simple. Cleanup is easy, too.

So, while everyone tells you to go fancy, don't discount a simple, external-mix brush for getting something done quickly and for rough work. Doesn't mean you have to have one.

Have fun and stay healthy

Paasche Model H

I agree with the others, buy a name-brand airbrush. For what you are going to use it for- scenery and weathering you'll do fine with a single action, gravity fed like the Paasche Model H or the Badger Patriot or their 200 series.

Personally, I love my Paasche Model H's and have been using them for 20+ years with no issues.  It's is a proven design that has been around, with a few tweaks and minor changes, since the 1920s. Reliable as a rock, simple to learn to use and very easy to clean.  The price is very reasonable for a quality name-brand airbrush.  I have two- one with a #3 (.65 mm) tip for medium work and the other with  #5 (1.0 mm) tip for general work. However changing tips is quick and easy.  For detail work I have a Badger Krome double action, but when you are starting out, a single action is the way to go. 

Lou in California

Do not buy

I would not buy a siphon feed to start with.  I found it very hard to use.  Since I was anew user I was never sure why it was happening.  Later on, it makes sense for large jobs.

I'm not setup presently with

I'm not setup presently with a paint booth, but hope to be maybe later this year. 

I bought a Paasche H and VL many years ago.  They are rugged and should last a long time.  I've pretty much only used the H but it worked well.  I don't think you can go wrong with either.  H is single action and more simple to use, VL is double action.

Iwata HP-C is now my go to

Iwata HP-C is now my go to airbrush. I have a Paasche H single action which I used for years, worried that a double action was too hard to learn. Once I tried the Iwata I found it was easy to use and clean, and that I preferred the double action control.

As others have said the Paasche H with the #5 tip will definitely put out a lot of paint for scenery work, and you can switch nozzles for finer work, so that might be best for your purposes.

FWIW I use a compressed gas cylinder of CO2 for my air supply. You can get them at a beverage/beer distributor. Nice and quiet, and the air is dry.

Don't forget a good airbrush booth is important for keeping the over-spray and harmful stuff out of the air.

Lou N

Paashe model H

Many years ago I bought a Badger 200 which is a very good airbrush but internal mix.

I used it a few times but it was a pain to keep clean,

I bought a Passhe external mix H and use it all the time and for 99% of what I want to do which is spraying one solid colour at a time it works fine and is very easy to use and keep clean.

I highly recommend it.

Mike

Airbrush Advice - live and learn

Just my hard learned opinion:

I am now an IWATA convert.  Everything else is gone but those.  Their quality is fantastic, easy cleaning, wide variable spray patterns, lots to choose from.

If you would like to see some great training videos on airbrushing, airbrush selection, compressor selection, maintenance, techniques (yada yada yada) visit Coast Airbrush.

I have been exclusively from them for years and they are fantastic folks to deal with.  Questions, advice, selection help? Just ask, they are happy to answer anything and they don't go for the "up-sell", they want you to be a long-term customer, not a one-off sale.

Coast Airbrush TV has lots of great in-depth training videos as well.  Some are free some are paid from top industry artists but those are very reasonable as well.  

They sell many brands you won't find in the LHS, but none are "cheap junk" many ranging from mid-high quality up to top shelf (IWATA).  They will patiently help you make your selections.

They have lots of specials throughout the year as well.  Hope this helps.

http://www.coastairbrush.com

http://www.coastairbrushtv.com

I started off using Paasche

I started off using Paasche airbrushes when I was in high school and they are great. When I was in college I worked a summer at an airbrush stand painting t-shirts and Paasche double action airbrushes were standard equipment. So for the next 25 years all I used was Paasche. They are bulletproof and precise, but they are not cheap. 

A few years ago I decided I'd try airbrushing with craft paint after decades of using enamels. I didn't want to mess up my Paasche airbrushes so I thought I'd spend 20 bucks on a Badger double action knockoff from Harbor Freight. This turned out to be a great investment. I've gotten many years of use out of this cheap airbrush.

Can you do great detail work with it? Nope, but will it lay down a nice even coat of paint? Yes. Is it easy to clean? Yes. How much does it cost to repair if you knock it onto the garage floor and damage the needle? 20 bucks for another airbrush, but there's a good chance the store flyer has a coupon for a couple dollars off. 

The point is you can spend hundreds on an airbrush or you can spend 20 bucks and still get good results. If you don't already have a good compressor with a moisture trap, then you should focus your attention there. Having a steady, controllable *dry* supply of air is much more important than which airbrush you use to control the paint and air. 

Which airbrush?

Interesting discussion...but no one has asked about what paints you plan to spray.   I have collected quite a few airbrushes over the years as I will use different airbrushes or at least different tips for different kinds of paints.  

Also, once you learn how to use an airbrush, you’re likely to want to use it for more things - don’t limit yourself at the start.

Dont let cleaning the airbrush intimidate you.  When you first get the airbrush, look at what you have to do to clean it.  Go through a practice run of cleaning it a few times to establish a routine of how it comes apart and back together without the pressure of paint drying in it, so you are prepared when you do use it.

Ray