I'm looking to get an airbrush for painting FOW tanks, what should I be looking for in an airbursh? any links/pointers etc?

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I like to use an airbrush for base coats and painting blocks of color, then I will come back in with a brush to touch up.

Because I use the brush this way I need to use the same paint for both applications. I keep one bottle for brush and pre mix a bottle for the airbrush. When you start airbrushing you will find that the typical paint is too think to airbrush with without clogging the brush.

I have had the best results when I use an commercial airbrush thinner to thin the paints. If you use straight water you may find it dilutes the pigment and extends the dying time. You could use alcohol, the commercial preparations are usually a propylene glycol and they don't smell and you can usually get away with using less thus diluting the pigment less. I bring this up, because for me diluting the paints enough is the most important thing you can do with an airbrush, next to being really clean.

If you decide to airbrush you may wish to get a quiet 'dental' air compressor or locate the air compressor in another room. If your going to paint inside you might want to get a small spray booth with filters made for airbrushing and wear a respirator mask while you paint.

I use a Paasche airbrush, but any of the premium airbrushes should be fine (Badger, Iwata) and have a Jun Air compressor. (there are some good instructables online on making a silent compressor from a refrigerator compressor)

The last thing I can really think of off hand, is get used to the idea of being really clean. I have best results by always using thinned paints, and between color changes spraying some alcohol through the cup, followed by some water (spray into a 'cleaning station' you can buy, or just a rag), then taking the needle out and running a paper towel over it, etc. You may also want to invest in some small cleaning brushes, or use q-tips and toothpicks. Rubbing alcohol is a nice solvent fot clean up. Always take your air brush apart when you store it, or you might find it glued together by paint residue when you go to use it.

This may seem excessive, but by getting into this habit I have less clogging and a more enjoyable painting experience. Just due to the nature of the paint sometimes you will still get clogs, especially with metallics (which generally have larger pigments), then just stop and clean. You can get screens to run the paint through before spraying in hopes of removing clogging elements.

All in all expensive start up costs. But airbrushing will speed your painting. And I find it is cleaner and more versatile then spray cans.

First the obvious: Get a compressor rather than a canned air supply like GW's spraygun. A pressure regulator with a moisture trap is also a must, and a tank is also helpful. These all add to the cost, but all are huge helps.

On to the brush in particular - Get a dual action brush instead of a single action. This allows you to control the diameter of the spray seperately from the flow of air - essential of you're going to be airbrushing camo. This is another failing of the GW gun, which is single action.

There are two main feed systems you can buy: First a gravity feed, or cup, which is good for small amounts of paint, like airbrushing details or camo. THe second is a siphon, or bottle, which is good for larger jobs like basecoating but can waste paint since in general the siphon tube does not reach the bottom of the feed bottle. My own airbrush is a Badger Universal 360, which has a rotating head allowing it to operate in either manner. It's a neat and efficient setup making it unneccessary to have two different brushes for gravity and siphon jobs. You may still find it neccessary to get a brish for very fine work - though I painted the camo on these Chimaeras with it:

That is as fine as I could get the spray though, so for finer jobs a dedicated brush would probably be neccessary.

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Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.