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I've decided that painting grav-tanks with paintbrushes is for the birds.


Could someone point me towards a good Airbrush in the 150 to 300$ range that works well all around?

I've not used them before, so a "do and don't" list would be appreciated as well.

Also, do you airbrush an entire army a basic color then paint over elsewhere? Example.. Fire Dragons.. Should I just airbrush them orange and the do detail work afterwards?

Is there a specific paint that goes in an airbrush? Right now I use the paints that come in the Games workshop kit.. I think they're acrylics.

Lastly, I read a lot of people mix their pants as part paint and part water. Is that for painting with a brush or a air brush?

Well if you search 'Airbrush' in this forum you will find a ton of great information.

To summarize though: You will find a lot of different opinions but most seem to agree on this:
get a dual-action, gravity feed airbrush (check out the PS900 - it's cheap and good).
get a compressor, with a moisture trap, auto-shutoff and tank.

I would also recommend getting a bottle of Liquitex Airbrush Medium at any art store and some clear plastic paint-pot vials to mix in.

You can use pretty much any paint if it is thinned properly. But any acrylic is good for our purposes. And btw, yes thinning with water is still a good idea even when painting with a brush.

As for painting - yes the most efficient usage would be to do your base coats, shadows and highlights with the airbrush, then paint the details by hand.

I can tell you what not go get: the Citadel airbrush. It uses a compressed gas bottle of propellant and a siphon feed bottle.

I tried it and initially I thought it was quite good. But only later, when I tried doing half a dozen tanks and a 3 squads of troops, did I find that it didn't really work well for long projects. The nozzle kept clogging no matter how thin the mix was and the bottles run out rather quickly; or just stop working when they get too cold (cant explain the chemistry behind it, but when its cold, it looses pressure).

Go with what Gunzhard suggested. Gravity feed, compressor run brush. You may get a good one at a craft store for a decent price (Michaels or a hobby shop possibly) and it will last a lot longer.

Cheers

I'm looking at the following options.


Compressors

This one seems okay. Mentions a moisture filter and zero pulsation, w/ a 2 year warranty.

http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-AIRBRUSH-TANK-COMPRESSOR-FREE-HOSE/dp/B001738DXUI




This one is a little cheaper. It doesn't mention having an air tank though, so I'm leery on whether or not it comes with one. I dont know if the specs mentioning a X psi capacity means they can store that much air or just blow that hard.

http://www.amazon.com/D500-Compressor-w-R75-Regulator/dp/B000BR2HOO/ref=pd_sbs_k_2


I think I've settled on the PS910 as a brush, as I think it meets the criteria you recommended. I don't know if it's dual-feed however.

The PS910 looks nice to me. It is gravity feed and dual action and even comes with two needle sizes.

Your first link was broken; the second link, the nice little paasche compressor will do the trick, it doesn't have a separate tank but I've used an Iwata similar to that and it was fine. You definitely don't want more than 40psi for airbrushing minis...

Make sure you get all of the right hoses and connectors. Since the PS910 (and 900) are Iwata knockoffs I would suggest buying them 'with' the hoses/connections so you don't run into any compatibility issues.

Keep in mind the learning curve for AB-ing is really high... it IS going to take a lot of practice. I would suggest starting with large terrain pieces and push yourself to paint the smaller details on the terrain with the airbrush before moving onto your models.

http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.com/search/label/Airbrush