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I really want to airbrush new necron army but I'm total noobsauce on airbrushing minis... I've had an airbrush for years, used it for painting alleged "art"... Won competition actually, but completely lost as to what I should do with minis... Any airbrushers have tips on paints that have longevity? I predominately ask because I've used paint that chips the second you look crossed eyed at it. Is it best to roll with gw paints, or are some of the tubes at the craft store or general airbrush paints cool? I heard a podcast, sorry can't remember which one said to mix rubbing alcohol with paint, is that the way to go? I want to go with some metallics I scored at the craft store but don't want it to rub off the first time two models touch. I understand this might be a tired topic but could not find a thread. Any assistance much appreciated.

Tamiya paints and thinners are brilliant.
Over black primer, try gunmetal, then mix in aluminium or chrome silver for zenithal work. Give it a watered down black wash and it should look OK. Then it's just details.

Vallejo Model Air paints are also great.

You can airbrush standard GW paints too, just need to thin them a bit more and add some flow improver to keep it moving smoothly.

ALL airbrushed paintwork can rub off pretty easily, especially if you're putting it on too dry - you really should seal with a gloss coat and NOT HANDLE THE MINIATURE UNTIL ITS SEALED. I tend to glue things to cocktails sticks to use as handles, I can then wodge the stick into a piece of polystyrene foam to keep parts upright and out of contact while drying.

Are you using a siphon fed or gravity fed, is it dual or single action?

Generally speaking dual action > single action Gravity > Siphon.

On to the question about paint chipping.....

are you using a primer, very much needed when airbrushing, the coats are so thin, that they need a solid surface to bind to .

I personally use either isopropynol or windex to thin, depending on the paint I am using. I have found if you mix a small amount of Future Floor Polish in with the paint, it gives it a little bit of a harder finish and holds up to wear and tear a little better. Try a ratio of paint:thinner:future of 1:4:1

Lastly, once the model is complete if you coat it with a nice clear coat like Testors Dull Coat, you will be able to safely handle your mini's.

Ashton

Generally you can use most any paint for airbrushing. It's all just a matter of the consistency and air pressure.

GW paints spray fine when thinned properly. I use several GW colors including foundations. I will thin an entire bottle in a mixing jar and transfer it to an eye dropper bottle.

I mostly use vallejo model air paints though. They come pre-thinned for airbrushing although you still need to add a drop of thinner in the reservoir before you start. Vallejo claims that their model air range adheres better and is more durable than any other water-based acrylic.

For thinning I prefer acrylic airbrush medium. It's a milky white liquid that thins and retards the drying time of fast-drying acrylics like GW and Vallejo. It doesn't affect color.

Alcohol is ok for thinning some paints like Tamiya, but for other it just gunks them up. I use alcohol as a cleaner since it's significantly cheaper than the airbrush cleaners available and I use it in large quantities.

Water is ok for thinning paint too, but it's easy to overdo it and get a watery spray that doesn't cover well.

Some people prefer ammonia-free windex as a thinner.

I don't recommend using alcohol to thin - you can use a mixture of distilled water and alcohol but it was my experience that the paint dried to fast and the airbrush would be prone to clogging. A flow medium works better and/or you can use distilled water.

Once you get it down (in no time) you should be able to blow through those necrons in no time.

Like Ashton said, you probably want a dual action airbrush, single action is okay for priming and a base coat (especially for vehicles), but you want to be able to control the pattern with a dual action for anything more than that.