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Does anyone know any good alternate spray paints that work well on models but doesn't cost heaps?

Buy an airbrush and compressor. Pays for itself very quickly. The Vallejo PU Surface Primers last for quite some time, and varnishing is much more controllable.

Rattlecans are a mug's game, honestly.

From GW or somewhere else?

Elsewhere, always.

You can start out with a cheap $10 Ebay airbrush -- it'll be good for priming, base coats, and varnish, at the very least -- and get a cheap air compressor from whatever discount Hardware store or Craigslist that you have. If the compressor doesn't have a good PSI regulator, you can get an in-line regulator.

As for fittings, your best option will be to bring both the compressor and the airbrush to a hardware store and have someone with experience help piece it out.

The compressor will last you as long as the motor is running, and you can step up to a nicer airbrush as soon as your money allows it.

 King_Boo(bloodangle/eldar wrote:
From GW or somewhere else?

Anywhere else!
Gw sell a novelty 'spray gun' that is shaped a bit like a flamer. Never even considered to try and use one as it just screams cheap from the look of the thing.
For a cheap airbrush there is a lot of Chinese made ones that will do a fine job of basecoating, and will last well enough if care is taken of them.
The higher end airbrushes (£100-200 and upwards) are often beautiful to use and the craftsmanship should show. But as far as usage goes they tend to shine through the crowd for freehand airbrush work, something which generally isnt done at warhammers scale.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Veda-Air-Brush-130A-airbrush-Model-Body-Paint-Tool-spray-Gun-/130869384051?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item1e786c5373

This badboy comes in at a dirty cheap £14, And really ought to be fully capable of basecoats, zenithal highlighting and clear coats on 28mm miniatures. Some of the dearer ones might have noticeably better engineering or materials, which might mean things like smoother triggers, easier to clean and rebuild or longer life.

A hose shouldnt be more than £5-10, and a compresor... well get the best you can afford to, a spare car tire with the appropriate valve would be a decent cheap option, theres a huge range of compressors out there, an airbrush doesnt really need a very powerful air source, but does benefit from a tank (small one is good enough) to give the motor a break, allowing it to cool of a bit, and piston compressors are preferable to diaphragm ones due to 'pulsing' of the air. Oil free is preferable for cleaner air, but is noisier, oil cooled compressors can be used but filters and traps int he airline would be necessary.

Rust-oleum automotive primers. There's grey and black, but I haven't seen white, they cost arround 3-4 dollars on wallmart in the US and they are pretty good, I don't know if you can find them in Europe tho. I use the grey primer all the time for my tutorials on youtube. The black has a very mat finish that looks a bit gray but I think is the finish makes it look different from the abbadon black. Look for automotive primers and test them out.

Rust-oleum sprays a bit thick tho so you want to be very carefull but if you do it right when dry it gets thin and even. Never ruined a model with them so far. Also make sure its automotive! they are generally design to go very thinly on the surface not as regular spray primer.

Also there's brush on primers and airbrush primers if you have an airbrush

Hope this helps
Alan