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I really want to get into airbrushing my models as I think the effects created are amazing. Where do I start? What would be the best airbrush for me to buy and how expensive?
Thank you very much, any help is appreciated.

Airbrushes are tools. Get the one that's right for the job your going to do with it. Prices range from cheap Chinese knockoffs at $20 to several hundred plus the compressor.

Here is a good breakdown by type and application. Its from badger but it will give you a good starting point.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/521203.page

http://www.everythingairbrush.com/

This store stocks a wide range of airbrushes, compressors, accessories and spare parts. Pricing is reasonable on most items, better deals can be found but for convinience of it all being under one URL I like them.

Have a good look through what they sell to get an idea of the kinds of items you might be looking for. They do kits made up with an airbrush, compressor and some paints etc and all the items individually.

Cheap brands of airbrush should be perfectly fine and workable for starting out with, and indeed are just as capable as the several hundred pound models of airbrush. What you tend to get for more money is quality of craftsmanship, like maybe the trigger mechanism will be notably smoother, or the dismantle clean and rebuild operation might be easier going etc. Another thing that costs money is decent quality micron tips (0.15mm or less) which is'nt what you need for spraying acrylics onto mini's, I would reccomend a 0.3 or 0.4mm nozzle setup, gravity feed, dual action airbrush with a 2ml or a 5ml paint cup. %ml doesnt sound like much, but 5ml of properly thinned paint can basecoat an entire unit, and you will likely not need more than 5ml very often on a job unless its large job! Larger paint cups only add to the weight of the brush and block vision a bit, get as small as you can work with for best results, 2ml is plenty for most occasions.

http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/Gravity_Feed.html

Theres one in this list for £19.20, AB-130 which should be more than sufficient and do you proud as a starter brush, if money is no object, then I quite like Harder & Steenbeck Evolution airbrushes, my current brush is a 0.2mm H&S Evolution Silverline and its quite beautiful to use if I'm honest.

For an airsource, this will probably cost you more than the airbrush;
Something with a tank is better than without, a piston motor is better than a diaphragm. Get an inline moisture trap aswell as the manometer/trap that is usually on the output of the compressor.
http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/AS_Series.html
these are basically the common place chinese ones, theres an AB-AS186 for £91.91 that would do absolutly fine for a long time to come. I'm running a 196 which has twin pistons but is otherwise the same, the tankless ones work okay too, but they get hot and spit moisture after 15-20minutes of solid working, while the one with 3L tank runs happily for me for an hour to 2 hours (because the motor gets a rest each time the tank is full) after that its spitting moisture a bit too much to spray antyhing well.
Noise levels allow me to run it indoors int he day time, but it would keep people in my house awake a night,neighbors wouldnt hear it as I'm in a detached house, its not exactly deafening but is definatly not what I'd call quiet, My 2HP 24L tank compressor out in the shed makes 50times more racket and could be heard several doors up the street.

for paints, Vallejo do a model air range that I hear is quite nice, but all the brands of acrylic paint you know of can be thinned out for spraying, citadel thins lovely for me using Liquitex Airbrushing medium and nothing else.
http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/item-liquitex-airbrush-medium.htm (theres a similar sounding product from Golden, but I havent tryed it as this worked great the first time) Other possibilites are isopropyl alcohol (tamiya thinners) or vinegar free glass cleaner (automotive window cleaner - vinegar corrodes chrome which is the coating on the airbrush)

I suggest starting with a low end badger or paasche with badger canned air. This simply so you can see what you are getting into with an airbrush with out breaking the bank, since it can be all gotten for about $60. Whether or not you like using an airbrush, it can still make a good color base coater for you models.

I would avoid cans of compressed air at all costs... nothing could be a bigger waste of money.
Also I would avoid badger at all costs personally.... Cant say I thought anything special of their patriot 105.. for its price tag i couldve had countless other much nicer airbrushes
They use the annoying micro tiny thread system for the nozzle and the trigger mechanism leaves something to be desired plus the whole thing is heavy to'boot and the chrome isnt very thick :/ all in all its totaly crap! At the time I found myself prefering to use the £19.99 china special I had.
....Just my 2pence, i'm aware that badger have a following, particularly on here, I just think those people havent tryed better mostly.

HairySticks wrote:

I would avoid cans of compressed air at all costs... nothing could be a bigger waste of money.
Also I would avoid badger at all costs personally.... Cant say I thought anything special of their patriot 105.. for its price tag i couldve had countless other much nicer airbrushes
They use the annoying micro tiny thread system for the nozzle and the trigger mechanism leaves something to be desired plus the whole thing is heavy to'boot and the chrome isnt very thick :/ all in all its totaly crap! At the time I found myself prefering to use the £19.99 china special I had.
....Just my 2pence, i'm aware that badger have a following, particularly on here, I just think those people havent tryed better mostly.

On the canned air, if you are going to actually get serious about it yeah, get the compressor. But for finding out if you actually like an airbrush, a $10-$14 dollar canned air makes alot more sense than 80-120 for a compressor. Especially with a $20-50 brush.

Not really, a car tire with the approptiate valve connector, and inline manometer / moisture trap would be better that a can of compressed air.
Or a gas cylinder... like a scuba tank perhaps, filled up at the tire inflating station at the local garrage would be better still.

I have to concur with HairySticks, you will go through your first can of propellant before you have a clue what you are doing. That is an expensive way to get your feet wet ;-> Also, any money you invest hooking up a cheap and refillable source of air can be repurposed once you buy a compressor e.g. a decent regulator, hose, moisture trap, fittings, etc.

My favorite airbrush at the moment is a TCP Global Master 266. As a previous poster said, gravity feed small cup dual action internal mix. Nice trigger, easy to clean, the kit comes with three tips/needles (0.5, 0.3, 02). It is about a $40US kit, but I'm pretty sure they ship globally.

HairySticks wrote:
Not really, a car tire with the approptiate valve connector, and inline manometer / moisture trap would be better that a can of compressed air.
Or a gas cylinder... like a scuba tank perhaps, filled up at the tire inflating station at the local garrage would be better still.

And if you decide that airbrushing isn't for you, you can cash back out of a compressor or air tank. The canned air is money gone. It's also a royal PITA to get consistent results from.

I just ordered an Iwata Neo N4500 off ebay for $60 total, including shipping. Supposedly they're very good beginner airbrushes, but it's up to you to do your research. I decided that the Neo N4500 was for me because it was between the price of a cheap chinese knockoff and one of the upper end airbrushes, and it has the Iwata name brand, quality, and warranty. Youtube it and read some reviews.

All the reputable brands offer good starter brushes, these are a sensible starting point for those with a bit more budget as theyre going to be nicer to use than the cheap china made ones.
Spare parts become worth buying for these, With my chinese starter brush I found that the price of a new needle and nozzle setup was over 50% of the whole airbrush and didnt consider that worth it, conversely, my Harder & Steenbeck Evolution Silverline was about £120 and a new needle/nozzle setup is about £30-40 ... well worth the repair job. I beleive H&S's starter model runs approximatly £70 and lacks some of the little nifty features of the higher end, like a cut away around the needle choke, and the 'rememberer' bit on the back of some brushes (forgive me I don't know the name for those) , but build quality is every bit as good.