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Well I got my airbrush today!!! Got to love my wife.
My question is this do I need to do anything to it before my first painting session?
Such as cleaning/ spraying something through?

I am to believe you need to test a paint thickness you like before you start painting.

Watch some YouTube vids on cleaning the brush and make sure you got all that stuff at hand! After that experiment with color flow and pressure on a few sheets of paper before touching anything like a model .

After that I would start with a big and not too expensive model to test on. I think I went for GW craters first to see how the airbrush works on plastic and tried some highlights. After that I did hit a rhino up in think .

Have fun with your new toy. I really love it and it really helped me to motivate myself on bigger models.

Yeah youtube is my saviour had a play around with it and just primed and base coated a marine I had laying around, gonna have to get used to painting with it before I have a go at some of my new models

Yeah before you put some paint in it, make sure theres some thing to clean up with on hand, Other than that you will want some thinner or airbrush ready paints.
Its not a bad idea to get thinner with the premixed paints anyway as they can thicken up over time or need slight adjustments right out of the bottle anyway. (Its largely down to the brush and not the paint sometimes - a finer nozzle needs thinner paint)
For cleaner, I like to use 99% Isopropyl alcohol or pure Acetone, but many swear by windex, or store bought branded airbrush cleaners. All I can say for sure is plain water wont do the job.
I use a scrap synthetic paintbrush for cleaning out the cup and nozzle, the bristles are long enough that i can poke a couple right through the nozzle with some cleaner on and get the majority of the gunk out easy.
Some needle lubricant, not strictly essential, but really helpful, makes painting so much smoother and more enjoyable with less tip dry hicups. Iwata make one, as do badger, Everythingairbrush.com do one too. I'm not 100% on exactly what kind of lubricant it is otherewise I'd suggest a cheaper purchase. The small bottle lasts an age.

Id suggest watching youtube videos and demonstrations of painting with aswell as caring for the airbrush from more than just one person too as theres multiple ways of doing somethings.

Merry Christmas, Happy painting I'm sure us Dakites will be around if you get really stuck with it.

Most important starter tips:

1) get a squeeze bottle of destilled water, another squeeze bottle of airbrush cleaner and a spray out jar ready before you start. A box of tissues is a good idea as well.
2) set up something to catch overspray. At least a cardboard box, best a real spraybooth that traps the overspray in a filter.
3) don't let paint dry in the brush. As soon as you are done, dump out the remaining paint or spray it out, then flush the brush with water until you don't see paint in the water anymore.
4) Avoid disassemblying the brush. If you cannot get the brush to work smoothly by flushing it with water and cleaner, disassemble it very carefully, following the makers instructions and avoiding to touch the tip of the needle or push it against anything.
5) if your brush clogs, you let it sit too long, the pressure is too low or the paint is too thick. Or a combination of these factors.

Also, watch this video. It's long, but will save you frustration, time and money.

The above video from WGC features Ken Badger the owner and main man behind the famous Badger line of airbrushes and paints. It's an incredibly good video with a TON of great information.

Thinning your paints down is propable one of the best skills that you'reg oing ot wnat to develop as well. We've done a video on the subject here if you're interested:

UselessWizard has some USEFUL videos (as he has posted one).

My main take aways:

1) Thin the paint! Not just so it can be sprayed, but so it doesn't clog up the airbrush afterwards.

2) Thin the paint BEFORE putting it into the airbrush. Otherwise some paint may not thin and settle at the bottom of the paint cup and clog the brush.

3) Clean the airbrush after every session (or color)! Put water in the paint cup, and spray it into a cup or bag until empty. Do this multiple times. Other steps are good to take, but this catches the most issues in my experience.

Nice video!

I thin my paint basically the same way. However, I use plastic shot glasses and plastic cheese skewers from the supermarket to mix the paint. Both are dirt cheap, so I don't need to worry about cleaning up the mixing container or stick.

The subtitles mention diluting the paint with window cleaner or alcohol. Both attack the paint. Of course still have a good result while using them, but that is in spite of the additives, not because of them.

Get some airbrush cleaner, washing with water is so annoying.

Yeah noticed water is a pain to clean it with lol! Also realised I need to make my compressor some sort of weighted base as it nearly walked itself out the door last night, wondered why my hose seemed to be getting shorter!!!

Water is fine for flushing out unused paint, but will do little to nothing for any dried on paint or a blocked nozzle.

I like to fill the cup with water and give it a brush round with an old dead paint brush, then tip the out of the cup (not spray)
Repeat that if theres a lot of dried debris in there.

Then spray through a cup of water, and repeat untill theres no colour coming out.

Then fill the cup with IPA, Acetone, or whatever airbrush cleaner you like to use and spray that out.

Chances are its good to go now aslong as you cleaned out shortly after working (or even in the middle of).

If you let the paint dry up in the brush, then its going to need taking apart and given a deep cleaning and re-assembly.
Even mid job you might be wise to flush the cup and carry on so there not paint sitting in it too long. So when working with lots of the same colour you probably still ought to do a propper rinsing out every cup or 2 of paint.

Thanks hairy I'll bear that in mind