Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So, I kinda wanna get an airbrush except I don't really know where to start. I found a FoxHunter SMS AS18 for like $70 on amazon, and it looks like a good starter brush. I have learned to paint with a brush, but an airbrush looks cool and fun to use, and would help with like zenithle (spelling?) hightlighting.

So, is the airbrush listed above a good cheap started option. How would I clean my brush, How would I take care of it, how do I apply paint into it, what if it clogs? ANd anything else I need to know.

I started out with Master airbrush from TCP global. They
were good fairly cheap airbrushes. I had problems keeping the nozzles centered, otherwise they worked well. I switched
to Badger and really love these airbrushes, I hear Iwata and H&S are better, but for the price the Badger Krome is my go to brush. I use it for everything from base coating to fine detail. It is not cheap but is well built and sprays exceptionally well. Good luck in your search, You will get a lot of great advice on this forum.

You're going to have a blast (no pun intended)! I'm not sure there's really wrong or right when starting to learn, but one thing I would say is to avoid using canned air, despite what hobby stores will try and sell you.
Getting a good medium, easily cleaned mixing cups, a table edge clip-stand and something readily to hand to fire your waste water into, are almost as important as your choice in airbrush. The little things make your experience less frustrating, which aids you long term.

Getting paint in, pipettes and droppers are your friendly. A bag of them should last you a long time.
Cleaning, you can buy fluids to put through, or you can clean the metal parts with acetone if it's truly blocked. Make sure you're only getting it on the metal parts, not rings or seals.

You could do worse than having a look at an airbrushing forum as well, telling them what paints you wish to put through, and finding what they recommend. A lot of folks outside the wargaming hobby have different but totally applicable approaches to the same idea.

I've also been looking into getting an airbrush and came across this video. It's very useful for finding out which airbrush you want, the advantages/disadvantages of each type, and should answer any of your immediate questions.
It's a combination of talks given to wargamers from Mr. Badger himself...

Welcome to the world of air brushing!

The first place to start is by searching - yep, this question gets asked two to three times a month.

Do some research and read, read, read.
(the vids are good too).

ONE VERY IMPORTANT POINT:
There is a big difference between an "expensive" airbrush and a "quality" airbrush.

DO NOT OVER BUY.

Many new folks buy a higher end brush - which can have an incredibly frustrating learning curve for a beginner. DON"T.

You want a good quality brush - but not one of the higher end brushes with a tiny needle.

I would suggest as a first brush an badger patriot 105 - its an excellent quality brush with a larger size needle (plenty to learn on, and can do a lot of great work) but VERY FORGIVING to a new person.

Then read, read some more, and then find a person in your area who has a brush, and have them give you some lessons or try their paint (again, do a search, there are literally hundreds of posts on paint choices and an airbrush).

Airbrushing can be a lot of fun, and you be amazed at what you can do with it. Just be patient, and don't buy a high end brush (imagine trying to learn to drive a standard on a bugati).

best of luck!

If you have never used an airbrush before I suggest starting really cheap. This weekend there was a deal at harbor freight for a $15 airbrush. It is not amazing but gets the job done. It will let you learn the basics of an airbrush and how to care for one. You can also pick up a nice decent compressor at harbor freight. Basically you want to see if you actually like airbrushing. I think it is amazing but I know people who have picked up an airbrush and realized it is not for them. And it does take effort to learn, do not expect to be doing amazing quality work right out the gate.

I can second the harbor freight airbrush - while not the a golden demon tool, it is a good basic brush to learn some of the basics (paint choices, pressure, trigger work, etc.).

The compressors harbor freight have are actually decent for the money - I have used several throughout the years (still have one) and they workhorses (if slightly noisy).

Third! I also use the HF compressor and airbrush. Pretty sure the braided hose I replaced the coiled plastic (came with the compressor) with came from HF, too. The compressor also came with a variety of brass fittings of decent quality (clean threads, no burrs, nice, heavy knurling). I've heard plenty of gripes about people's inability to find adaptors when they get a new airbrush that has different threads than their hose (or hose than compressor). Never had that issue, myself, as they all (and a tiny roll of Teflon tape) came in the box!

I have a Sotar F as my main brush, but the HF gun is actually good enough that it still sees use (and not just as a 'whipping boy' brush that I run harsher solvents through). It's a siphon-feed, which isn't generally considered ideal for our purposes, but I wouldn't call that a deal-breaker, by any means. The 0.3mm needle is pretty robust for something with so fine a tip (but not so fine as the be a nightmare to learn paint thinning with) and perfectly capable of spraying pencil-thin lines, with practice.

The main caveat I'd stress is that the color cup (cup, not bottle - it comes with both) is a downright stupid design, with a feed tube that only reaches 2/3 of the way to the bottom. If you have a local shop that sells Badger, buy one of their replacement cups. I got mine from Michaels for a few bucks, after using a coupon, and it fits perfectly. The bent neck of the Badger cup also gives better finger clearance, which made for a more comfortable grip without the risk of spilling paint.

Only other gripe I have with it is that the needle guard and air cap are integrated. With many airbrushes, the former screws into the latter, which means you can spray without the guard in place. That helps you get [i]really[/il close to the surface for detail work, which I honestly don't consider all that crucial. More importantly, it gives you easy access to the needle to clean off tip-dry. With the HF brush, I have to either stop and unscrew the tip to get at the dried paint, then screw it back on to resume spraying, or risk jabbing a cleaner-soaked brush or cotton swab down over the needle.