New to the Forum

Hello Everybody,
My name is Spencer. I just joined a couple of days ago and I live in Austin,TX. I posted a question about a broken helo skid last night and recieved some excellent feedback. Thank You Very Much.
My father"s hobby was building HO scale (British) railroads. He also built British WWII airplanes for me to hang on my bedroom ceiling. (He's from England and was in the British army during WWII.)(I'm first generation American and very proud of my heritage.) Therefore, I've always been fascinated with modeling and the military. I used to build models quite often when I was a kid, but I quit when I got older. My wife and I picked it up again a couple of years ago and we love it.
We recently purchased a Testor's single-action, internal mix airbrush (#8826).We've only practiced with water thus far, but we intend to use some "Liquitex" acrylics later today. I'm not sure what to use for thinner(alcohol or water?) I guess water would be okay since we're just practicing. Do we have to strain the mixture before filling the cup? We're using propellant cans because we're on a low budget right now, so we can't practice as much as we'd like but we should be fine. I have the "Osprey" airbrush techniques book and I got a lot of info from the internet. I'm a bit skeptical from hearing people's opinions but I guess I'll have to see for myself. If anyone has any feedback please let me know. It's greatly appreciated.
Sincerely, Spencer
P.S. I love this site