I, like you, am fair new to the forum after returning to the hobby after a long hiatus. Previously (as a kid), I only used enamels, as enamels were really the only things available in my area. After returning to the hobby, I have used primarily acrylics. Personally, I really like the ease of cleanup and how fast the paint dries. The lack of nasty fumes is nice, too! However, each type of paint has its own pros and cons.
In particular, one thing that I have noticed with airbrushing acrylics is that at lower pressures and smaller paint flow rates, the acrylics dry so fast that they have a tendency to coat the needle and cause the flow of paint to become a little less consistent over time (i.e. slowly reducing the amount of paint at a particular trigger point and then "spitting" or "sputtering" as the little chunk of paint on the needle is blown off
![Disapprove [V]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_disapprove.gif)
). This can be partially resolved by periodically pulling the trigger all the way back to blow off the larger chunks onto something other than your model (a paper plate works well for me
![Big Smile [:D]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_big.gif)
). A "retarder" (which slows down the drying time of the paint) may also help with this, but I have not had the chance to give it a try yet. Either way, it usually is not a huge problem when you are painting larger areas of your model.
It is a different story when you are trying to make fine passes, like freehanding camouflage demarcation lines. Nothing is more frustrating than getting a line just the way you want it and then have the airbrush spit a glob of paint onto your model, disrupting the otherwise great demarcation line!
![Angry [:(!]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_angry.gif)
It is easy enough to fix by changing the location of line slightly to cover the blemish or respraying the opposite color, but either way it adds time and frustration. I may give enamels a try when painting camouflage in the future, as they have less of a tendency to dry onto the needle and may be a little easier to produce a fine line with.
However, I am still pretty new at using acrylics, so I am sure there are others out there on the forum that are a little more knowledgeable about it. From reading different threads on the forum, it looks like everyone has their own likes and dislikes as far as the type of paint goes. Some like enamels better, while others give acrylics the nod. Give both types of paint a try and see which you, personally, like better!