too good of a paint brush

Congrats on upgrading to an airbrush and the Badger ones are excellent. I have used my airbrushes more in the last 12-18 months than in the previous 14 years of brush ownership. The reason behind this is I stopped using cans and bought a cheap hardware store compressor. I would never go back. The ability to adjust the pressure output accurately is just as important as having the correct paint thinning ratio etc. I can only suggest that you save yourself a lot of frustration with the propellant cans and spend a little bit more to get a compressor. Then just practice practice and practice and not necessarily on models pieces of scrap plastic will be fine (I definitely wouldn't use a nice big and expensive 1:32 model as a test piece!!). If the airbrushing bug grabs you as it has me then a little more outlay at this time will actually save you money in the long run.

I agree 100% with Simon, for about $60 US you can get a compressor with a 2 gallon tank from Wal Mart or Lowes or Home Depot. It will do all that and MORE for you... at arounr $8 to $9 a pop for the cans, save the price of 6 cans of propel and get the compressor!!!

To expand a bit on what Simon said, there is a reason that propellant cans are so frustrating. The propellant, whatever it is, isn't like a can of spray paint. It comes out cold. Very cold. After a few minutes of use ice will start to form on the can. As that happens the pressure starts to drop so you have to compensate by opening the air valve. Put your airbrush down for a few minutes, the can warms back up, the pressure builds back up, and on your next spray you get a lot more pressure and a lot more paint. You can help alleviate these problems by sitting the propellant can in a pan of warm (NOT hot!) water. It will not eliminate the problem but it will help.

Save up and get a compressor. Even a cheap one is better than propellant cans. Alternatively consider a tank of compressed nitrogen or carbon dioxide. Inexpensive an perfectly silent.

This is kind of a stupid question, but do you need to thin paint with a compressor if you just change the pressure? I only use propellent and getting the right paint/thinner ratio is tricky.
Cheers

I used air cans for the first 6 months after returning to modelling. By the time I'd sorted out the thinner ratio and set the AB up the can would be empty, without achieving any worthwile results. So I bit the bullet and bought a compressor, best thing I ever did, as it allowed me to play to my heart's content, thus improving my skills and the results that I could acheive.

Karl