Good FAQs / articles - working with acrylics and brush painting

An excellent resource for painting and airbrushes is provided by our very own MusicCity on his website. Just scroll past his excellent builds and have at the many articles on airbrushes, air sources, trouble shooting & other articles on painting.

As Grahor points out, an airbrush is almost essential for any model painting, though there are many who choose to brush paint and turn out excellent builds. You can drop the price of an airbrush to around $40 if you decide to use a single action like the Badger 200-20.

I have three airbrushes, all Badgers: 100LG, 150 & 200-20. The 100 & 150 are identical dueal action airbrushes, except for the body style (gravity fed vs. siphon fed) and share all parts otherwise. The 200 uses the same tip & head assemblies, but requires a longer needle, as it's a single action.

Judicial shopping can lower your setup cost to around $135. I just posted in a similar thread at  /forums/868786/ShowPost.aspx with some recommendations on a compressor/airbrush setup available online from Badger Airbrush company. No, I'm not a shill for the company, just a satisfied user! 

Ah, there are plenty of good articles on working with acrylics; the best I've seen is this: Painting figures with model color.

An excellent article by an excellent artist; it covers in short and comprehensive form everything from the very start to the more complex techniques.

However, it is worth to notice, that it is very, very hard to paint models of any real size with brushes; and it is very, very simple to do the same with an airbrush. Unless your subject is meant to be noticeable hand-painted, or of extremely complex shape (like figures), the results will be by far better with an airbrush.

A very good airbrush (not just for beginners!) costs $70 here, plus $10-$20 for accessories, plus, say, $50 for a compressor - you don't need an expensive hobby compressor at all; general purpose compressor with a tank from a hadrware or department store will satisfy absolutely all your needs; in my opinion, they are by far superior to any hobby compressor; however, it depends on 1) if you have a place for a compressor in your home and 2) if compressors in your department store are silent or loud. Germany-made cheap compressors around here are relatively silent; they just murmur a bit when working.

For $150 you can get a very professional airbrush with a compressor, which will see you through a lifetime. :)