Hey folks, I´m thinking of getting myself an airbrush for christmas. Unfortunately I´ve never worked with one and so I´m kinda clueless what to look for. I did read some articles and saw many videos on Youtube but maybe some of you can give me a little bit of a hint. Here are the questions I came up with: Should I look for a single- or double-action brush? What brush-sizes should I look for? (sry I don't know how the "heads" are calles in english)... I heared a 10liter tank is reasonable? Also, how much cleaning does it actually take? If anyone knows other important things to look out for, pls tell me. Thanks in advance!
I use one that is popular for acryllics at nail salons; I find it helps with the finer details. They are gravity fed, dual action with a 0.5mm spray. They can be had individually (without compressor for less than $20 U.S.) I use it with a little 3 gallon compressor that I have in the garage and it seems to do the trick so I'm not sure if you'd need to go as big as a 10L compressor tank. If money is not an object they have complete kits they sell to save you the hassle of buying the individual componets. Good luck with your search.
What he said, for a beginner go with Dual action 'Cup' reservoir (gravity fed) Needles 0.25->1.5mm (fine detail->base coating) Compressor >4L, bigger is better but more 'spensive and of course, bigger so space can be an issue As for cleaning, they are pretty easy, just make sure to use airbrush paints or properly thinned normal paint. So long as you rinse out while the paint is wet you'll be fine
http://www.expotools.com/acatalog/AB602-Airbrush-Deal-AB602.html ie had some great success with this, comes with a water trap, its a dual action gravity fed airbrush and a maintenence free compressor. cost me 125 euro from an independent stockist
Get a Patriot 105 from Badger. It's pretty much the defacto starter airbrush, and is all of the things everyone above has talked about.