Air Brush for rank amateur. need help!

fine scale modeler mag says that an amateur with a trumpter me 109g could use a vega 1000 by Thayer and Chandler for $125. They also mention the Aztec A430. How difficult are these to use and is there anything cheaper? I want to paint my plane to look realistic. there is no sense spending 250 hrs on something and then having it look like a
1/100 tamayia. the hobby shop that we have all come to know and love in nj says that airbrushing is very difficult. I want to paint the
1/24 model with camoflage paint as shown in the directions. i might as well use a paint brush if i can't airbrush it. any suggestions of a helpful nature. thanks in advance.

Alot of you guys mention price. I think if the rank amatuer went straight for a Trumpeter 1/24 kit bought at retail then price should not come into consideration. Personally I own several Paasche, Badger, and Thayer and
Chandler (now Badger). My favorite is and always will be my 25 year old single action Paasche H-3 my dad bought me and I learned on in High School drafting class. I just bought one for my daughter for the lowly sum of
40.00! Thats because I think it is alot of brush for the money, will last forever, and will do damn near anything you ask of it providing you have some talent and are not into Tamiya 1/100 models. :-0 Also we are so very
Po.

Personally however, I would go for a Paasche AB Turbo (always wanted to try one) and one of those Badger Million-Air silent compressors. This set up should give you and absolute stunning finish. The AB can get a hairs width line and was used for photo retouching and fine art way before Photo-Shop.
The Silent Air compressor should be so quiet you can hear your splinter camo drying as it hits the model.

Good Luck

a vega 1000 by Thayer and Chandler for $125. They also mention the Aztec
A430...How difficult are these to use and is there anything cheaper?>>
Well, yes, you could use the aforementioned airbrushes, or a Paasche, or
Badger, or.... Will you get the results you want with any of them? As an amateur with no airbrush experience, I find it incredibly unlikely. Is using an airbrush difficult? Well, yea. Like anything else, it is if you've never done it; that's where P&E come in handy (practice and experience). I think you should set aside the expensive 109 until you get some practice and experience on pieces you can tolerate throwing away. Some people suggest using cardboard as a practice medium, but based on experience, I'd say use plastic of one type or another, e.g. cheap kits, soda bottles, whatever. Simply because cardboard/paper is absorbent, it won't yield the same results as plastic, which is what models are made of. Talk to the people at the hobby shop, or a local art supplier about lessons. We have local airbrush artists who give lessons for a reasonable fee. You can obviously learn on your own, but nothing can compare to having experience looking over your shoulder.
Yes, there are both "cheaper" and "less expensive" airbrushes (there is a difference). I have never owned anything but a Paasche VL, and I love it. I used a Badger 200 briefly, but not enough to form an opinion. From everything
I've read, a Badger 200 is an excellent airbrush, can be had for around $50 (someone please coorect if I'm wrong). I paid $60 for my Paasche VL at Dick
Blick eight years ago, and the price is about the same now. I bought my nephew an Aztec set in the fancy wood case because he thought that one was the greatest thing since sliced bread, based on little more than appearance. He used it about three months, said he hated it, sold it and bought a Badger.
I don't use a compressor; I can't afford the super quiet models, they need electricity to operate, are susceptible to moisture problems, are not totally portable, and they all pulse to some degree. I use Nitrogen from a local welding equipment supplier (ok, screw it, I'll give Praxair a free plug). A
"Q" bottle ran me $55 deposit, and $17 for a fill. Depending on how often you paint, it could easily last a year. I bought an old oxygen regulator from a gov't surplus store for $15, which needed a $3 fitting because oxygen and
Nitrogen regulators have different fittings to attach to the tank. A gauge specifically for an airbrush was $25 from Hobby Lobby. Total investment $175, including the airbrush, done deal. I can take it anywhere, doesn't need electricity, Nitrogen is a bone dry gas so no need for a moisture trap, smooth non-pulsing supply, and the only noise is the hiss of the airbrush. I've done work in garages where they have a nice large compressor, but I tell them to shut that noisy SOB off and use my Nitrogen. While I'm working I can have a nice conversation, or listen to music, with no compressor noise.

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. --Leonardo Da Vinci
It's better to teach a child what you know than what you think.

As another rank amateur I'd like to offer my recent experience in hope that you'll find it useful. I purchased a single action Paasche H airbrush from
DixieArt dot com. Look under airbrush inventory and you'll find the H model, a parts illustration and best of all, a blister pack kit, w/ airbrush, hose, air-can adaptor and wrench for less than $30. There is another blister pack that has a more extensive parts inventory, however, I was advised to go with the less expensive of the two. I'm not sorry that I saved roughly $20. Dixie also has a very informative tutorial on getting started without a lot of hype and sales pitch. The Paasche H is made from machined & chromed brass while the rear portion (the handle) is red plastic.
Next, I visited Wal-Mart and got a Campbell Hausfeld 2 gal compressor for about $85, an inline filter/water trap, and a blister pack containing adaptors, quick disconnect fittings, air-chuck, blow-gun, sports equipment needle for another $40. I'm in for $155.00, **less than the cost of several high end airbrush types. I find the Paasche H with a #3 tip works great, is super easy to clean and parts readily available, not that I think I'm going to need parts any time soon, but I would like to get a #1 (fine) tip to continue experimenting. I started practicing on white Styrofoam plates, no runs, drips, sags or "spitting stipples". It's also a good way to gauge color and paint viscosity on the upward curved sidewall of the plate. I was reliably informed to try using 25 pounds pressure (set on compressor regulator) and to thin enamel paints between 15 and 20%.
So far, I've successfully painted a camo Curtis P40 "flying tiger" using old, camo tan, and sky blue (underside) and yellow zinc chromate on interior surfaces. I found that shooting "Future" (no dilution) was as easy as shooting paint.
I started a P51-D Mustang, also 1:48 tonight with a base coat of testors silver enamel thinned 20% without incident. Cleanup took less than 10 minutes (including me). I shoot mineral spirits until there is no color going onto the paper towel, and follow with a quick dis-assemble (you'll need to obtain a small hex wrench) and brief soak in lacquer thinner (cone and needle) brush one with a small stiff stencil brush, and a small length of pipe-cleaner, reassemble, and one final spritz of mineral spirits to leave a trace of ultra light oil in the brush.
DixieArt had my order in my hands in 7 days after I ordered it, all dropshipped directly from Paasche.
I decided to start on 3, 1:48 prop jobs from Wal-Mart, $7.87 each to learn on, as above and an A6M Zero. The kits are inexpensive, fit well and are all skill level 2. Tomorrow will bring decals to the P40 and an overcoat of
Future and in 2 days afterward, a couple of light passes with dull coat and finito, my first model airplane in 40 years.
Your performance and mileage may vary, but for my part, I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome relative to the effort put in and dollars invested.
Good Luck and Good Hunting!!

Well, I'll tell you. I started with a Passche H-3. It is a good all around brush and should give quite adequate results for a 1/24 aircraft finish. That brush isn't a bank account buster either. The biggest initial investment is an air source, preferably a compressor with a tank and valves to control the pressure. I bought a 4 gallon jobby on sale at
Sears for about $200.
The next thing is practice. It takes a little time to get the hang of correctly thinning the paint and using the brush. I recommend practicing on plastic 1 or 2 liter soda bottles after you empty them. Can't find a cheaper practice target than that. If you run into specific problems post your questions here. There are any number of people who will give helpful information. That's one of the things that makes it worth plowing through the political felgarcarb that breaks out on here every now and then.

what's future?

I disagree with the suggestion of jumping up right off with a double action airbrush.

First things come first, and that means mastering the basic concepts required:
mixtures, distances, spray patterns, on/off of the brush, and most of all consistency. It's easier to do this with a single action than a double action.

FSM did a brilliant job of roundup up DA brushes and gave the most common (and reasonably priced ones). But I don't recall -- did they do a similar piece on
SA brushes?

For the very new user, a single-action brush is where all you control is the airflow. You adjust the paint flow separately by either screwing a needle in or out (in cuts flow, out increases it) or adjusting a sleeve the same way. The
Paasche H-3 (3 indicated medium tip) is a sleeve type, as the Badger 350. The
Badger 200 is a needle type.

The DA brushes adjust paint flow by pulling back the trigger; depressing it adjusts the air. The Atzeks and Badger 150 work that way, as does the Paasche
VL. They require a much finer touch to operate.

I do agree -- get a compressor. A Badger 180 is fine for a start and is less than $200 new. Also note you will need a water trap in line with the hose to prevent nasty spits and snarls that can ruin a finish.