Air Brush Purchase?

Firstly, I'd like to steer you away from a compressor. Most of the ones available to the modeling community are small, noisy tarts with no RESERVE TANK and they don't work well with regulators.
The reserve tank is desired so that you don't get a "pulsing" from the piston whilst spraying. If you go to a DIY store and find a suitable compressor for under a hundred, great!
dixieairbrush.com
has plenty of airbrushes and other supplies. Check them out first. Get a double action; this is no time for baby steps. IWATA
For air source, you'll want to check CO2 power. Most towns have a place that services pop and beer servers. You can rent a 5 lb tank, or buy one outright and get refills for around a 100 pounds. You'll never need to repair this, a compressor is another story. You'll also need a regulator to go along with it so you can dial in your spray pressure. Single color autos you can spray at 25 psi, Luftwaffe camouflage you'll need to dial down to 12 psi.
hth
The Keeper (of too much crap!)

Meet our friend Mr Google.

RobG

Uhm, hard to say... I remember someone saying that airbrushes are like ladies: someone likes blondes, someone likes brunettes or redheads...
I got the Testors/Aztek double action some years ago and really like it (and also blondes :) easy to use and very easy to clean. And if you break the nozzle or bend the needle you just have to buy a new nozzle (at around 10 USD). Oh, yeah, it's all plastic. I love that lightness. Instead I never had the right "feel" with my previous Badger 200.
However if you are looking for something more "professional", and with a finer line, then you should look at something like Iwata and Paasche.
Btw, sometimes hobby shops or art shops let you try the airbrush before you buy. Unless you are ordering by mail, try asking...
Hope this helps

It's actually FWIW, I use a Nitrogen bottle picked up from a local welding supplier, an oxygen welding regulator (with a different inlet fitting for nitrogen) from a local military surplus, a small increment guage from Hobby Lobby, and voilà! A whole lot cheaper than a compressor, and silent.
When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. --Leonardo Da Vinci EAA # 729686 delete .mil.nav to email

There must be some sort of industry on your side of the pond that supplies compressed gasses; try welding supplies. If you've already got a compressor all you need is a "reserve tank" to put it in. In auto supply stores they may sell an "air carry can." You fill it up with air and then you can fill car tires at distant spots like road break downs, race tracks, etc. I run my compressor for four minutes into my reserve tank and this gives me about 20 psi (I think they use BAR on your side) which is good for spraying several colors. Find a suitable compressed gas container and use your compressor to fill it. You can add a regulator later. Look/ask around a junkyard for something usable. hth
The Keeper (of too much crap!)

I had hoped there would be similarities. Isn't beer dispensed though "taps" from kegs or is it all bottles & cans? tia,
The Keeper (of too much crap!)

Thanks for all the replies. Its cleared some things up for me.
Cheers!
Mark