Re: Need advice on painting setup
Go to an arts store and talk to a knowledgeable salesperson about a Badger setup. Not necessarily to buy at the time, but to educate yourself for the next step if you find you like the process enough to get the stuff one needs to do it right.
Plastic hoses are for the HVLP can propellants. If you try them with a compressor, the hot airstream (compression concentrates the heat energy in the gas) will melt them right where the hose begins, and the resulting 'bang' nearly gave me a heart attack. A compressor needs a quality multilayer air hose.
Professionals use a 'double action' airbrush, which regulates both air and pigment variably. It allows one to mist and blend/feather shades.
I run my compressor at 25PSI, use odorless airbrush thinner in my paints, and apply the paint in the thinnest applications possible, while also giving each coat full drying and curing time before applying any additional. If you're getting full coverage in a single coat, you're putting it on way too thick/heavy.
Water is a byproduct of humidity and the compression/expansion process. It will always be present, and you need traps and separators in the line. You can get an oil-less compressor, but I don't have one.
I do not buy specific colors. You could end up with a LOT of little bottles which always run out too soon. I buy primary colors and mix shades. All my colors start out as grays, and are then tinted to effect a color. I use professional sign painters' enamels exclusively. They have UV stabilizers in them, and this helps avoid fading. Flats have issues I choose not to indulge, so I mix my colors from gloss paints, and allow them to thoroughly cure, then finish off with a coat or two of Clear Satin Varathane.
I developed my airbrushing skills in response to taking up scale modelling, and had to develop techniques which duplicated genuine historical camo pattern on a very small scale. It's one of those hobbies that leaves you a trenbling wreck quite regularly, and has its origins in tearing a finsh off and starting over repeatedly.
The best advice I can offer is: paint in thin layers, and wait; then wait some more between coats.
Greg
