Beginners Airbrush Kit Advice

Paasche Talon. Available on Amazon at many price points. I’d get the one that has 3 needles. It’s probably not considered a beginners airbrush considering the price. I would suggest their single action brush rather than the Talon which is a double action. But they are easy enough to get use to and I think they are a little better at weathering. They are very user friendly and clean up easy. Parts are readily available if needed. There are many cheaper options out there. But this is something you seem to want to do. I’d just start with a quality one rather then get frustrated and give up with a sub par one.

I also have a Paasche booth. Decent size and have had it a long time with no issues other than routine filter changes.

I have tried every paint on the market and a lot that are no longer made. My go to paint these days is Tamiya Lacquer. Sprays consistently and cleans up easily. It’s also well stocked at 2 local hobby shops.  While not exactly RR Color based. They make colors for weathering that just might have different names.  I’ve always preferred solvent based paints. Flouquil was the best and I’ve used Scalecoat and True Color.

I’ve tried my fair share of water based. While they all work. I think it’s harder to keep the airbrush squeaky clean. It seems your always disassembling it to give it a good cleaning. If I had to pick a paint. It would be Vallejo or Mission Models.

Me I'd buy the double action. It will do a better job once you get used to it.

I second Dave C.'s recommendations. I bought the Paasche Talon with three needles, but so far have only used the middle one. I also primarily use Tamiya paints, but have used TruColor as well. Decades ago I owned a single-action airbrush and strongly recommend the double action over it. I also recommend getting a quiet air compressor that has a tank and regulator, and putting a moisture trap in the air line. I found the Talon easy to pick up and learn.

Buy good tools when a beginner.   With cheap tools you don't know if it is you or the tool that is the problem.   My wife teaches the grandkids science.  They had a cheap microscope.  The kids couldn't get it to work consistently.  I found a 50 year old Nikon commercial microscope in good shape.  Even the 7 year old can use it after a few minutes of training.   

Back in the day Paasche and Binks were pretty much your choices. Now there are a myriad of ones from Asia. My Paasche H is nearly 50 years old and still works as new. Also have a $7 Harbor Freight single action that is OK. I only use it for scenery and odd paints like household latex. I have medium priced dual action purchased at an Auto Paint store and high dollar Iwata dual action. 95% of the time I use my Model H.

For solid color like painting a steam engine a single action is fine. Single actions are no more difficult to use than a rattle can but give better results due to finer droplets plus the H offers three different tips so you can still do fine detail by adjusting the paint mix and air pressure.

Pete

I went straight for a dual action. I think its a Paasche VL. I didnt find it difficult to figure it out, just paint some pieces of cardboard and play with the air pressure knob on the compressor until it sprays what you want (all paint brands are a bit different). All the way down and all the way back and it's the same thing as a single action. But if you want to do weathering and what not, then you start fiddling with the paint mix in the air stream. Its not difficult to learn, and I agree with the comments above to just buy a decent one from the get go. A good tool is cheaper (and less frustrating) than blobbing a paint job on something and having to fix it.

As far as the booth, i got one off Mr. Bezos' website that you can vent out the window. Check the dimensions of them. Some of them are too small to genuinely use with O scale trains. The one I have is marginally sized for O scale stuff (its like 21x12), you can get huge ones but they cost big bucks. Even with the booth, get yourself a respirator to paint with.

Paint is personal preference.  I've sprayed a lot of trucolor and a lot of scalecoat. I prefer the paint job you get from scalecoat, but the thinner is pretty nasty stuff (its xylene based) and it takes forever to dry. Trucolor dries really fast, the paint job is decent and the thinner is a much more tolerable acetone based formulation. There are many acrylics out there now as well that you can paint with that probably clean up with some very nice thinners (i've heard some can be cut with stuff like windex). I've not tried them.

The wife bought this for me last year for Christmas off the 'bay.  The booth is easily set up and the brushes are easy to use.  Don't forget to purchase airbrush cleaner.

Master 3 Airbrush Dual Fan Air Compressor Professional Kit, Gravity Siphon Feed

Master Airbrush Portable Hobby Paint Spray Booth Kit, Dual Exhaust Fans, Lights

Master Airbrush Cleaner, 16-Ounce Pint Bottle - Fast Acting Cleaning

If I were just starting I would go for an Iwata Neo, it's a pistol grip style and easier to learn than a conventional dual action.  Hobby Lobby carries them most of the time.

I started with a Paasche H single action and it really can lay down paint but I could never master doing finer things like I can with a dual action.  But for primer and base coat it's great.  And it's cheap.