Thankfully, this has turned into a genuine and polite discussion. Lol!
Zak, as someone who used to paint soley by brush, im sure you have a lot more experience than i do, as im relatively new to modelling. The only painting ive ever done previously was painting the grass green at Browning Barracks for the Queen to visit (dont ask, long story!)
I however use an
airbrush, and its probably easier for someone to begin with one if they dont have the methods ingrained for brush painting, so easier to adapt. However, airbrushing is really easy, when it comes to scale modelling at the beginning, as its way different to the artists that use them to create murials on cars and motorcyles. I find it nicer as you get a really nice even coat, very thin so you dont loose detail. Its also easier to modulate paint colour, by applying lighter shades in areas, which needs a very high skillset to do with brushes,.
But dont discount brushes, as they play a very important role formthe
airbrush user, as you need them to do detailing, small work etc.
My opinion is if you are brush painting alone, then the money spent on decent brushes is vital. I tried using some cheap brushes with
Tamiya acrylics but it was so hard even thinning them to get a good coverage without brush marks. Ive got some lovely acrylic specific brushes which were about £7 each that made a world of difference.
IF you do decide to try airbrushing, then regardless of what reviews chinese airbrushes get, id advise trying one of the cheaper airbrushes. Ive still got two and they work fine, although i upgraded for the main paintwork and detail. But one of those, for about £10 is fine to start. As for compressor, you can either try canned air, but id advise not, as others have said as its expensive and doesnt last five minutes! Get yourself a decent PISTON compressor, ideally with a receiver tank. These work way better, and if you hate airbrushing, you can always use if for other things or sell it easily enough. As said above, £80 can get you a kit with
airbrush and decent compressor.
Then, if you get along with airbrushing, a decent
airbrush as an upgrade is good practice, and the chinese one you can releate to primer/varnish as i do.