I have fantastic luck with Paache VL and H airbrushes. However, using a airbrush does have a learning curve to it, and you get a second hobby, that of assembling and dissembling a airbrush!
Regardless of what you choose each airbrush is different and in a lot of cases it each one is different and different things. My Iwata Eclipse is great for very fine work but it a bit of a bastard to clean. Parts are not easy to find and the needle is easy to bend. The Paache VL is good for all around work but it needs carefully cleaned after use. Only a little bit of acrylic paint left to harden will cause no end of grief with it. The Paache H and my Badger 350 can lay a nice base coat but they don't offer the control to be real fine with. The Aztec is quick to clean and great for spraying things like future. Each airbrush does things differently and handles different, if possible try them out or at least take it apart and put it together, you NEED to be comfortable with this, then practice practice practice. Keep a notebook as each paint and even color thins differently until you get a feeling for ratios, and mixing and thinning paints. Some paint also benefit from straining thought a tea filter or cheese cloth to keep the larger pigment particle out of the airbrush which prevents some clogs.
One word, a good airbrush is going to run at least $70- $150. often more. However, stay away from the canned air. These things are a racket, very costly and as they get used up they freeze and fluctuate in pressure. My preference for "powering" my airbrushes is either a compressor, with a moisture/oil trap or if you MUST have quiet, like working during the night. 10.lb CO2 cylinders, These cost $20 US to be filled and last several models, CO2 is also dry so you don't have moisture or oil problems like compressors would. The regulators are the costly part of this rig though, around $80. Look for a gas distributor or a place that serviced Beer and soda taps for gas bottles and regulators.
