Airbrush?

[renata]

Hey designers!

I am searching for an airbrush and sadly remember almost nothing from
my airbrush class in college. If you have any experience with this,
would you please share?

The reason that I am in the market for an airbrush is because I am
touching up murals and large models [10' - 20'] at an aquarium, and I
need to be able to work indoors with potentially little ventilation,
mix colors, work at / from odd angles, and blend new paint into
existing finishes. Is there a solution besides an airbrush that makes
sense?

If I do go with an airbrush, what are some things that I should be
looking for? Avoiding? [External mix, gravity fed, etc...] Brands?
Must-have attachments?

Thank you!

Cheers,
Renata

ps: I miss you, design chain.

[renata]

Some great advice that I got from...

Tim:

"I have an airbrush that uses latex paints. there water based and really good for indoors with little ventalation. Its from Central Pneumatic, item number (if its still valid) 93506. I found it here from Harbor Freight."

Kim:

"First, working in a tight space with little ventilation, you will want to be working with water-based paint, both from a health issue and an explosion issue. (Which is just another form of health issue isn't it?)  You still need to use a mask if it's water-based.  Breathing the pigment is not good either.  If you REALLY need to use solvent-based point, you REALLY need ventilation.  

Gravity feed requires less air pressure so there is less overspray and less paint in the air.  If you are doing a lot of painting, bottom feed (siphon) allows for a larger reservoir.  If you don' t need a lot of detail, HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) paint gun is the best of both worlds. (You can still get pretty good detail.)

Internal mix (most common) gives a finer spray and better finish, but is more expensive and harder to clean than external mix.  

You can't go too far wrong with Badger or Paasche, but they can be a little pricey as I recall.  If you are looking for dirt cheap, Harbor Freight sells a few for under $16.

Dual action provides control over amount of air and amount of paint all in the trigger movement.  Important for airbrush art, but not for applying paint to surfaces."