Hey Paul,
I whole heartedly agree on practice. It does get a lot easier after a while.
One of the main things to learn is how to keep the gun "working". A lot of
inexperienced people will blame themselves for their problems when
98 out of 100 times it's the gun, the paint, the paint holder, humidity, and
good ol' murphy. He really likes to mess with someone airbrushing.
Things that usually happen :
Tip dry -- paint dries on the tip of the needle, causing uneven spray pattern, or even no paint at all to come out.
Stopped up vent hole in the paint holder.
Paint that is old, or needs straining. -- I don't thin paint unless it's called for by the makers of the paint.
Water in the airline.
Bent needles, bad tips or other mechanical malfunctions.
A good place to learn airbrushing is :
http://www.westcoastairbrush.com/Check out their their site, there is a ton of good infor there. Most of the site
concerns Tshirt, Auto Tags, and Helmet painting, but a lot of the infortmation
should be usefull to you. There are often links, articles. and posts in the forums that have plenty of pictures.
Good luck!
later,
air
(james)