I always highly recommend Iwata. I have a couple different models of their brushes and love them both.

I was a solely a bristle person myself until about 5-6 years ago and had gotten a couple cheapy air brushes that did not work out very well so I decided to try that brand and have been in love ever since.

The Iwata are easy to take apart and clean, easy to find extra parts and if you take care of them you typically don’t have any issue with them.

I use mine originally painting GW minis but moved on to 3d prints that I do as well. I have a couple different ones - both I picked up during sales around this time of year. One has more of wider needle that I use for priming and base coating and the other I keep for more detail work.

You will probably want an air compressor too. I have had this one for years and it is only now beginning to show signs of wear. Am sure some people on here might have other recommendations but this one has done a great job for me as a decent starter:

Master Airbrush Air Compressor TC-40T

I also have a Badger that I bought several years ago after reading a Black Friday ad that I believe was posted on Reddit. The quality is meh. Some people swear by the Badger brand name but the one I got looks and feels cheap compared to the two Iwata models I got.

The other, sort of weird thing: I remember emailing their customer service a question when I got it. Nothing that I thought was out of the ordinary just a ‘hey guys, I got a question as to what came with this Black Friday deal’

Whoever replied basically gave me a piss off email of sorts. I got this reply back telling me that was what I had ordered and that was what I got!

I just chuckled and thought, someone is having a bad day but marked it up as not to buy another of their product. Later I ran across similar posts on Reddit and other sites about people having fun times with their customer service. Whether or not the have changed, I dunno. I have stuck with Iwata and Vallejo products ever since.

If you can, go to an art supply store and talk to them about it. There’s a lot of details that make a big difference and depend on you and what you need. (No, big box craft stores like hobby lobby do not count)

That said I have a couple iwatas that are nice… finicky…I’ve used paasche as a good place to start- you’d still need a compressor, mind you, and if you’re not looking for a “get your feet wet” kind of option, I would suggest looking at something more like the Iwatas.

The good news is that once you have the full kit, you can upgrade parts as necessary

Over the years, the passache has been a good reliable airbrush, but the Iwatas were- if some what finicky- more precise and tight.

I’ve subsequently picked up a few holders and the largest decision point is pot or jar. The pots let you tweak color as you go where the jars are great for pushing volume to base-coat large pieces (or lots of smaller ones,)

If you find a good independent art store, they may give you more specific advice… and possibly trying different holders. There’s a lot of personal preference though.

Edit: looking at the Iwatas kit - you don’t have to buy a kit, you can mix and match to get a set up that meets your needs but it’s a simple kit that has “everything”.

Also something to consider is a spray booth. I would suggest just making one- a box fan, a home hvac filter that fits it, and some foam board (or when you like the design, corrugated plasti-board) cut to shape.

It depends what you are painting! If you’re looking at smaller models/tabletop minis, you should take a look at setups used in the minipainting communities. Larger models might benefit from different setups. I know I didn’t want to start cheap and have to upgrade later, so I jumped straight for the Iwata HP CS. The dual action is super nice to have (not a must have though). I’d also recommend spending more on a better compressor before a brush (I got a simple 1gal compressor from California Air Tools).

I have a cheap chinese TM80S RIBO aibrush + compressor kit. Works amazingly well for regular thinned down acrylic colors, but don’t ever try to put something more viscose like a primer through it, the pressure from the tiny motor is not strong enough.
That said, the kit was only like 50 euros on AliExpress, and will get you familiar with now to use an airbrush and how to take care of it. I also recommend buying an additional nozzle + needle, and don’t tighten the nozzle too much, I broke mine :D

Upvoted because I don’t have a 3d printer yet but I’m convinced I will get one eventually and having this piece of information will be very useful at a non-specified date in the future when I get good enough at 3D printing to need to start painting my prints.

I’m kind of surprised that sticking an airbrush on a robotic arm and doing an airbrushing job electronically hasn’t become a thing in 3d printing. I mean, anyone doing 3D prints is starting from the point of working with a 3D model already.