whats the best air brush to purchase?

Not necessarily an easy question to answer. It really depends on what you want the brush to do and how much you're willing to pay. It can also depend on how easy it is for you to get used to how the different types work. If you look back through the posts in the painting section or search the forums using "airbrush" as a sort term you'll find plenty of advice but also differences in opinion. Some people swear by certain brands and recommend expensive quality items, others are very happy with very cheap products.

If you just want to spray paint on flat coats of paint, a simple external mix brush which is probably the cheapest may be the best (I have seen one reasonable model for £5!). It might be worth getting one of these as a first step and then make further decisions later. If you think you'll be painting fine lines or small detail areas you'll need to get something a bit more specialised. This will bring you into making choices between internal mix/external mix, then single action or double action, then "suction feed" or "gravity feed". Think about what you can afford and what you want to do and then start looking at advice on this site before making a decision, I don't think there is actually a single "best" airbrush.

As regards best quality, Harder & Steinbeck or Iwata airbrushes seem to get the votes, though these are usually expensive and at least with Iwata they have different quality models within their range. However Badger, Paasche, Thayer and Chandler have been making airbrushes for years and many people swear by these too.

Hope this is a start

As far as brand - Iwata is really nice, Badger is solid.
You will want to go with features over brand in my opinion.
Cost is always up there.
Dual action vs. single action - I like dual - more control
Gravity vs. Suction - top or bottom paint cup - I like top/gravity
Body construction - metal vs plastic - I like metal
Ease of clean up!

Ok,

Gravity feed are easier to clead (IMHO) but a bit more expensive

Suction feed can hold more paint & Less expensive but take more time to clean.

Dual action is hands down the way to go there's just so much more control.

Personally... I have a Iwata HP-C (Gravity feed) and a Paasche VL (sucton feed)

Thanks you guys for the advice. There is alot of food for thought!

frank

For general painting a Paasche H is a great. They're easy to control and clean. I've been using the same one for all kinds of stuff for over 20 years. I've dropped it, abused it, left it dirty and for the most part done things with it that it wasn't even designed to do. It still works just as good as the day I bought it. I have a double action airbrush that I only used for real fine work where I need a fade. I use the single action more because its so much faster to clean. The only problems that I've ever had is wearing out the set screw that holds the tip, but that's an easy fix.

I've used Badger airbrushes. They work fine, I don't like the way they fit in my hand. Iwata makes some really nice airbrushes too.

I have been airbrushing for about 4 days now and have to agree with this post. I bought the Iwata HP-C Plus, and have to say that it is idiot proof.

There is really no way for a person to mess up with this airbrush.

But I never used a airbrush before so I really do not know.