Thanks for all the tips and advice, Trimotor! Is there a particular advantage to buying a tank versus a constant pressure compressor? Seems like a tank would be a bit more of an investment, especially if you have to buy traps & filters for it (and I'm sure there must be some extra maintenance involved regarding dispelling the air in the tank if you don't mean to use it for a while).
Hey Mudron,
You're welcome. It can be a confusing part of the hobby to get started in!
In my opinion there is no advantage in a tank setup over a high quality constant pressure compressor for use when painting and weathering scale models. They also work well for airbrush work in baking, helmet painting etc. If I remember correctly the constant run time maximum on my Iwata Smart Jet Pro is around 60 min. Cheaper quality compressors should give you between 30 and 20 mins constant use.
Although I don't have one, I imagine that a tank would be hugely useful when painting a car, or using air driven power tools. The difference between the two is the volume of air used and possibly the maximum pressure. I wouldn't worry about air left in the tank, there is air left in a reservoir in my Smart jet pro that I release by pressing down on the airbrush trigger after I finish my clean up at the end of my painting session. The only difference with a large tank is that it would take much longer! All that said, the tank is a great shout if you are going to use it for those high volume applications that I mentioned earlier.
Just make sure you can set it anywhere between 10 and 35PSI and you will be able to achieve any effect with any paint type for modelling.