Advice please on spraying with a compressor

Hi all

I have been doing basic bodywork for a while, and am quite competent with the basic repairs.  I can do small jobs pretty well with rattle cans.  I struggle to get the top coat perfect, but a flat back and machine polish and it's all fine.

I have some larger areas I want to tackle, and am thinking about getting a compressor (could do with one anyway) and spraying properly.

Can anyone give me any advice on what I need to buy, and what to do.  I want to do it as cost effective as possible, but not on the cheap as I want a decent finish.  

Thanks
Andy

I have something similar to this,
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/warrior-60-air-compressor?da=1&TC=SRC-compressor
I have sprayed complete motorbike fairing and used small air brushes to bigger guns,

I'm tackling a full colour change on my golf at the moment, never attempted anything quite as serious before, the odd panel or mk2 smoothed bumpers etc.

To do the mk1 I bought a 3hp 50ltr compressor for £165 and a gravity fed gun from ebay for £37, wasn't expecting the gun to be as good as it is to be honest!

General rule i've always read is to buy the best you can afford, i.e more expensive=better quality/result.

Second hand compressors resell on ebay all day long, that's what I intend to do when i'm finished with it as i'll have no need for one so big after!

Compressor - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310419910305?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1516wt_1397

Gun - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110693279066?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2795wt_1163

Hope this is a start for you

Rich

Hi, thanks for that, really helpful.  I think I saw your build thread, looks like you are taking a lot on!
What kind of paint are you using?
Andy

You're welcome!
Yea as the title says, it was supposed to be an engine swap but one thing soon leads to another!

I'm using cellulose, because a decent filter mask that you can see i'm wearing in one of the pics is enough, rather than a full air fed mask and separate compressor set up needed for 2K.
You can load on plenty of material and cut it back to a really good finish.
It dries really quick on an average-warm day, (and it doesn't need force drying) meaning you can get on with it!

Downside is that it is fussy about what it goes on top of, as I have found when I used an acrylic rattle can for guide coat, the bits I missed are the bits that reacted.
Bar coat resolves this however.

Different people will swear by different paint systems, this is just my preference!

Rich