Is anyone familiar with the new Badger 80-8N Zephyr Compressor? It's rated to 30 PSI. Is that sufficient for use with a Badger Crescendo airbrush with properly thinned paints? Or will I need a more powerful compressor? I can get one at Michael's with a 40% off coupon and the Badger company literature makes it sound like a good unit. BTW, I'm just starting with airbrushing, so I don't want to get in too deep dollar-wise until I am more experienced, but I do want a quality compressor that can do the job. Any feelings?

30psi should be plenty of pressure for just about any airbrush.

I would recommend purchasing a regulator. I'm currently running my abs off of a Badger compressor with good effect. However, for fine detail you will need to turn down the pressure or mask the rest of the kit.

Hi William and welcome to Armorama! The compressor you are interested in will serve your purpose just fine. If you are putting a base coat on a whole model, with properly thinned acrylic paint, you'll be using pressures between 10-15 PSI. Anything higher will produce clouds of overspray and just waste paint. The only time you would open it up to 30 PSI would be to shoot unthinned primer, like Vallejo, or when you clean it, to blow cleaner through your brush. To shoot thin lines and camo, you will learn to thin the paint even more and dial it down to 5-8 PSI! The compressor has a pressure dial and gauge built in so you can adjust the pressure. It would be a good idea to add an in-line water filter, though.