Apology

Kevin...
This morning, I tried to paint the back side of the part I'd done yesterday, and couldn't make anything happen. The problem is in the nozzle of the airbrush, which cannot be taken apart and cleaned.
I'm under some pressure to finish this project in time for the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Salt Lake City in September. So, I just decided to stop screwing around.
An old friend, Charlie Givens, is one of the best model locomotive painters out there. I called him, described my problem, and asked for advice. He said, "Get a Paasche "type H" airbrush". They can be taken apart and cleaned, and work just fine.
Well, my local hobby shop doesn't carry the Paasche line, so I got on the phone. The Train Shop, in Santa Clara, California (just north of San Jose, 30 miles south of San Francisco) is one of the genuinely great hobby shops in the U.S. (Charlie was a partner there for many years, while I was running my company in nearby Los Gatos.) I ordered a complete Paasche system, which will cost me about $150.
Well, I did get some painting done with my $15 Taiwanese compressor and basketball, but I simply had to stop screwing around. My project, of building a model of my concept of an aluminum car car for the C&TS RR, is bankrupting me. I want the model to be first-rate, and didn't want to fail on the painting - which is of great importance. So, I apologize for leading you to think that there is a cheap way to go. I tried, but did not succeed.
Bob Keller