Real aircraft are mostly painted with an airbrush, albeit a large one. So, there really is no way to duplicate that effectively with a brush-brush, especially on exterior paint jobs (this is what we do, replicate as near as possible a real subject, down to the methods used in it’s finish). The one exception that comes to mind is some of the Jap and Russian-front winter camo jobs. They were rough, expedient finishes and lend themselves well to brushing - albeit with little brushes and little model-man sized brush strokes!
In 1/72 scale you can do a pretty convincing job of it, though, since scale viewing distance is longer than with larger models. noetheless, if you are doing a large bird, like a bomber, it’s back to the A/B.
Airbrushes can be a bit cranky, Ill admit, but I find that the best way to alleviate much worry is to THIN your paint, dont try to cover too much at once and RPACTICE. Yes, I said practice, much as you would a musical instrument. Buy a whole bottle of paint and just paint stuff with it. I use white cardboard stock and merely “doodle,” mixing paint/thinner in different ratios, testing out different needle settings and just generally playing around. And yes, I expend extra effort to keep it clean, clean, clean.
I use both “types” of brushes, as do many, and I find I like the airbrush better. But, I find that the media mix of brush-brush for detail works and airbrush for everything else is needed to get the results I want. It’s one of those, “do what you must,” situations.
So, man, tighten your belt, dive in and make the airbrush your friend.
