My first airbrush was a Paasche VL. It's... OK, I guess. Capable, but fussy to clean, and lacks precision in the construction IMO. At the time I got it (back in the mid-ninties) Paasche was making their needles out of super-delicate metal that would bend if you so much as breathed on it wrong, and that made using and cleaning it kind of a nervous exercise. I also discovered that I prefer painting at lower pressures, which the VL, being siphon feed, can't really do. I always found using it a bit of a PITA, and so kinda avoided it more and more over time.
My second brush was a Paasche H. I got it basically to have something simple for priming and base colors so I wouldn't have to faff with the VL. It's a pretty solid brush. Lacks the flexibility of a double-action, and, like the VL, can't do low pressure, but it's a good K.I.S.S. draft horse for big or simple tasks.
Recently I finally decided it was time to quit making do and get something I'd actually feel comfortable using. Looked at a lot of different brushes. Tried to buy a Paasche Talon, but after having to return them twice due to multiple glaring manufacturing defects in each brush, I decided I was flat out done with Paasche. I'd refurbished my VL earlier that year, and although the current needles seem to be made of better metals than they use to be, there was a lot of other iffyness with part coatings and machining quality that made me think their QC department is floundering. The Talon misadventure just confirmed it rather solidly.
Got an Iwata HP-CS a month ago. It's miles apart from the VL, which has made me feel like a "born again" airbrush user. I can already tell stuff I'd have to drag myself to do with the VL will be easy and even enjoyable withe the CS. Been practicing with watercolors, and I can easily get a wide range from pencil thin to broad coverage with it, though I need a lot more practice to do so reliably from muscle memory. Build quality is MUCH better than the Paasches, with a good combo of precision, simplicity, and tankiness. Easy to use, easy to clean, and doesn't make me feel like walking on eggshells like the VL did.
I've got a .5 needle/nozzle in it right now. It comes with a .35, but I got the .5 setup a la carte because I sometimes use thicker primers and metallics. Surprisingly, I can get the same fine detail with the .5 as with the .35, but I think the .35 has better atomization, and the .5 seems to have a much higher pressure cutoff even with the super-thin watercolors I'm practicing with.
I'd like to keep the .5 in it though, and get a second brush for dedicated fine detail work, even though the CS seems capable of that. I just don't like swapping between needle/nozzle sizes for some reason, and would rather have two dedicated guns for different needs. I'm crossing my fingers Amazon will do another Badger Sotar deep discount promotion this year. From what I've read, the Krome seems more adaptable (seems tied with the HP-CS as the best recommended all-'rounder and beginners brush), but the pen-like ergonomics of the Sotar give it the edge for me, particularly as a dedicated detail brush (as far as such can be said for brushes I've not held myself yet).