I'm thinking about doing something similar to this though with the odd bit of colour, base colour would be much the same. Do you reckon to do this you'd need to strip the paint or get away with not, and could you do a decent job without using a airbrush?

I haven’t done a great deal of painting in the past and been a bit hesitant with my x-wing models in case I mess them up, but would be nice to get them looking a bit different to the norm.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1039236/stealthed-hwk-290-repaint

personally I never strip these models.. no real need as far as I've seen.. you should be alright..

For the pic you used as an example. He did not strip it. He said as much. So no, don't think you need to.

Also, I don't think an air brush is necessary. Just make sure your paint is nice and thin, so you can put on 2 coats if needed, but it wont "gob" up on you the first pass and cover all the detail.

Cheers. Hopefully give it a bash soon then.