terminology has been confused here .... guns breakdown into a couple of types:
1.) standard type uses high air pressure to atomise the paint - drawback being wasted paint due to overspray (typical gun would be suction type);
2.) HVLP guns use High Volume Low Pressure (they have a gauge on them) - use less pressure to atomise paint thereby reducing amount of overspray & wasted paint (typical gun is gravity fed)

Hope that helps,

Kiwi Ford Fan

So assuming someone wanted to give this a good crack, what would be the shopping list of equiptment? (any extra details of hardware specs would be good)

depends on the ammount your willing to spend, look at the price of the two types of guns, the hvlp gun is generally more expensive but u can use a smaller compressor with it and u waste less paint like kiwi said, or theres the cheap gun option that needs a more powerful compressor and due to the greater power, sprays ur paint further.

its your choice.

I think someone should note the skill & experience element in here too.

I have 2 spray guns I used, one was a Start gravity feed high-pressure gun, the other was a devilbiss HVLP gun.

There's also a lot to consider with nozel sizes, which depends on what your spraying. By this I mean, you need to consider how thick your stuff is, eg. primer/base coat is usually a bit thicker than your top coat, and thats why I got the 2 guns, I think one was a 1.7mm and one was a 1.4mm.

I only sprayed 3 cars before conceeding that there is also a skill element involved, you need to be careful about mixing the paint, and about your arm action to get good even coverage etc.

You also need to consider your environment, I just sprayed in my garage, but it was really hard to seal it up from dust blowing through the gaps etc. and you also need to consider the weather to a degree, on hotter days (eg summer) the paint will dry quicker and this means you need to be really well prepared before you pull the trigger.

I guess there's books and lots of internet sites that explain all of this stuff. But when it came to spraying metalic paint on my EL, I just took it to the pro's. Who had not just:
A) the right Gun
B) the right compressor
C) all the accessories like air-moisture separators D) had the environment eg. Space & Spray Booth etc
E) equipment to prep the car (eg Sanders/polishers)

But for me, the hidden element here is EXPERIENCE, they've done it all before, they know what to do, how to handle things etc.

I cant see how beginer could save money doing it themselves, I did 3 cars worth, and dont think I saved much at all!

... But I dont want to be all negative here, I DID have alot of fun, made a heck of a mess, and learnt a little bit about the art of spray painting.

PS. If anyone wants a couple of spay guns, let me know!