oh, yes, NEVER ask the neighbours if they smell or hear anything. I guarantee there will be an a$$hole that will hear or smell something from the moment you asked the question 24/7 even when you haen’t done any modelling for two weeks.
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Ambient noise is a relatively minor issue. The bigger issue, depending on the construction materials used in an apartment is vibrations being transfered from the compressor through the building. To help eliminate structural vibrations, resonance, and all that stuff, caused by a compressor, mount the compressor on a slab of rubber to de-couple it from the desk/floor. A thick rubber door mat, or two, should cut any vibrations to some acceptable levels. Better yet, you could try going to a musical instrument shop, or a high end stereo shop (yes I’m dating myself) and see if they carry acoustic isolators. Company’s like Auralex and IsoAcoustics make good products to de-couple speakers and guitar amps so the should work just fine with a hobby style compressor. And they are not as expensive as one might think.
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They may think it’s a decomposing body and call the police on you! 
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The alternative: 1 plank and 4 tennis old balls.
drill a hole in each corner of the plank large enough to let the tennis ball “sink” +/- 1 quarter into the plank. Glue the tennis balls into those holes, use them as rubber foots and put your compressor on top of it.
This wacko method was used to great effect in mechanic shops at the time to put measuring equipment on that had to be vibration isolated from the rest of the shop
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Great idea. And wonderfully practical.
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I think the other repliers have offered great advice on paint and thinner fumes and compressor noise so I’ll address the other apartment issues that haven’t been raised.
Decades ago, I lived in apartments for away-from-home work.
In an apartment, you’re responsible for any damages caused in the apartment when you finally move away. Do check with your apartment management office about your rental agreement, downpayment deposit, and if they offer any accidental damage insurance. If they offer any accidental damage (waiver) insurance, I highly recommend that you buy it, especially if it’s a full waiver for any damages because most likely the management office will deduct any damages off of your downpayment deposit. If not, they will charge and bill you. This is a key trick that rental car agencies do in that if you don’t buy accidental damage waiver insurance, any nicks, scratches, and dents to the rental car will be billed to you (even if it’s not your fault), and now some rental car agencies have 3D arc scanners that scan your car when you drive through and under the scanners to return it. By buying accidental damage waiver insurance, you’re not responsible for any damages to the rental apartment, such as spilled paint on the carpet, paint stains, superglue on the counters, torn windscreens, broken windows, shorted electrical outlets, door nicks from moving the CO2 tank, etc. The apartment managers will check everything once you finally move away and they will let you know days or weeks later, and if you pass away, they’ll let your next-of-kin know if there are any billable damages or not. There’s no real way around this except that accidental waiver insurance or your downpayment deposit. Thus, lay clean cardboard or buy a plastic chair floor mat to cover the carpet or floor by your hobby desk or area to prevent anything from staining the floor or the carpet…it will be a potential money saver in the future.
The second thing worth mentioning is that even though you rent, it’s the apartment manager’s complex, meaning that they have the right to enter and inspect your apartment whenever they want to. Sometimes they invite potential renters into your apartment to see your floor unit, whether you’re inside or not. The managers have all your apartment keys. This happened to me before when I rented and I was away at work. I noticed that some of my kitchen items were misplaced when I wasn’t home. Therefore, I highly recommend that any model kits on your workbench or hobby desk be carefully put away or covered and to be mindful of any nude and “Not Safe For Work” (X-Rated) models and materials if you buy or have any. What is acceptable to you is not acceptable to managers or the potential visiting renters, and they have the right to walk into every room that you rent, even your bathroom and bedroom. Assume no privacy, as scary as that sounds. And unless you have internal cameras inside your apartment to record visitors, do assume that the apartment managers and any visitors will touch, talk, see, and handle your models and kits…you can’t really trust anyone these days, especially the curious who have no clue how fragile models are. Do buy a key lock for your model display cabinet(s) to prevent anyone from opening them and handling your kits, and do take stock and remember your food inventory, its freshness, and what’s in your refrigerator.
If you have a covered apartment garage, you can spray paint inside it by driving your vehicle out. It’s your garage for as long as you rent it. I did using a cardboard to cover the concrete, or you can spray paint in your common driveway which I did (just don’t get spray paint on the concrete or asphalt). I had a neighbor ask me what my model kit was (“What’s that?”), but since I didn’t know that neighbor, I didn’t say anything (it was a kitbash Sci-Fi spaceship, but I didn’t have the time nor want to explain it and how I made it). I didn’t want the across the driveway neighbor to get suspicious and call the management for an apartment inspection or think I was “wasting time and money on the hobby.” Also, be very careful where you shake your rattle can because that might attract attention. I didn’t have any problems and suspicions shaking a rattle spray can indoors, but I never did it outside or else have renters and neighbors suspect that I was a graffiti vandal. And I spray painted very fast to not be outside in the common driveway too long.
So be very nice and polite to your apartment managers because you don’t want anything suspicious or foul play to occur in your apartment when you’re away because you’ll never know what happened inside your apartment if the managers have all the keys.
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Another option for a compressor.
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If you spray lacquer-based paints and exit the fumes out of a window, you should be fine. The small amount you spray combined with the amount of air exhausted from a cheap spray booth out of a window, will not be noticed by most people
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Thanks again to all who replied. All great suggestions and will take them all into account.
I usually use spray can primers so thanks for bringing that up about the spray cans. I will have to switch to airbrushed primer when the time comes.
Will take a look at those rechargeable battery compressor sets. I have seen them advertised but never really checked them out. Wasn’t sure about the PSI but the link Tank_1812 posted to his shows they work well.
Trisaw, thanks for the detailed info on the property managers entering your apartment without consent. I never knew about that and great that you brought it up.
Uncle Heavy, yes, my father is in his mid 80’s and blind and my mother is a couple years younger than him and she has some hearing loss so I know exactly what you mean. I am helping take care of them for the last few years.
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Around here the managers don’t really want to have keys because they would be on the hook if items “go missing”.
Renter says diamond ring or cash is missing, shows receipts that they purchased it and blames
the caretaker or manager for stealing it. “It was right here on my dresser and now it is gone”.
The caretaker/manager probably did not wear a body cam. Newspapers get involved, huge scandal.
Any entering of apartment is by agreement. Renter deposits key in some safe or a key tube,
caretaker/contractor uses it and returns it. Everybody knows when and who entered.
Around here we take our privacy seriously, can’t have apartment managers, caretakers and other
miscellanous individuals running in and out of the apartment.
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I have a copy of a cartoon somewhere about the ideal set-up:
- Deaf neighbours. They don’t hear you partying …
- Mute kids. They don’t talk or shout when you are hung-over from partying
- Blind wife. She can’t see you ogling other women.
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You can always just wait for warm, still days and take your model outside for priming with a spray can! I do most of my priming in the shed with a rattle can, but if the conditions are right sometimes I just step out the back door to do it. Your apartment might not have a back porch, but it’ll certainly have a front door!
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I’m in a 3-story walk up.
Small CO2 cylinder (beer keg recharger). Use it a couple times a week and it’s barely dropped psi. For paint, not beer
Spray station- vent tube out the window when using. I spray Stynylrez primer and Tamiya, so pretty non-existent odor. Closest neighbor window is at least 25 feet away, not that any material makes it to the end of the tube let alone outside. SUPER happy with this setup. Don’t know that I’ll go back to a compressor again.
And thanks, if I recall, @TopSmith for the spray station recommendation. 
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The State of Play has a video titled “AIRBRUSHING in a home with NO SPACE, windows, ventilation or noise!” where he sets up an airbrush workstation in his laundry room, dancing with death by not getting permission from SWMBO in advance:
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I know of a similar set-up using scuba divers equipment. A typical 12‑liter scuba tank filled to 200 bar contains about 2400 liters of air at normal atmospheric pressure (≈1 bar). If you release that air until it is at 20 psi (≈1.38 bar), the total volume becomes about 1730 liters.
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Public apology:
I claimed that acetone did not glue styrene.
This was WRONG.
I have now tested with supermarket acetone (nail polish shelf)
on some scrap styrene and convinced myself that I was
WRONG.
Live and learn …
( Tried to find an emoji for shame but failed so
will have to do instead)
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Are you ok? 
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I guess when something happens only very rarely, it’s ok to make a big deal out of it. I for one have done much worse and not owned up to it. Keep up the good work, and the good works.
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Hell, there are others on here that could spend all day writing apologies. Except they already spend most of their time writing inaccuracies and fibbing about their experiences. Takes away from their credibility, for me anyway. Of should I say anyways?
Some people can never be wrong. What can you say?
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Yes.
I take my mistakes seriously in case someone takes me seriously.
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