| Hi Chris - Welcome to the Forum!
If you're new to modelling you'll probably need a few modelling tools (sadly these aren't in the box either) A set of needle files is a must, along with some sheets of wet and dry paper. For filling the seams in fuselage, and the roots of the wings milliput modelling putty is great. Go for fine grade - it comes in a white box and is a two part putty that sets rock hard and can be filed and sanded for a great finish.
Another tool which is very useful is a Razor Saw, Zona make nice ones, they have very fine teeth and a narrow blade. Also a quality set of scalpel handles, pro-edge or exacto are really nice and useful for lots of crafts and hobbies too. The other must have is a self healing cutting matt - get an A3 one, they are nice non slip surface to cut on and work on and protect your worktop too.
For paints, Humbrol Enamels are very good quality, those are a little scarce nowdays and have been replaced with Revell Enamel. You can get the little tinlets for about £1.10 each. Very pricey but a great range of colours for military models. Enamel is a bit pongy though and you need turps or white spirit to clean the brushes, a more armoatic alternative is vallejo acrylic. I use those and like em.
Try to get hold of some Micro Set and some micro sol for helping to apply decals and budget a few quid for some nice quality artists sable brushes. Just apply paint by brush to begin with but for a better finish and to enable you to make some of the more interesting camo schemes an airbush is great to use.
For painting tiny parts prior to assembly you can use bluetack or glue little bits of sprue onto the back of them and clip clothes pegs on the end - make sure you buy new ones and don't pinch them off the washing line!
Have fun and post photos of the results on the forum! Oh - and of course ask lots of questions!
There's obviously lots more to learn but those are a few of the basics to start with. I'd get some form of bench mounted vice too. You can get a bolt down job and fix it to a piece of wood which you can clamp to the bench or get one of the higher quality ones that comes with a cast on clamp so you can attach it to a table. Acts as a very useful third hand.
Alan
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