Newsfeed

Martin Oostrom
You might want to get a cutting mat. It has saved me a couple of times when I spilled paint and glue. Keeps the table clean.

Kesa Tiho
I have a few thick pieces of paper under me stuff so i dont think anything is going through that

Spanjaard
you may be surprised with the effects of deflected sharp objects or spilled chemicals/paints..... specially since they tend to land just a centimeter away from the end of papers and half a millimetre deeper as well 😉

Michael Kohl
Ok, here are my two cents on that:

A cutting mat is very recommended indeed. Bigger areas can be well protected with a sheet of cardboard.
I would add a very good set of files. I personally like the Basic Tamiya file set a lot because it has a good bite, is easy to control and not overly expensive (Basic File Set (Smooth Double Cut) (Tamiya 74104, No)).
High quality nippers make a hell of a difference, but be warned: their price hurts. But as soon as you have them, you'll never regret it. Treat them with care and cut plastic only.
(Sharp Pointed Side Cutter for Plastic (Tamiya 74035, No))
Get one or two cheap brushes and two or three high quality ones. The first for mixing paints, the latter for your paint job. Sable is to be preferred, Winson & Newton Series No. 7 is a good bet, but there are many others around too. If your budget allows for only one (they are expensive!), I'd go for a size 2 brush. I do around 90% of my handpaint job with this size, but I do have an airbrush for larger areas. Smaller brushes hold only small quantities of paint and what you need to paint a detail is not a small brush, but a sharp tip of the brush. Again: treat them brushes nicely too.
Water alone doesn't clean your brushes thoroughly enough. Isopropyl alcohol helps with that, can be used to thin down the acrylic Tamiya paints and is way cheaper than special brush cleaners.

Get a set of sandpaper - preferably wet and dry. I like grit 400 for the coarser stuff, together with grit 280, 600, 800 and maybe 1500 will be a decent start. I still cherish the tip from Alexander Grivonev: get two erasers. One you cut into smaller pieces. When you wrap the sandpaper around the eraser you have a stable platform with a straight surface, but just the right amount of flexibility left. Of course you can buy sanding sticks too, which are very convenient, but they cost much, much more.
All told, this will cost you around 100€.
When equipped with this I would buy a second lamp (best with a so-called daylight bulb), to be placed on the other side of the working area to minimize shadows.
The ol' rule of other crafts apply to modelling too: you buy cheap, you buy twice.

I'd say, with the above mentioned stuff I still do about 80% of my basic modelling.

Hope this helps a bit.

Have fun. Cheers Michael

Spanjaard
very nice result in the melted muuffler

Stefan L.
@Spanjaard thank you, I hope to achieve some nice rust variations at those dented spots

Spanjaard
I am sure you will 🙂

Doubtingmango
Great narrative! Watching

Stefan L.
@Doubtingmango thank's alot, appreciate it!