First, welcome to the forum. What are you primarily interested in building, ships, armour, planes, etc.. Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote that you might find helpful.
There are a lot of things that we use more or less regularly that you can pick up a lot cheaper at places other than hobby shops. So, in not particular order, here goes:
1. Sanding sticks: get these at beauty supply stores, or even in the women’s beauty section of places like Wal-Mart. You can get them in various grits from course to fine and they are way cheaper than, say, Squadron’s sanding sticks and are basically the same thing.
2. Another nice little trick for applying CA is a length of brass wire used in scratch building. You want something of sufficient diameter to be able to hold a shape when you bend it and not to flex too much, but small enough to let you get into small areas on your model. I simply cut off a length of wire, bend it into a comfortable shape for your preference, and dip it in a small pool of CA. Obviously, this works best with medium or thick CA which will collect in a drop at the tip of the wire. Again, excess dried CA can just be burned off with a lighter.
3. Save your screw off tops on pop bottles or beer bottles. They make wonderful containers for small amounts of CA.
4. Post-it Notes. These can be used very effectively for paint masking in certain circumstances. For instance, I usually paint my PE on the fret, and if I have some I don’t want to paint in advance, I simply cover that part of the fret with post-it notes.
5. Masking tape: This is one area I don’t suggest scrimping on. You can use regular hardware store masking tape, but I’ve had mixed success with it. This is one product I do buy from my hobby shop – Tamiya Tape. The stuff just seems to work better for masking than regular painter’s masking tape and comes in various widths.
6. Hobby Knives: By all means, get a few X-Acto knives and extra blades. No. 11 blades seem to be the ones I use most commonly, but you’ll also want some of the larger rounded blades and chisel tip blades to. Now, here is the trick. In addition to you X-Acto hobby knives, invest in a couple of scalpel handles and a few different types of scalpel blades. They are much, much sharper than hobby knife blades and tend to hold their edge better. I suggest getting a couple of handles for two reasons, one so you don’t have to change handles every time you change blades, and second, larger handles seem to give better control for some jobs than smaller ones. I get mine from Micro Mark and the brand is Swan & Morton. These are truly tools that will take you to the next level.
7. Airbrush: if you are going to get into modeling seriously you will, sooner or later, need to get an airbrush. You simply can’t get the results by hand painting that airbrushing will produce, and some things, like fine PE radars, etc., are just about impossible to brush paint. I have two, an Iwata HP-CS and a Badger 150. I’m very happy with both and would not really recommend one over the other. Both are double action, which is what you want. The Iwata is top feed and the Badger is bottom feed, which allows for the use of larger containers for your paint. If you are doing larger jobs, like painting hulls, etc., this can be very useful, but not essential. My advice would be to buy the best airbrush you can afford – it is an investment.
8. Compressor: this is one place you can save a bundle. If you buy a hobby specific compressor be prepared to shell out big bucks. On the other hand, you can go to Wal-Mart, Sears, etc., and get a perfectly good compressor for a good bit under $100.00. I actually got mine, a Campbell-Hausfeld, at a flea market for $45.00. Get one that has an air tank. This avoids the “pulsing” you can get with compressors that don’t have air storage tanks and also eliminates the need to put a moisture trap in your air line.
9. Tweezers: do invest in a good set of tweezers. I got a set from Mirco Mark that I’ve used for years. Again, look at these as an investment.
10. Primer: if you choose to prime your models, Krylon’s Fusion for plastics is a lot cheaper than hobby shop primers and does just as well.
11. Sand Paper: go to your local auto parts store and get a selection of sand papers in their body work section. You’ll get everything you need at a fraction of the cost of hobby shop sand paper. Wet/dry sandpapers are a good idea.
12. Filler: while you are at the auto parts store, get a tube of Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty. Not the two part stuff. This stuff comes in a tube like toothpaste. Works great, dries quickly and sands easily. Much cheaper than, say, Squadron putty. One thing you might want to invest in is a package of a product called “Apoxy-Sculpt”. This is a two part epoxy like compound that makes a great filler for larger seams, like deck seams. Once it is mixed you can roll it into snake or pinch off small bits as needed.
While you are at the auto parts store you might want to pick up a respirator. I strongly recommend using enamel paints and while you don’t have to have a paint box (I use an old cardboard box) in a well ventilated area, you do want to use a respirator to keep from breathing the solvent fumes. You’ll find it $15.00 well spent.