Returning to model building. Need help and/or suggestions.

I'll comment on the painting.  If you do not have a dedicated area, I believe an airbrush and small compressor would be far more practical than spray cans.  The overspray from a spray can is considerable.  You can adjust an airbrush spray. I use it pretty cranked down and have very little overspray.  I have a spray booth for when I do rattlecan spraying, but just airbrush at my normal workbench.  My compressor has a footprint less than a foot square. It sits on a little stand next to workbench, but could go on the bench.

People get the wrong idea about airbrushes sometimes. It is more similar to a regular small paint brush than to a spraygun.  Yeah, I have very ocasionally gotten some overspray on the work bench but that is rare. A sheet of cardboard laid over half the bench takes care of that when I remember to use it, but most of the time I don't even use it and still normally do not get overspray on bench, except when I get in a hurry and really open up the airbrush and pressure.

Welcome to FSM.

Modeling in 1:700, I usually use gap-filling CA for ships (planes, too).  Sometimes I use plain old white glue (Elmer's), especially for small parts that won't be stressed.  It hold about as well as CA in some applications, especially to painted surfaces; is easier to clean up; and if the part pops loose, you can clean and reglue easily.

Some useful websites include:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/index1.html

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/index.htm

http://www.navsource.org/

http://mikeashey.com/BOOK-FIRST-SHIP.htm

There are others, and you can locate them by googling the specifc ship or even the specific model to see what has been done, and how, by previous builders.