welcome to the forum thorthefifth,
I am forum support for USa so let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I look forward to seeing your build diary.There are lots of Falcon builders here so I am sure we can help with any questions you may have.
Carl

If you're set on building a great Falcon, consider an airbrush. I put it off for years and wish I hadn't. Airbrushing is easily my favorite part of the hobby.

Acrylics airbrush great, especially the Tamiya colors. But they are awful for brush painting. Vallejo are great for brush painting, but I don't recommend brush painting for anything other than picking out small details.

I never use enamels. They dry slow and I see no advantage in them ever.

Use oils for weathering because they dry extremely slow and give much time to work with.

Yes which paint to use.The $64,000 question!!

I like acrylics because they don't smell and are easy to clean up.You need to match the thinner to the kind of paint you are using.

if you are going to brush paint I would recommend the Vallejo or Citadel paints.There are acrylic paints that dry very quickly and if you are careful you wont see brush marks.

The Tamiya acrylic paints are great too, but they are better to airbrush than brush paint or you will see brush marks.

For the base coat you can use the cans of paint like the Model Master enamel paints or the Tamiya Lacquer spray cans. These do smell awful so you should only use them in an open space.They will give you a nice even coverage as long as you keep the can moving as you spray and don't hold the can too close to the model.You may want to pick up a cheap model kit at Walmart to practice on.

Oil paints tend to be used for weathering.You mix the oil paint with a LOT of whichever thinner they recommend for the paint to make a wash (a wash is a very dilute paint).You can then apply the wash to darken or highlight areas and since it is a different type of paint you can wipe of the excess without affecting the paint underneath.

Citadel and Vallejo also makes premade washes that you can buy.I recommend Nuln oil and Agrax Earthshade from Citadel.

Here is a link to the first in a series of videos which will go into depth about painting the Falcon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Yaj2wlHS4

Yes that is correct. Oil paints come in the metal tubes are and very thick and slow drying.They have to be thinned with turpentine or other thinners.You use a brush to apply them and blend them on top of the basecoat.
Some acrylics are prenthinned (Vallejo model air paints) and these can be put straight into the airbrush.Other paints like the Tamiya need to be thinned with their respective thinners.You want the consistency of 2% milk, but it does require some experimentation to get the right air pressure, paint thickness and airbrush nozzle working together to get a good finish.Buy a cheap Walmart model when you get your airbrush and practice until you can get a nice smooth paint job.
Carl

First set of supplies have arrived:





Am I even on the right track here?

Welcome, always good to see more builds, looking forward to seeing hiw your Falcon turns out

Amazon's a good place to find an airbrush and compressor... I was able to get a nice Badger Dual Action on sale for $50 and there are some no-name compressor kits for around $100.

I'm new to using them, but hopefully by the time I'm far enough into the kit to need the airbrush (thinking large sections of Hull) I'll be ready to go.

Ah, the smell of primer in the morning. It's the gateway to progress.
I sense your gona have a blast with that airbrush when it arrives.

I like the wear on the seats, great job.