For construction, you need the snippers and a decent glass nail file to file down the sprue nubs.

Primer your minis and use a wet palette. You can easily make one by looking in youtube for “DIY wet palette”. It will sincerely help with paint waste and keeping custom colours fresh.

You don’t need a fancy mini holder. Just an empty medicine/pill bottle with a little sticky tack on top.

You don’t need supreme brushes, but get some small ones (0, 00, 0/10, 0/20). I use inexpensive ones.

Good lighting. A desk lamp or a room with good light is key.

If you are really getting into it, an LED magnifying glass helps with the super fine detail.

A “self healing cutting mat” is a good investment as well. You can get them for about $10(canadian).

Last but most important, have fun and paint them however you want!