Pikoy, Ariel: Welcome to Da Phorum.
Pikoy, the best paint you can use for hand brushing are enamel paints. Here, you're most likely to see Tamiya enamels, though some shops have a very limited selection of Revell, Humbrol, and even Testors and Model Master enamels.
Enamels are the old modeller's best friend because before acrylic and lacquer became widely available, it was enamel that was the main type of paint (AFAIK).
Enamel's strength over acylic and lacquer is that it is very forgiving for hand brushing. Unlike acrylic and lacquer, enamel's consistency is just right - so much so that if you brush it, the brush marks "disappear" eventually. Enamel also adheres well to the surface (if cleaned - later on that), and often a single brush stroke or two is enough to paint a surface. Contrast that with acrylic or lacquer, where often several strokes are needed, making the paint build up and become thicker, which isn't desired.
Another advantage of enamel is that if you want a glossy surface, just use a gloss enamel paint, and when it is dry, you can buff it, instead of adding a clear coat of gloss.
Enamel's main drawback is that the surface has to be clean. The surface must be free of oil in order for the paint to adhere well, so the model must be cleaned with soap first. With acrylics and lacquer (especially the latter), you don't really need to clean the model - although it helps.
I use acrylics and lacquers though when painting. It's because, compared to Tamiya's enamels, the amount of paint available in acrylic and lacquer is more than that found in the small enamel bottles. Plus, I don't clean my models prior to painting - call it laziness.
However, I still do use enamel for detailed painting, in which case I use a paint brush instead of an airbrush. Enamel is best for metallic paints such as chrome silver (the best chrome silver is by Testors), gold, and other metallic paints. I also use enamels for the clear colours.
If you want an airbrush, albeit quite basic, go for Gunze's Pro Spray series, which are "cheap", basic, single-action airbrushes perfect for single colour subjects or even modest 2-tone camo schemes (see pic below)
I used a friend's airbrush (Gunze's Pro-Spray Mk I) to make the above paint scheme for One-One-Bravo.
The Pro-Spray series comes with several bottles, an airline, the airbrush, paint bottle hoses, and an aircan. The Mk 1 was purchased some three years ago at P1,250 IIRC at STC Filinvest.
For serious airbrushing, though, you'd need an aircompressor. I use a Kawasaki aircompressor delivering around 35psi. It's small, not too noisy, cute, and works well enough. Found at Ace Hardware (and other hardware stores) at P3999.
If you want an all-in-one package, consider Tamiya's Sprayworks which is a single action airbrush with aircompressor, retails around P4,500 or P5000 at Lils and JMN.
As for weathering, tons of advice, but read first the article on this website (Weathering Heresies is the title if I'm not mistaken, found at the features page I think).
As for gloss and flat, basically military vehicles are flat, civilian vehicles are gloss, but it all depends on the subject you're building.
HTH.
