Always good to get the brushes back out!
We've a few threads on stripping models - if they are
metal then to be honest it's hard to really screw up and what solvent you use is probably quite dependent on where in the world you live. Plastics and resins you do need to be more careful with your choice of stripper. Have a scoot over these threads:
https://forum.oldhammer.org/tags/paint-stripping/
Not that I've used Tamiya paints (okay I have the odd one), but don't they have both acrylic and enamel ranges - which are you using? If it's acrylics then brush wise either modern synthetics or if you can spend a little more natural sable brushes (although again depending on location you might be more restricted). If it's the enamels then you're probably better off with synthetic brushes as they'll chew up the more expensive sable brushes quite quickly. In the UK if people don't want to spend too much, but want decent brushes I tend to suggest
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/. I've various brushes from them. Otherwise brand wise my favourites would be Raphael 8404, Winsor & Newton Series 7, DaVinci series 36. Afraid I'm a total brush addict,
ahem 
Some chatter in this thread:
https://forum.oldhammer.org/threads/brushes.39419/
Any local art shop will have a modest range and there are plenty of online shops. Even the very cheap multipacks you get from the large online retailers and in the more bulk "hobby" type shops will probably be good enough to get you going again. They'll be synthetics, but if cleaned they'll be okay for a while (synthetics often loose their tip (often hooks over) after a while).
Wet palette and brush soap I'd highly recommend as painting accessories! Along with separate water (if you're using acrylics) for washing metallics and normal paints, to avoid ending up with some mica in the normal paint.
Priming is very much down to preference. Lots of people prime black then you don't have to worry too much about the bits you miss. Personally I find I'm often priming in greys these days. I do my priming with an airbrush, but that's only because I have one. I'm not sure I'd go out and buy an airbrush setup just for priming (unless you have an interest in them or have lots of stuff planned). If the climate isn't conducive to rattle can spray priming then an airbrush might make sense. Otherwise there are plenty of decent rattle cans. Either those from model manufacturers (Tamiya do one I've used in the past, but I seem to recall it's expensive for the quantity) or plenty of people use various automotive sprays (I use an etch primer on large resin vehicles for instance). There are brush on primers of course. Most of my paints are Vallejo ones, with a smattering of others here and there. I use their primers.
Anyhow looking forward to seeing your steps back in, maybe some before/after photos. No matter anyone's skill we all like seeing paint on models here so please do share!
