jim: Kind of an opened ended question that could lead to some very long answers. I'll try to take a stab at this though, with some observations that maybe you will find useful.
1) in general, Tamiya acrylic enamel colors have what artists call very good "mass tone" -- that is, covering power. Most colors will cover others in a single coat or two. That said, all things being equal, you probably want to work light to dark as less paint is better. Certain colors like bright red and yellow benefit from an undercoat of white, but this won't be an issue for your build.
2) Tamiya acrylic dries very quickly, but it takes longer to actually cure to its final hardness. Before it is fully cured the finish can be fragile, easily scraped etc. I always wait 24 - 48 hours before any kind of handling including masking, polishing, etc -- unless I am deliberating trying to scuff it up.
3) Tamiya tape can be cut to length and even into intricate shapes by sticking it to clean cutting mat and cutting with a sharp xacto knife. Dull blades will tend to tear it.
4) Tamiya tape isn't very sticky, and sometimes will seem to want to stick to everything but the model. You simply have to get used to this, and recognize that it's low tack is part of what makes it so useful. In addition, paint that is sprayed very wet will creep under the tape, spoiling your crisp lines, so learn to spray so the paint is not pooling wet on the surface. Burnishing the edges of your mask with a toothpick or something similar will help.
5) Soft edges can be created by masking with blobs of blu-tac or by elevating a cut out mask of paper etc with small rolls of tape. The further the mask is from the surface, the softer the resulting edge.
6) When in doubt: Experiment. (On something other than your model.)
