I was engaged in a sublime, but a little in a specific field, I do cosplay and sometimes I have to figure out how to craft some high-tech elements that should shine. The last thing I did was the staff of the Angel from the overwatch, it was hard - there, in addition to the light, was also a drive for it to opened\to close at the touch of a button on the handle. If someone is interested - I can share my little experience in this field.
What about the necessary tools - you’ve already been advised everything that is really necessary, I can only add on my own - try to properly and reasonably arrange a workplace when sitting in one place you can reach everything you need with your hand. I did it by hanging everything around the table on the hooks. And be sure to provide enough light - I have problems with eyesight so I know what I’m talking about. Well, the last is a magnifying glass. If you work with small things, they will be useful to you. In the staff I talked about I had to use very small chips and soldering them was quite difficult.
Concerning the soldering iron, you have already advised a lot of good things - I can only recommend reading this article about choosing soldering irons and what should be paid attention to. There also some of them a listed with comparisons of different manufacturers and models. https://www.bestadvisers.co.uk/soldering-iron