Alright, so I spent a an hour or so wandering around Home Depot today (looking very lost I'm sure). I came out with some basic Norton sandpaper up to 400 grit (not sure what a good finishing grit is, but according to Norton this is it), six paint sticks and a little coping saw with a few replacement blades since I'm sure I'll find a way to ruin at least the first one. I didn't know these little saws existed until shooter mentioned them, but they look like they're the perfect tool for getting a pretty accurate rough cut for scale blanks! Cutting out the blanks is one of the things I couldn't figure out how I'd do without some sort of jig-saw type tool, so its very nice to find there's a convenient $8 solution out there!
I have a little vintage French folding knife too, that should make a very nice carving knife (much thanks to some time on the bbw/coti combo.) I did, however forget to get a vice as it turns out. I'll have to try and dig something up or go back out and get one. I know chisels were mentioned too, but I don't even know where to begin there. Guess I have more homework to do.
I did try working the paint sticks a little already and these things seem awful prone to splintering. I can't complain for the price though, and I guess their finicky nature only makes them better for learning on. Cutting across the grain at an angle (45 degrees to the grain or so) with the knife produces a nice smooth cut, but cutting anywhere near with the grain causes it to splinter all over the place. I guess that's lesson one for carving then, huh? The coping saw on the other hand splinters this stuff all over the place, so I'll have to figure out how to make that work.
Anyways, I'm going to try and see how far I can get by hand tomorrow or so. I still don't know how I'll do pin holes, maybe the drill I can use will suffice, but I do want to try and learn things the hand way. That means the rotary will wait until I really know what I need and how I can use it. It still sounds like a very useful thing to have and I'll be getting one eventually. Maybe sooner rather that later if it becomes necessary for the pin holes after all (even if that's just a convenient excuse...). Anyhow, thanks for all the advice and guidance here, as always! I really appreciate it, you guys are always incredibly helpful!