Depending on the age of the kit, you'll need to seal the tube & balsa fins. The Estes rocket kits that I built in the 1980s came with the tube already sealed. You'll need some sort of sanding sealer for the balsa fins, but after that it's prime & paint as normal.
Nice blue. Do you see many LoneStars in Australia? We see them every so often here in the Northeast US. They're kind of a rare breed. ProStars, on the other hand, are all over the place.
From what I've gathered, the AMT W900 cab is a 1968-72, while the Revell of Germany cab is a 1973-82. The Revell USA/Monogram W900 cab is also a 1973-82, but the AeroDyne sleeper makes the model a post-1976. Hope that helps.
I'm really digging that heavy rescue! I think that would be a very cool project. Isn't the truck in the photo a C500? Sure looks like one. I like that pumper, too; but I think you'd be better of with the AMT kit as that's the older style cab.
It's not Photobucket that's not playing nicely, it's probably the Forum. If you're using IE, make sure you have the Forum in "Compatibility View". Otherwise try either Google or FireFox.
I tend to do a littte of both. If I know I'll need it for a future project, I might pick it up if I feel like it. That way when I do get around to the project I have the paint.