Reddit reviews Digital Soldering Station with Chisel Tip Pack T18-D08/D12/D24/D32/S3

I'll just give you a list of the items I've been using (and like):

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-T18-D08-D12-D24-D32/dp/B00C1N30DI Hakko FX-888D. The extra tips may be unnecessary, I only ever use the one chisel tip

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJPO Leaded solder

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SPGFT8 Brushes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZPDG1K Side cutters

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00425FUW2 Flux

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008O9VLA2 Solder Wick

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013HT2QW KimWipes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B5JT8C Isopropyl Alcohol

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CU56KM Acetone spray (use carefully/sparingly)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G5T9M0 Jewelers loupe

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019SLLOMY Tweezers

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P8Z4RPG Hot air station (works well despite Chinesium)

Also, I noticed in Dave's videos he rarely adds flux, just the flux that's built into the multicore solder. I don't know if I'm alone on this one but with flux I always felt the bigger the glob the better the job. Just have to clean it afterwards with the solvent, tissues & brushes.

Edit: Okay that's a much bigger list than I thought, this stuff can get expensive!

Your list looks fine, but it seems to me like this would be cheaper than buying all of that individually and still give you more than enough variation in tip sizes/styles. I personally like the digital display so I can pre-program settings and easily see what temp the iron is at. The Weller iron on your list is good, though.

If you have rosin-core solder, you probably don't really need the flux pen. I'd say it's a nice to have, but not a need to have.

Desoldering wick is really only helpful for large components because you have to apply a lot of heat to get it to work right and it can easily damage small stuff. For small joints, just heat and the sucker will do. - Not that the option you have there is expensive, just a head's up to be careful with the wick.

I personally don't find the helping hands nearly as useful as I thought I would, but the one you have there looks like it's maybe better than the one I have.

Ouch, yeah as everybody else said the pads are fried. From your description it sounds like you were working with an iron that was way too hot & holding it on the PCB way too long. The board could be salvaged but it would be a lot of work & for what looks to be a MF68, I'd say it's not really worth it.

Chalk it up to a learning experience & don't let it discourage you from future building or modding of boards. If you really want to get into it a proper solder station that has temp control is basically mandatory if you are not already experienced at soldering. I use a Hako FX888D & highly recommend them. They are fairly priced & high quality for hobbyist usage. Using this soldering station or a similar one would help you yield much better results.

I also recommend practicing on a PCB from some fried piece of electronics, before trying to mod or build another board. Older motherboards were a favorite of mine when I was learning years ago.

Any old iron will work. I used this $9 iron to fix my Hubsan many times.

I have a Hako now and it is MUCH nicer and easier to use but a pencil iron will get the job done for small projects like the Hubsan. If you plan on doing scratch builds or other projects that require soldering I highly suggest getting a variable temperature iron with integrated thermostat.