I was thinking on the lines of: a good mixer; 2 inch tape machine; then compressor, eq, effects etc. I'm not really to familiar so don't make fun if what I'm saying is totally off but ya haha
Haha! No fun making here.
It's entirely possible to set up something like that. I'm not really qualified to recommend specific machines because I just don't have the experience, but I know that the number of tracks you want will dictate the price bracket for mixer and tape recorder.
I imagine 2" will be getting you into the pricey bracket, but I'll let someone else tell you that for sure.
Outboard gear...the price is sort of up to you. You can spend a few hundred bucks on DBX 16** units, or you can spend a few thousand on UA pieces...There's a wealth of gear out there.
Are you hands on kind of person? I'd dissuade anyone from getting into analog gear of any kind unless they can confidently take apart and diagnose things. Even things like replacing a belt or power supply cap could save you a fortune over the years.
At very least you should have a mates-rates tech on hand.
If you want to completely finish the process in analog, what will the end product be? Can I assume you want a digital copy for distribution or even just convenient listening?
If so you could record all your parts through a mixer with your eqs and effects what not, then when tracking is done you could bounce out through the mixer to a CD recorder (or 2 track tape recorder) for the final mix.
That'd give you time to ride any faders or pans, or whatever.
If you have a computer with a humble interface, you could use it as the final destination just as easily.