I'm pretty sure that you can buy spatter release. Comes in an aerosol can. Never tried it myself but may save a bit of headache if you do go the flux core route. As for welding I've mostly done TIG, it's great as far as warping but can be a bit of a pain and likely out of the price range for what you want to spend.

Whenever you leave behind failure that means you're doing better if you think everything you've done has been great you're probably dumb
-Louis CK-

'53 GMC