thanks guys all the advice given is great, i never would have thought scratch building would be more expensive. i dont like relying on the manufacturer to charge 1 million dollars for a bunch of wood and cut up parts, but it looks like that seems to be the way the world is going. i guess the kits you all mentioned or maybe short kits would be a better place to start "learning" to scratch build. i have limited time and am looking for a project to take up a while, sort of "de-stressing" because i have twin babies that were born in august. so every now and then i need some ME time and going to the field and back is problably not going to sit too pretty with the wife. but thanks guys for the kind words, oh and jpurcha "fagetaboutit" i problably misread the response (sleep dep)
