I was hoping you would ask.
[link=http://www.rcscalebuilder.com]Here's a good read[/link]
also try [link=http://www.strictlyscale.com]Strictly Scale[/link].

Competing in scale is not about modelling a "type" of aircraft but accurately replicating a particular instance. Documentation is very important. Picking an aircraft that you have good access to (say, in a local museum or airport) makes life much easier.

As a "stepping stone" project, I'd suggest picking something that appeals to you, is relatively "clean" (not too many "warts" to replicate), flies well in real life and has a low wing loading. The latter is important as you will likely add a lot of weight while adding detail until you learn better ways to add detail while adding as little weight as possible (the "trick").

There are several things to learn like how to provide proper cooling to a fully cowled engine behind a dummy engine. How to hide access to glow plugs, radio switches, charging jacks etc. etc.

Be aware, scale aircraft have scale size control surfaces, not the barn doors seen on sport-scale aircraft... and air molecules don't scale. [X(]

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask, if I can't answer them, I'm sure someone will.

Jim McIntyre
MAAC Scale Chairman
2002 Canadian Scale Team member