mgnostic

Regarding ability, that is one place where the various forums can really come in handy. You may have to set your search parameters to the beginning or time or at least the beginning of the internet but kits that were ever common at any particular time usually have a build thread someplace. This can often be helpful when dealing with construction problems. One pitfall that you may run into is old/vintage kits. Some of them can be real treasures for the builder. Balsa USA, Sig, and Midwest for instance tend to have good manuals. Royal/Marutaka prices tend to get driven up by the collectors and they are often complex and or require a lot of carving. Sterling kits can be very hit or miss on the quality of their wood and often all you get for instructions are construction notes on the plans. Goldberg and Great planes also made some good kits as well. It might be worth your while to hit a local swap meet. Even if you have to drive a couple of hours they often have a lot of entertainment value just in seeing what is out there. As long as you aren't trying to buy something with perceived collector value such as a Top Flite red box P-51 kits can often be found for a reasonable price. While you don't want to get in over your head (though it reads in the original post that you have the capacity to complete a complex project) there is something to be said for the motto of just do it. It is a big investment but it doesn't have to be the perfect airplane. Look on it as your apprentice work. Take a look at manzanolaser.com. They are mostly short kits but he sells a lot of accessories. Many of the kits have build threads and in particular with the Tritle designs, the guy is still alive posts on various forums.