If you have a local flying field, it might not take more than a few hours sitting at the field to see both flying and crashing, and it would be well worth your time. We could probably answer your question a lot better if we knew what you were building, and whether you've figured out how you're going to learn to fly. Since we don't know, we're assuming you're talking about a .40 size glow-fuel powered balsa trainer. The typical crash of such a plane (that I've seen, anyway) is for the engine and firewall to break away, usually doing a lot of damage to the fuse up to the leading edge. The wings are usually in good shape, as is the back of the fuse.

It's hard to generalize, but most of the damage I've seen look like a lot of work to repair (it's going to take more than duct tape). If you're building from a kit or from scratch, you probably have the skills to repair the usual damage, but if you're building an ARF, you might find the damage beyond your building skills. If you hit soft dirt, or shubbery, you probably won't damage the engine, but hard packed dirt or cement can pretty easily destroy an engine. If the plane is built well, the radio equipment will almost certainly survive any crash, although occassionally you'll strip the gears on a servo.

You should know that there are "durable" planes. The U.S. Aircore is almost impossible to damage, and it does a good job protecting the engine as well. The SPADs are also quite durable, but most important they cost little to build in time and money. So if you crack a fuse in half, you just build a new one.