Trial by fire?

It's a learning experience for sure. As Missleman mentioned, there are items not covered by the plans that you will need to figure out or have prior knowledge of. Building a few kits first would help you build this knowledge or simply asking folks. Don't let that intimidate you though.

There are a lot of free plans out there as well that you can download and print using CAD file viewers. Some folks have printed plans to .pdf as well for ease of viewing/printing. Print them out, tape the sheets together to create your plans and build.

You will see there are different properties to balsa(weight, rigidity, density) as well and can be more choosy with making your material selections if you order balsa since you choose what sheets your parts will come from. I order mine from National Balsa Co. It was an eye opener to see two 1/4"x1/4"x36" pieces of balsa next to eachother where one literally weighed twice as much as the other. You can select your stock to shave grams and build light.

"Don't find one way to save an ounce, find twenty ways to save a gram." - good mantra.

It's cool seeing a plane you build take flight... I think it's that much more cool to see a plane you scratch built from plans to take flight. I'm just finishing a profile plane from plans. Nothing too involved but scratch built from plans nonetheless. I can see where folks say that scratch building grows on you.

somegeek