Hi Tom
I built the 1:96 Constitution a number of years ago. Here are a few lessons I learned the hard way...and I mean the HARD way!
1. Reinforce all the masts that you can with hard brass tube or bar stock-it'll keep them from flexing under the strain of the rigging
2. Use a good quality silk thread for the rigging, waxing it thoroughly. you can turn single strand into three or five strand cable or hawser laid stuff with a home-made rope making machine.
3. Get good deadeyes, pulley's etc...they'll look a lot better that the ones in the kit. If you can't buy 'em, theyre easy to make. Just ckeck some of the boos on building sailing ship models.
4. Make up new chain plates to lead down from the deadeyes, over the chain wales, and then pin 'em in place at the terminal end with a very small pin right through the hull...then epoxied in place. This is going to take most of the strain of the rigging of the shrouds.
5. Use finer stuff for the rat lines, than for the shrouds-it looks better. learn to tie a surgeon's knot and follow witha square knot...when you tighten, avoid stressing the lines you are tying off
6. When you're painting the gingerbread work on the bow & stern, paint highlight colors (gold, white etc) first, using a good artist's paint. after they've dried (really dried!) flood the background with really thinned-out black water based paints. It will take a lot of coats for the black, but just let it flow onto the surface, and it will pck out the edges of the detail really well.
7. For the masking, use artist's tape...it's a little pricey, but you'll only need one roll. It's not as tackey as regular masking tape.
8. Take your time...it's not a race
9. When it's all done, get a good display case...you can't dust a sailing ship model ( My mother-in-law tried to dust my Cutty Sark...worse that a torpedo hit!)