Hello Mike!
Glad to have you here, its good you have set goals for your model building.
Best advice is to complete each model, every build will get you that much closer to your expectations.
Have fun and tackle inexpensive kits with fewer parts, nothing worse than getting frustrated and having to box a build.
Glad you have Shepards book(s) that is enough research material to get started, trust me getting bogged down in reference material doesn't improve your skills or get project done either.
Post some pictures & check the 'search' feature first, all common questions have been answered before.
Jason