modelcrazy
Is there something I should look out for when building mine?
In regards to your question, follow the instructions carefully. There are many parts that can go in backwards without a problem.....and not notice until a month and a half later when you start to put smaller parts on and figure out that something's not right. I'm not sure which paint scheme you're gonna be shooting for, but my intent(never got to paint it) was to leave the superstructure off the hull of the ship until after paint. The second deck wood planking can go on way earlier than indicated in the instructions, basically, I'd throw that on right after you put the bulkhead detailing plates on the first deck, this will give you a much better shot at getting a nice seamless joint on that, otherwise I got a lip and it took a lot of work to get rid of that. Same goes for the bottom section of the hull(unless you're going waterline), I put that on first as was suggested earlier in this thread, and I thought that was a fantastic move. That also holds true for the superstructure, I think the best bet would be to construct each section(there's 3: fore, mid, and aft) in whole, including the bulkhead detailing, then sand it all smooth at once, I tried to sand after placing each deck and that didn't work out great. I found that putting on the 1" and 40mm gun shielding on before the sea boxes on helped a lot in locating where they where meant to be located. With regards to the mooring cleats, Trumpeter provides extras, but don't get complacent, they're tiny and they will zing into parts unknown. The fit of the main turrets isn't fantastic, so be prepared for some filling and sanding on those. To get the second deck of 5" guns to sit on the deck properly, you'll need to drill into the main deck sections, that took my cordless drill with a 7/16" bit(I think) no time. Speaking of the hull, the fit isn't the best on that, I think the best play on that would be to cut the center supports, glue the bow and the stern first, then individually glue each section at the cross brace(which means you'll have to construct some sort of internal structure for the bottom of the hull, unless you're going waterline). Lastly, I dunno if you're planning on using photo etch, if you are, God bless you. I originally got Tom's Modelworks, but found it lacking and wound up just buying the Eduard set. Speaking of which, there are so many tiny pieces, some no larger than half a grain of rice.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.