WIPW offered an excellent suggestion: buy a copy of Campbell's
Neophyte Shipmodeler's Jackstay. Model Shipways published this book back in the early sixties for the very purpose you have in mind.
I built the solid-hull
Rattlesnake a long, long time ago. My recollection is that, in addition to the plans, the kit came with a large sheet of instructions (printed in black and red ink). It sounds like that sheet's missing from your kit.
The
Jackstay book should solve the problem, though. It contains all sorts of sound, basic instructions on working with machine-carved hulls. MS intended that people buying their kits would also buy the book. The author, George Campbell, was one of the best in the business; he also drew the plans for your kit. The book also contains, in a friendly, easy-to-read format, a tremendous amount of information about the history of naval architecture, rigging, and lots of other stuff. A person who memorized every bit of information in that book would be well on the way to becoming a knowledgable ship modeler.
Whoever told you to pick the American kit over the European one gave you good advice. That old solid-hull kit may not be quite up to today's standards, but it's a sound basis for a serious scale model. Most of those continental European companies don't really know what a scale model is.
You do need to bear one thing in mind. If that kit was made in 1963, the cast fittings in it almost certainly are made of lead alloy. In addition to being poisonous (best to keep your kids away from the kit - for several reasons), lead is an unstable substance. Over a period of years it tends to turn to white powder - especially when kept in a confined atmosphere. "Lead disease," however, seems to be unpredictable. (The exact content of the parts probably is a big factor. Model Shipways used an alloy that did contain other metals.) The good news is that if your fittings have survived since 1963 without "flowering," you're in luck; they'll probably last at least as long as you and I do. Buy some good metal primer and give each fitting several coats of it. And when it comes time to think about a display case for the finished model, don't make it out of plexiglass and don't put it in direct sunlight. (Strange, electrical reactions take place inside plexiglas boxes, and sunlight accelerates them.)
Good luck. It's a great hobby.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.