Steve,
These kits are not accurate enough to go into a museum, but they are an
excellent place to start. They are not snap-together easy, and
they are quite old moldings, so there will be a good bit of flash that has to cleaned off the edges of parts. But
their instruction booklets will give you a lot of good information.
The Arizona kit has been torn apart by many many detail-oriented folks
for its numerous failings, but you can find a lot or great examples of
quality models produced from the kit. Likewise the Hornet kit.
After you digest these, you will be in a great place to move on to more detailing and advanced techniques.
Good luck,
Rick