There is an old Kalmbacj book by Les Wilkins, form the 1980 or so period, title "Building Plastic Ship Models". Get a copy of that book-- the main project in the book is the big Revell Constitution. A tip I remember:
Use metal eyebolts instead of the plastic ones on the deck-- they are a lot stronger. (Model Expo and Billings sell them, I think.)
Another great resource for sailign ship builders is the Seaways mailing list. (The list for the wooden ship modelrers.) Over the last few years, a number of good tips have come up there as well. For example:
Know which period you want to model. as bult, in 1812, post-1815, 1840s, after the 1927 refit, or current configuration?
Consider replacing some of the fragile plastic topmasts with wood. If you do that, don't use dowels- they'll warp over time, 'cuz the grain isn't straight. Instead, start with a straight-grained square length of wood, and turn a mast from it.
( A search of the Seawys archive will turn up lots of tips like this.)
HTH,
-Bill