Ships of Scale

I am very new to this genre. To be honest I have never built a ship from paper/card stock. I do have two in the stash though. And what I see here makes me very exited and the models here are so inspirational.

I'm trying to decide which ship to christen my new 'shop' with. After my boy's surgery there will be time I think. Maybe VICTORY signallingl his victory over this sarcanoma in his nasal passages. Suggestions. How the shop progresses depends on this buy. Price don't matter at this point. Gotta dlo something for myself.

Start of new project: diorama of the engagement between HMS Nymphe (capt. Pellew) and the French Cléopâtre (capt. Mullon). 1:350 scale scratchbuilt wood. The gundeck and firt strakes of Nymphe finished.

My basic problem is that I don't know any basic procedures. IE, how do you prepare a plank for first or second planking. Are all four sides sanded in preparation. Are the surface edges rounded slightly in the second planking layer. How do you handle tear outs when sanding.What to do when glue contaminated the finish. Plus a hundred other building procedures.
I guess I'm look...

Hello SOS builders,

Now after I have gathered a huge load of information and inspiration from the fine build logs here on SOS it’s finally time to start my own first model.
I have chosen La Candelaria from OcCre which seems the right size and compl...