Hi Mark,
Welcome to the Forums and hope you enjoy what you see on here, there is plenty of stuff covered in the tutorials section so you should find all the help you need there, if not just ask, we don't bite.
There are plenty of us on here into similar sort of models as you, so you will be able to compare notes etc.
No problem about taking your time to build either, if it means a nice looking model then why rush it.
The only exception to that rule is Greg (GEEDUBBYA) he is a prolific speed builder but always turns out fantastic looking models, check out his work on here, you will find plenty. It shows it can be done. (Mind you he does get more sunshine in the States than we do here, so I suspect things dry out a bit quicker over there !!)
Please feel free to share any pics of your models up on here too.
Regards.......Mark.