Well, I'm on my way. Got the front steps glued together and started sanding the other parts. I'm going to take my time with this one and make all the mistakes early on. The more I look at the parts the more impressed I am with the detail in the castings. This looks to be a very well thought out kit considering how reasonable the price was.
I asked a friend about joint compound and ended up with a ten pound package. I suspect that will be a tad more than I'll need.....ever!