I have been into wooden ship modeling for a number of years. It can be an extremely enjoyable hobby with results at the end that will awe your friends and make your chest swell like the mainsail.
However, it can also make you tear your hair out and throw tools across the basement.
I can offer some suggestions.
1. Start with a small model. You will get every bit as much satisfaction at the end and it is a lot less expensive to start with. Here is a good link:
good start 2. Spend some time at Amazon.com and get some good books. I have a number of them up to and including an enourmous volume on just rigging.
3. Find a resource on the internet like this bbs is for AH. I'll give you one:
ship modeling BBS 4. Make sure the first thing you do is build a drydock with some form of clamp to hold the keel.
5. I would build the model indoors. You would be amazed at the catastrophic effects of a change in humdity on a wooden ship model. I have seen one that looked like it had been torpedoed a couple of times.
6. Do research, do research, do research. It is a whole new world. While people here argue about the flight model or wether or not a certain airframe had 20 or 30 mm, there are models out there that are not historically accurate. Who would want to spend the money to build something that is not accurate. I almost fell into this while looking for a model of the HMS Bounty.
Don't pay the money for the prebuilt one. Do it yourself, may take a year or two but it will be worth it in the end.
Hope this helps some.