The South Park Line: The best way to begin scratch building?

I received two On3 C&S kits for Christmas. One of them was a C&S/RGS Reefer Hardware kit. While I build all of my own hardware, most modelers would consider starting with a hardware kit and plans to be "scratch building". Personally, I would consider it to be a craftsman kit since all that's missing is the material for the frame and siding (plus paint, decals, and glue). While I'm not planning to start it (or the other kit, a C&S stock car...both from Grandt Line) anytime soon, I opened it to verify that all the parts are present and share a photo here on my blog. If you've ever wanted to try scratch building, get this hardware kit and give it a shot. Since Grandt Line pulled their HOn3 models, there is no telling if this hardware kit will be available in a few years. Grandt Line's car kits are absolute gems, and this looks to be on par with their usual excellence.

Here are the parts. At bottom is the steel underframe, trucks, and draft gear (plus Grandt Line's couplers which I regard as the best value for a coupler: function, appearance, and price). Above the SUF is the brake parts. Above them are the C&S reefer specific parts (the C&S door latches are on the sprue with the corner irons, not the ones with the hinges). To the left of these are the ladders and stirrups (which are far faster and easier than bending wires as on the stock car, gondola, and box car...the reefer only requires a few grabs to be bent)

Here are the plans and info on the SUF:

I picked up a set of CDS Dry Transfers for these cars a few years back. I'm still a couple sets of C&S stock car decals short...

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My first 23' flat car kit has received all but its red paint. The deck is quite dark on the top and more brown (like the underframe) underneath. This version I am building with out the intermediate sills (I'll build an example gon with the int sills).