Hi Derek, and welcome,
The short answer is yes there can be pitfalls of our own making, but nothing to worry about.
I take it your woodwork skills are quite adequate, and you have the basic tools? The best advice I can give you is, read, study and understand the plans and build manual before you start cutting.
Firstly, any problems, no matter how silly you think it is, ask. Someone will give you an idea of how to go about solving it. Secondly, make sure you follow the 'Measure Twice, Cut Once' rule, and be sure that all your measurements and lines are square.
Follow the advice given by Richard in the build manual as closely as possible, a lot of us on here have had problems with panels being the wrong size and shape. This is due to a common fault of cutting and pasting the 'Patterns' to the timber. From what Richard tells us, the 'Patterns' lose some of their shape when printed or photocopied and he warns in the manual not to paste to the wood, so take measurements from the drawings, check the pattern if you have one and thereby cut accurately. Personally, I would leave about a 1/4" wastage on the edge of the part, and then use a router to get a perfect edge.
Where possible, when producing two identical parts, make one, then clamp or even screw them together, and use a guide bit (one with a bearing on the end) to follow the edges, so reproducing the first part exactly. It's not as hard as it sounds, and I don't want to put you off, but the more time and care you take in the first stages, the better and stronger your car will be.
Both materials (Ply and MR MDF) have their good and bad points, the worst (for me) is the drilling of 'Pilot' holes (for the screws) in the MDF. This has to be done to get a good, flat joint between the battens and surface, so the glue gets a good grip, and bonds really well.
Just take it steady, any questions, ask on the forum, and someone will answer the query.
As Brian once said, 'The stupidest question is the one you didn't ask!!'
Hope this has helped,
Regards,
Mark
