I'm a BAR interested in building whatever I can get my hands on (albeit to a lesser extent than Gnomad! I'm in awe!!)- I've purchased three kits in the last three years, and those were right-off the bat of my BARdom. I have a little experience with Estes Designer Special, and little of it was good- the last one I bought (granted, this was about 15 years ago) included a literal accumulation of parts that served no purpose. Random body tubes, few matching nose cones, a few engine mounts...rubbish, mostly. Since then, I've done the following (done twice, will be doing a third in a few weeks):
1) Take note of all tubes, couplers, lugs, etc included in the "Scratch Builders Assortment" kits (Red Arrow and BRS are the best IMHO (same, actually) in that they include almost everything except NC. Apogee has some good tubing and ring kits, but no "all inclusive" packages like these). RedArrow had some problems shipping the entire kit; I may have been a little harsh when I called them on it (and have been told to shop elsewhere as a result
...perhaps a topic of another thread with an apology), but BRS was as promised.
2) Go crazy on the plans pages such as JimZ, YORF, etc (mentioned in a previous post I think), design your own, whatever you want to do. Take careful notes if you design your own- nothing more dissatisfying than placing a sizable order with an online retailer only to find you short-changed yourself a couple of hooks or a nose (shipping is a huge percentage of small orders!). For many of us gone are the days of running to the hobby shop to pick up a few parts.
3) Print print print the instructions (perhaps more costly and less environmentally sound but far more "organic" to the build. plus a fin will break so it helps to have hardcopy).
4) Cross reference your list of parts needed to what's included in the build kits from Step 1 above (I should show you the Excel sheet I created for my last build/buy phase...I may have gone too far).
5) Order build kit from step 1 above along with other needed parts. I've sourced my NC for the build storm from a site in Florida (can't remember the name) and from Hobbylinc. Expect to pay as much if not more for the NC as you do for all the tubes, lugs, CR, couplers, etc.
6) Hit Michael's or AC Moore for the finstock, glues and cardstock for custom centering rings (costly and/or fragile to ship).
7) Greet postman/UPS/Fedex driver daily, eagerly awaiting your precious delivery.
8) Become recluse for several weeks while you build build build.
With these 8 simple steps I've gone from 4 Aerotech MPR kits at the abject conclusion of my initial round of rocketry enthusiasm that I've moved from city to city without ever launching to 2.5 aerotech MPR kits (at least I'm launching again...) and ~30 LPR kits. I spent last weekend building a storage solution in my garage just to store my new found glory. This isn't including the original LPR kits that somehow got lost on the path to adulthood nor the birds that will result from the 20+ plans waiting in the wings.
PS- the only birds NOT built this way in the pic are the Estes Baby Bertha & Hi Flyer, and the FlisKits Acme Spitfire (NOT to be missed!! A fantastically rewarding and challenging kit build!!). Sorry about the overload on Bertha #1948 paint scheme- I have a thing for that model since it's what got me started in the hobby to begin with.