The coolest thing

[duramaximus]

Hi all, new to the forums here. I've been flying rc helicopters for nearly 20 years, been to a few model engineering shows, even entertained building a 1 1/2'' scale locomotive. I thought I had seen it all. I recently stumbled across the excavator kits offered by wedico and vario. That led me to this forum, and I have to say, you guys have the most fascinating and interesting hobby! I'm looking for a used bridgeport and hoping to educate myself to the point of attempting one of these most amazing models. I'm leaning towards an excavator in 1:14 scale. Could anyone chime in and offer up some resources, books, etc. in getting started? Also, anyone with any experience in the conversions? Are they mostly plastic once completed? Do they offer the same operating pressures? Looking for an affordable alternative to mess with until I can get tooled up and started. Apologies in advance for asking dumb questions that may have been already asked. Thanks