Hi Lawrence,
I like the 1:48 scale for model ships, it gives you plenty of room for nice details. I reviewed your logs on the Bounty and Annie Parker. The craftsmanship is excellent, you have all the skills necessary to do first class scratch building.
I started the Blandford project to show everyone scratch building isn’t as difficult as it looks, the main drawback is the time factor, with a POB kit in a week you can have all the bulkheads in place and be started on the exterior planking, with a scratch build you will be working on the keel assembly for two or three weeks depending on the ship.
Since for most of us this is a hobby building a scratch POF model gives you a better understanding of how the original ship was built and a lot of fine detail work with the framing.
My little Proxxon lathe is a joy to use, I have had it for many years an have not had any problems with it, it is a worthwhile investment.
I have a couple of posts the Pennsylvania and Pinta under the scratch build logs you may find interesting.
Mike