Welcome to the forum! My first suggestion is to decide which version of the costume you'd like to build. Then read as much as you can on here about the costume. If you plan on scratch building look at as many of the scratch build work in progress threads as you can to learn useful tips and tricks. If you plan on buying a majority of your costume then do your research on the makers of your parts. Normally if you buy from here you wont run into any issues but check with the forum first before you buy from some venders from other sites. This is especially true if you are going for 501st approval. Also when you run into a problem or question search the form for threads about the same problem or question. Be sure to ask questions as well. You'll find plenty of people here are willing to help. Good luck on your build.