Welcome to our forums dragnse7en.
It's great you've got a cousin at about the same age as you (I'm in my late 30s as well) that enjoys this hobby.
If you guys are pretty set on staying in the 1/24th scale, you might also want to check out our "cousin" site
at
http://mini-zracer.com
While you're here, definitely check out the 1/43rd scale stuff (Epochs Indoor Racers and Kyosho DNaNo). Hobby class performance, in a nice small package!
See you on the boards.