"To be fair, I did not want all these issues and should have stuck to the kit form styles of others and had done with it."

Knot-Wood To be fair I would think even OX and all the others have small problems with screws they don't just magically fit together all have to work at it.
Even your woodwork you have to plan what you want to make, you cannot hold an image in your mind and expect it to work first time.
If you think this part is hard just wait till you get to the control side of it, where do you think you are going to plug in the wire (maybe in your ears) to pick up your image.

I think you need to sit down and take a long hard look and read at how to build and how to control and make what you are looking for.

Phill