Nope, its never to late, like you said, you just got into the hobby, dont give up just yet, it takes time to reach the level that some of the ones on here are at. Put it this way, I am 31, I started playing with models when I was I want to say around 10, dont really remember the age, but its not tell the last few years that I can build a kit that does turn out like a glue or paint bomb.
I am always messing up paint jobs, thats why we keep stuff on hand to strip paint , I would suggest, get some spare bodys , and some cheap paint, and practice, practice, practice painting on them.