flyingwelshman
Firstly, one has to remember that to actually make reasonably full use of the IMC Rating (by that I mean fly some instrument approaches rather than just fly VMC on top here and there) one needs to have access to a plane suitable for real IFR and do enough hours IN THAT PLANE to keep reasonably current.
Most self fly hire planes are not suitable for flying IFR for real so that's the bit I would sort out first. In some places (my airfield for sure) it may mean buying into a syndicate.
Next, the IMCR itself will be a helluva lot easier to do when you've had enough hours IN THAT PLANE to be able to fly it easily in VMC, holding altitude to say 100ft and a heading to say 5 deg. Almost anybody can do this but the trick is to do it without completely knackering yourself within half an hour. If you can do that, and be relaxed enough to be ahead of the plane, know exactly where you are, then you are probably ready for the IMCR.
I think you need 10 hrs P1 post-PPL before you can start the training though.
Also get an instructor who flies planes for real
