Gus,

Dave Platt sells a whole series of videotapes (and now DVDs) on building, detailing and finishing scale planes. They are full of wonderful and well presented information, and I would strongly advise you to get them -- if you email him he'll probably advise you on which ones to get first.

I built the GP Spit 40 a couple of years ago, for much the same reasons you are, and had a lot of the same questions. Here are a few pointers:

- I powered it with the RCV-60. Great engine, reliable, will swing a scale prop. Pay attention to their suggestions about air ducting for cooling, though... I ended up opening the exhaust stack moldings with a dremel tool for an air exit and adding a hole in the bottom for the same purpose. An air duct is easy to build out of lithoplate or even glassed card stock.

- I put Robart robo-struts on the retracts to make them look prettier. Ended up taking them out because the retract servo couldn't cope with the added weight. This meant, aside from the wasted money on the Robostruts, that I had to re-sheet the whole strut area to accomodate the shape of the struts -- BTW, I used Great Planes' 40-sized mechanicals ans they worked OK.

- Still on the retracts, save yourself a lot of grief and move them with 4-40 pushrods, the 2-56 will bend and cause all sorts of problems while you tweak them to work well. Also, leave plenty of space in the wheel and strut wells: the struts WILL bend, and you don't want them to stall the servo or rip out some sheeting.

- I covered it with OZ Cover, and painted it with Nelson paint. OZ Cover is the most amazing stuff, can't recommend it highly enough. Nelson paint works, but has a learning curve: if you screw up (and everybody does while they're learning) it won't stick worth a darn, and sanding it off heatshrink covering is not a pleasant experience.

My plane had a high wing loading (sorry I can't be more specific: I don't have a scale, so I didn't weigh it). I didn't sheet any open spaces, or put in any extra scale details except for the radio mast aft of the cockpit, but it still had a very mean way of throwing a wing when I let it slow down. Most reviews I've read about this speak about this personality trait as well -- my guess is that's one of the reasons why it was so quickly discontinued. It has to be flown in, not floated in -- mine bought the farm when it snapped on final about 6 feet high after about 20 flights.

I would concentrate on building straight and light. Use this project to learn about retracts and engine cooling, get your painting skills up to speed and learn how to fly a high-wing-loading model. You'll do better to save some learning for your next project, otherwise you may well end up with an unfliable brick.

Good luck and enjoy your project!

Juan M. Villaveces