jworosylo,

Both the planes you are looking at are great planes. I personally love the 4* series. I own a 4* 40 and have flown a 4* 60, both of them will 0S46AX and OS61FX respectively. Both can be very fast or slow way down for landing.

The main differences you are asking about are,

1.) you will need rudder for takeoffs.
2.) landings in wind will be much more forgiving
3.) Most low wing planes are point and fly. Meaning the self correcting traits of the high wing are not present and low wings will stay in whatever attitude you put them into until you give it another imput.
4.) After you get used to the 4* series you can then do a bunch of easy mods to make them even better. (ie...seal the control surface gaps, increase throws, clip the wings, sheet the turtle deck, do a cowl and a few more.

In either case during the build of the 4* (both ARF or kit) may I suggest that you replace the tail gear with a Sullivan model. There is really nothing wrong with the stock gear but there is a tendency for the stock gear to break away from the rudder after a couple of hard landings and then crack the lower half of the rudder. The Sullivan gear goes on the fuselage so it takes the load instead of the lower half of the rudder taking the load.

I find myself flying my 4* for the first few flights of the day, transfer to my Twist for practicing 3D then back to the 4* for the last few flights of the day.

Hope this helps...