FatCat,

One bit of advice that I got that proved to be very good was to not put the top deck on until the very end. You will need to keep the bays open in order to finish the plane. Plus, it is very thin balsa and the chances of poking a whole in it while handling the plane are very likely. So leave it off as long as you can.
The 4*40 is a great plane and it was my first kit. And it flies very well. It was actually my first plane ever and I soloed in two days. That says a lot for the plane. Enjoy