RE: Sig LT40 or GP PT40 for first build in ten years?
If you plan on being a "modeler", not just a flyer, then your plan to build your trainer will let you get the inevitable building mistakes out of the way on a plane you may only fly for a few months. If you buy an ARF and build your second plane you're just going to make those mistakes on that plane. I built a PT-60 in two weeks and was far more prepared to build a Sig 4* 60 after that than I would have been. There are lots of little tricks you can only pick up by actually building and it will help make your second plane one you'll be proud to say "I built", not "well, it's the first plane I built, so...."