Ok first I should sat that this will be my first attempt at building. What I am wanting to do is build the 4* 40 with the following modifications:
1. Sheeted D-tube.
2. Clip one bay off of each wing.
3. Sheeted turtle deck.
4. Custom cowl.
5. Increase control surface sizes.
6. and last but not least I have to do something with that ugly canopy.

This will also be my first low wing tail dragger. Is this too much of an undertaking? Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

Sounds like a good project to me. The 4-Stars are an excellent plane to do your first kit bash on. A good color scheme, maybe a scale like scheme, and a pilot will add to the different look.

When you get it done, send me a couple of photos by e-mail. A couple of months ago, I covered basics of kit bashing in my column and would like photos of examples.

Modified 4*40 (post # 1)

Ok first I should sat that this will be my first attempt at building. What I am wanting to do is build the 4* 40 with the following modifications:
1. Sheeted D-tube.
2. Clip one bay off of each wing.
3. Sheeted turtle deck.
4. Custom cowl.
5. Increase control surface sizes.
6. and last but not least I have to do something with that ugly canopy.

This will also be my first low wing tail dragger. Is this too much of an undertaking? Any tips would be appreciated.

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Whoo! Sounds like a lot for your first kit....

This is a 4*60 that I am just finishing and I did some of the mods you suggested but my primary goal was to achieve a safe, stable flier. At US$92 the second generation can be whipped into submission....
I wanted to see just how well the first generation flew...

I did no mods on wing length or dihedral but I did...

Horizontal stabilizer reinforced with tri-stock above and below.


Wing hold-down plates reinforced with tri-stock.

Firewall reinforced with tri-stock and glass.

Landing plate re-inforced with glass.

Maybe get to fly it this coming weekend, we will see...

Good luck on your 4*40!!!

http://www.renderwurx.com/rc/sig4star/

Awesome project. It's a must read!

Thanks for the reply. I plan on purchasing the kit this weekend and starting on it shortly there after. I will keep you posted. Does anyone know of a step by step instruction on how to build up the custom cowl? I would rather not just wing it and hope for the best. Thanks again for the info.

Brian

I bashed one of my 4*'s by forgoing the turtle deck completely. Instead, I put 1/4" Square stock on the top-inside of the rear fuse, then sheeted the top, and used a "Kaos" type canopy.

As far as building the nose, go to greatplanes.com and download the Ultra Sport manual and see how they did it on that. It should work for the 4* as well.

Hey Crash-n-Burn, is that a Klett / Goldberg tailwheel assembly? It looks good on there. I am just starting mine, and I want to dump the stock tail wire thingy.

That looks like a Klett alright. I bought a couple of the .60 size version an they sure do look very scale like. The only thing I wish they'd do is to mold the plastic bracket around a steel rod or something for reinforcement. The plastic material by itself looks kinda fragile.

Actually, I ordered one of these today, from Sig. It is the one they supply with the Rascal 40 ARF. Very slick, in my opinion. Should work great on a FourStar.

Sig part # SIGSH756

Craig.

Yes, It's a .60 Klett.

N7OR (if that's ur call, I like it a lot!), I Like the Sig tailwheel. I'm going to check it out next time before I spend the US$19 for the Klett.

73, N7DKK

Hey guys, regarding that Klett tail wheel. I have built three of the 4 star 60 models. Wanted to let you know that on my second one, I used the Klett but found that though it looked nice, it flexed a lot and was hitting the bottom of my rudder. I have since changed the tail wheel to the leaf spring type with no problems. The brand name escapes me at the moment.

Wow, cbreeze, that's scary!

I've got the Klett on a 120 Stinger; An 80" GP Spacewalker; An Ultra Stick and a now, built but unflown, 4*60 and have never experienced that problem with the first three, the 4* remains unproven.

I just went over and pressed the Klett on the 4* and I can see, on a really hard landing, it could touch the rudder, but boy, it would be a rough one.

I've used the Sullivan on a few (isn't that the one with the wire to the rudder?), and it works well, too.

I appreciate the head's-up, I'll be looking for scuff marks on the rudder bottom on the 4*.

Thanks for the tip!

Kind of off the subject of the tail wheel, but I want to put an aileron servo in each wing of my 4* 40, what is the best way of going about this.