I started to strip the covering. It's not too bad, but a heat gun is needed to release the glue better. I got a little bit of grain pulled off if I wasn't careful.
I decided to go with the Dubro 5" wheels. With a bit of plastic and some paint I was able to make them look a bit more like the Spitfire 4-spoke wheels. I didn't want the weight of aluminum wheels since the retract pistons are not very large.