jtisch

All good answers. One thing to understand is that non-tautening dope is like decaf coffee. Decaf coffee still has caffeine and non-tautening dope still shrinks. My only concern about using tautening nitrate at the very beginning of the process is the possibility it might pull the edges of the fabric off of the airframe.
As others have said, don't freak out if it looks horrible after the first coat or two of dope, "It will get better".

J