RE: Alloy / fibre tube fuse frame?
Well, there are various reasons for various methods. I could carve the model from foam, smack some glass on and have a real nice model. But I'm a builder first, flyer second. I like the building process, and like a challenge. So you are right, once covered you will see little of it. But boy, did I have fun building it! Having the pics of the uncovered real plane and scale plane will look nice, too, and maybe add something on a scale competition.
BTW, that does not mean I'm not interested in the method you use, please enlighten us.
Last but not least, it is certainly not a fact I will go this route, yet. I've just worked out the details in CAD, and the weight of the frame will be fairly high. Since I will also be using a fabric / paint cover, and a heavy four stroke gasser, the weight sum does not look positive, now.
Cheers,
Hugo