Hi Mopar, If this is your first scale build I would suggest that you not fret over things like the rudder looking slab sided. Your build photos look like you are doing fine. Unless you are flying with some scale competition guys you are already going to have something that is more scale than 99% of the planes that you will run across at the field. Some of the old kits assume a skill set that isn't as common today and some of the building difficulties have been resolved over the last 40 years. Maple motor mounts aren't that bad they just aren't adjustable. You may have to use shims or trim the mount to get your motor just where you want it. You will probably need to be able to bolt a motor in place and then form the nose to match. If you check the warbird or kit building threads you may be able to find somebodies build. You mentioned the Midwest Messerschmidtt, If it is the .40 size version it is a nice flying plane. It isn't particularly scale but it is a straightforward build and you can add some detail without weighing it down too much.