Well, Bren, the build is coming right along.
I like the repurposed thin ply. I too have quite a collection of such materials that have been pigeonholed for that occasion that one of my builds could use it. I even have various material like some thin faux leather for making up some semi-scale interior components.

I agree with the mechanical adjustments on the control surface travels. By dialing everything out of the travel electronically you can loose some of the resolution on the proportional travel.

I know it has become uncommon to wrap receivers as you mentioned. And not many people do from what i see.
But, I have been known to crash one once in a while. So, I still wrap my receivers to protect them from impact on one of those occasions.
I just use some of that large cell packing type foam to keep from holding in too much heat. (also actual repurpose from packing)

I also noticed after re-reading your post 21 that you had already mentioned what I illustrated in post 22. . But hey, it gave me a chance to draw it up and participate in your thread rather than just reading it. A little interaction always makes these threads a little more fun....