Hey Guys,
I thought this thread was about done, but I see there is still some interest going on. I spent this weekend at our club's first Fly In of the year and got some more photos of the Stearman, I wish I knew how to load the video some of the guys shot.
Anyway, to answer the questions.
Bob, the firewall "cowl" or whatever you call it I made from 1/8" lite ply with a 1/2 balsa ring. I measured the diameter of the engine mount for the ring I.D. and used the diameter of the existing firewall for the O.D.. I sawed the ring out and turned it on my lathe. Covered it with Aluminum Monokote and then glued it to the previously covered plywood plate. It gives the appearance of the engine mount recessed into the firewall and I was supprised at how many of the guys picked up on that. The funny offcenter hole in the existing firewall was filled and backed up with 1/4 birch plywood to allow for the bottom radial mounting hole. The "KELO-CREATIONS" collector ring effectively fills the gap between the ring and the back of the cylinders, giving the appearance of a tight engine installation.

Manfred, The onboard glow system is from "ELECTRO_DYNAMICS" and performs flawlessly. It came with the biggest single cell Ni-Cad I have ever seen, 7000 mah. I used the plug wires supplied with the OS engine as they hold better than any I have previously used. It blew their minds when I backed the idle down to 750 RPM and the engine didn't quit. It's kind of like American-Express...."Don't leave home with out it"

Teryn, I used the supplied tailwheel assembly, but don't like it. I did braze a # 8 flat washer to the tailwheel wire to make a bearing where the weight rides on the tailwheel support plate and not the hinges. I think this is very important. I have a multi-leaf tailwheel assembly that I will probably install soon. Also the main gear has no spring to it , so I replaced the wheels with Du-bro treaded pneumatic tires. At least they give a little. I want to install a set of Robart struts but haven't figured out exactly how to fabricate a landing gear to mount the struts to.

Can't resist posting a photo taken this weekend. By the way, the "SOLO" propeller is a work of art and works as good as it looks. Tracking is perfect and you can adjust the pitch quickly.