reading your thread I also built my spit following tubig and his thread I went with the robart units and robostruts they droped right in just like the plans say if you check tubigs solution for the wheel wells it worked out great .I used a 10% solution of windex and water in a spray bottle to soften the balsa and make it more plyable also you can use this solution to take out the imperfections in the sheeting you had mentioned steam can be dangerous. to cover the body of the struts I made a hatch using 1/16 ply incorporated into the coolers using the ribs as my guide I added some blocking to screw to so if need be I could access the flap bellcranks and the struts for maint. or repair .my only gripe with the robarts was that they were a bit sticky out of the box I had to use some nail gun oil to lube the piston after that they have been trouble free .