Well here's my thought: one of the reasons people shy away from planes like this is "balsaphobia". I think we can agree he building of this plane is about as easy as it gets (and I'm currently revamping the building manual to make it even more detailed and specific). Lack of confidence is the #1 problem. Once you start glueing, it's all downhill and you wonder what you were so worried about. After you do the first one, you learn SOOOOOOO much that the subsequent ones get better and better and better.

Finishing is no different, except for one thing" no matter what you do, there is a sunstantial amount of work and special equipment involved. but how is this really any different from say, venturing into electrics, or making the jump into a real 2 meter plane in the first place? It's just different, and is probably one skill most would like to have, but also many like having that excuse (reason) not to do it. After all, if your wallet is deep and you don't WANT to spend a lot of time on it, there are plenty of planes to choose from. Oxai comes to mind. This is one of those cases where you're either a modeler or an ARF pilot. I am still amazed at how many people nowadays have never flown anything but ARFs. Now there's not a THING wrong with that, as long as you are ok with whatever you can get whenever you can get it, and aren't crazy enough to be the first guy to discover that it has some serious problems.

But if you have the desire to learn to do this, it's really not that hard at all, but you have to be willing to learn and make a few mistakes along the way. It's a long journey and there will possibly be a few bumps in the road along the way. That has to be ok. I do everything I can to roll out the bumps for you, but I can't think of everything and I'm not there.

The glassing and painting part of this is a great example. There's only so many pictures you can look at but until you see it with your own eyes and do it yourself, it's still a big mystery. Don's video is fantastic, I have a copy myself. It's certainly a great reference and we do a lot of things the same. But, I do a few things different and although I can tell you what they are, it's easier if you see it in motion. of course the logistics of actually doing it are a PITA, but I think it would be worth the trouble.

-Mike