Thanks for all the input. I've seen other guys use the same basic steps and materials and get very neat results. I know that all the master modeling books stress doing a dry run with the techniques you plan on using off to the side for practice.
I've found that drawing a single edge razor over the surface does a nice job of scraping the bumps off. I've epoxied the major bubbles down after peeling the loose cloth back.
Thankfully the finish will be flat black on this model
!