Hi Bud,
I`ve got a Proctor E-III in my hangar, done up in the Austrian scheme (lt green). It was built by a friend, mostly completed, but not entirely. I assisted during most of it, and it went together really well. The dowel idea works. Joints are very strong when braced with these little 'star' fittings and their associated wires. There was only a couple of parts that were not useable in the kit, and the weight seems rather light when compared to how many square inches you`re carrying around with that huge wing. We modified the wing warping hardware quite a bit to better simulate the full size a/c and to provide better mechanical advantage. In reality, it takes very little effort to warp the wing in flight. So you don`t have to overkill your servo installation at all. Just a standard 1/4 scale type is plenty. The undercarriage assembly really is a good design, and Proctor does a great job in replicating it. I`d have to vote for purchasing this kit rather than trying to do it from scratch. The truth is, I`m trying to sell the Proctor stuff all that I can since dorking their prototype D-VII last summer. Order yours today!

John