George,

Fuselage formers are 3mm liteply. This is a layer of ply, then balsa, then ply. Much stiffer and stronger than 3mm balsa, for not too much weight gain.
Wing aerofoils are currently 3mm balsa, but may change to liteply and hollow out most of the inner material.
Stringers and longerons are 1/4" balsa square section.
Airframe and wings will be 100% skinned in 1/16" balsa.

Finish probably brown paper and pva, followed by lots of sanding, sanding filler, and finally camo spray and decals.

John,
I'm totally with you! Been designing my own purpose made aircraft for many years, but always hankered after a Spitfire. Saw one for real do an aero show at Cosford 2 years ago and brought a tear to my eye . . .

If you make an electric Spitfire of 2m or more, you can carry the weight of a sound system with real startup sound, full V12 Merlin engine, machine guns etc. from a pair of loudspeakers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMh5C...eature=related