Have to say, I haven't gotten my Jan 7 MA yet, so I can't comment on Phil's article. But in general, the idea is you give the airframe 2-4 coats of clear, sand, cover with wet silkspan (or dry CF depending on the area - can't put CF over open bays). Usually, I just seal the edges of the wet silkspan with dope and let it dry. Then one coat of full shrink dope then 3 or 4 more of non-taunting dope. All coats after this are done with non-taunting dope.Sand, then go back and sand it again. Check for thin spots and possibly hit those areas with a bit more dope and sand again. Then a coat of fillercoat. I use either talc or zinc-sterate (Randy Smith's Aero-1 is pretty cool stuff) mixed in clear dope with a bit of gray dope to give it a bit of color and make it easier when sanding. Then, big surprise, it's sanding time again. Go back and hit low spots with more fillercoat and sand some more. When you're happy with it, another coat of clear to seal things up.
At this point, some will paint silver dope on to highlight low spots that can be filled. Once you do that and are happy with the surface, another coat of clear and it's time for color.
Everything past the silkspan covering, I use a spray gun to apply all material, but that's me. And remember, no finish is ever really done, just abandoned.