Ken,
You are a craftsman- I vote that you do the silk !
Lay it out( look at the grain), cut oversize, remove and mist wet. Lay over the wing half, stretch and pull out the wrinkles and dope down the l.e , t.e, center section 1/2, then tips. Let it dry some and wisk, no -kiss on dope with a 3/4" camel hair brush that isn't saturated. Don't worry about filling grain yet. Get right to the back side panel half and repeat. That's o.b. bottom, o.b. top same session. Then go to I.b. and do both same session. I.b. tougher due to leadouts. The key is to start with low shrink butyrate and stick with it so it doesn't warp. Get qts. and corresponding thinner from Aircraft Spruce or Brodak.
I have a great article from Model Aviation on silking . Send me a PM if interested.
Of course, you'll want to keep this beauty out of the combat arena if you do use silk ? God, I lost dozens of beautiful silked combat ships in the 60s. Was young, silk and dope were cheap, and I had lots of time.
Otherwise, money kote it.
Have fun,
Frank