For your first attempt keep it simple and use just butyrate, non tautening if there is a choice.
Sand framework with about 220 grit.  Then brush on 2 or 3 coats of 50/50 thinned on perimeter of framework.  Sand again very lightly just to knock down the nubs, you dont want to remove any of the dope on the surface.  Cut your silkspan at least 1" (2 or 3 is better) bigger than surface all the way around, you need this to pull out the wrinkles before you dope it down.  Then dampen silkspan, lay on wing and brush thru the silkspan around the perimeter only with 75/25 thinned (some use straight thinner for this step) to attach silkspan to structure.  Then go back to 50/50 mixture for fill coats to build up substrate.  It will take 2~3 coats to start to fill the weave of the span, maybe 5~6 to fill it completly.  You can add talc or cornstarch to fill coats to help it fill.  About a heaping teaspoon to a pint of thinned dope mixture, or as much as will stay in suspension.  
This is the way I like to dampen the silkspan.   Lay a large bath towel on workbench,  put silkspan on one side of towel, spray it with water till its soaked pretty good, then fold other side of towel over on top of the silkspan, then press on the towel to blot out the excess water.  If you get all the wrinkles out before you start doping around the edges, it will be tite when the water dries.  

For a first attempt, use butyrate dope, I use Brodak.
What I do is sand all bare wood smooth with either 220 or 320.  Then I apply one coat of Brodak clear to the wood, thinned somewhere around 50/50.  After the first coat of clear is dry, the wood should feel rough to the touch, that is because the clear swelled the wood.  I "knock the fuzz off" with 320 (this makes the wood smooth again) and then I apply a second coat of clear.  Again the wood should again feel rough to the touch.  The wood swelled with the second coat of clear, but less than the first.  Once again knock the fuzz off with 320.  Keep doing this until the wood is smooth after applying the clear without sanding.  This gives you a good base and will your finish will become light.
Next dampen the silkspan.  Cut the silkspan bigger than you need to.  What I do to wet the silkspan is lay it on a towel, and spray it with water until it is good and wet.  Then i take the other half of the towel and dry it out with it.  Now the silkspan is damp.  Lay the silkspan on the wood that you are attaching it to.  If the wood is a solid surface, brush on clear from the middle out, as it will help to somewhat prevent wrinkles.  Make sure you get clear on ALL the silkspan.  After the silkspan is on the wood, I take a paper towel, and gently rub it down to get rid of the wrinkles.  Now if you are attaching the silkspan on an open bay area, go along the perimeter of the wood, don't go into the open bays.
When the silkspan is dry, you can start to build up your substrate with clear.  I typically go up to 6-7 coats of clear before I spray on a coat of auto primer, then sand it down, since auto primer is very heavy.  I typically put on 2 coats of primer, before color.  Now for my Oriental Plus, I think I"m going to spray Silver as my primer because I'm planning to use coolors that don't cover very well (white, and red.  Yellows and oranges also don't cover very well.).

Hope this helps you out and good luck

thanks guys,thats what i want a simple way to start for a first timer!

Clint,

Heck, I used fillers for years and have come full circle. I don't really use fillercoat anymore. Just un-thinned, non-taunting butyrate. 3 or 4 coats of that molasses and the grain is pretty much filled. It sands easily and you can get a very smooth base. And as you note, adhesion of color coats becomes a non-issue.

Yeah, I never noticed the grain really filling up any faster with stuff in the dope. Same as you I just use a few coats of either un-thinned or lightly-thinned clear dope. Except now I use nitrate dope for this part. I learned my lesson about fillers in the dope. It was bad.

Hello P51drb

Here is one artical that helped me:  Covering with Silkspan by Jim Ryan.

Bill Little also helped me.  Just ask him and he might help you out?

Bryan