OK - back from the Bucker fly-in. Had a great time. Here's the latest progress:
The blocks were sanded to shape on the fin. Here's the top part of the fin. A simple portable belt sander did the trick.

Here's a shot of the middle of the fin. You can see the taper from 1 in. to 9/16 in. (sorry it's a bit blurry)

I began work on the rudder. When laying out the dimentions on the table, the Curtiss drawings called for a 62 1/4 in radius to make up the trailing edge. That's a whole lot bigger than my table, so I decided to use the floor and make a template. I swung the arc on a piece of paper and cut it out to shape.

Then I added it to the other dimentions already set on the table. This gave me the lines to set the forming blocks.

Hope to start bending tubing soon!
Brian