I used T-88 and acid brushes with the bristles cut a little short (about 1/2" long). I also put a drop of CA into each brush where the bristles join the handle so I would not have any bristles come loose. T-88 is very easy to spread this way. I lightly scuffed the web ply with 120-grit sandpaper and wiped the dust off with a damp paper towel. I put the T-88 on the ply web 1st since it takes longer to soak in than the spruce. After applying T-88 to the spar spruce, I placed the ply on the build table and aligned the spar over the ply. Then used bricks to apply pressure (no staples). Since I had already spliced my ply web pieces into one long piece, I cheated during my gluing. I applied T-88 to the spar, and a buddy applied T-88 to the ply web. If you are worried about not having enough time to do it alone and haven't glued all four pieces of web ply together, perhaps you could add one length of ply at a time being sure there is adequate pressure on each scarf.