Hey Jim,

I deviated from the manual and tacked my panels together on my EP.  The way I did it was that if the finished fillet was a 1" radius, then my tack was 3/4".  It was safely between stitches to make them easy to remove.  The idea was to be able to go over the 3/4" tabs with a 1" smooth fillet that would completely encapsuate it.  

On the PM, I plan on using Woodzilla (BTW, I think the only diff is they added wood flour to make it brown) to tack the panels together.  I'll use the same 3/4" trick.  Full disclosure, my build is sponsored by MAS Epoxy.

I actually didn't think the tacks were as messy as the fillets.  I chose not to tape my fillets because it left a ridge of cured wood floured epoxy the thickness of the tape, which although not much was noticeable during the sanding.  With my 1" radius filleting tool, I was able to fade the fillets to nothing.  I describe this on my blog (midnight-maker.com).

I might tape the PM to make it look a bit nicer.  For the tacks, you need something that has some viscous volume (the ubiquitous "peanut butter" in the directions) on parts that have little common surface area (because they're all at weird angles to each other).  So as far as I know CA won't work.

Hope that helps...

   I don't have any experience with anything but thickened epoxy and a ketchup squiter. BUT, the Shade brothers (Guillemot and Shearwater Boats) recommend thick CA glue and accelerator. The only purpose for the tacks, is to allow you to pull the wires before filleting. This allows for smaller/lighter fillets. I make mine about the thickness of ketchup, and only leave a small gap at the wires. I have a fair bit of experience, and can tack a whole boat in about an hour. Then wait for  the epoxy to set. Good luck, JRC.