Oh, baby, the FSi6 is an amazing radio. There's a whole ecosystem of new firmware for them to expand them to 14 channels (or more!), change the switches around, add new controls, etc etc.
https://github.com/qba667/FlySkyI6/
is a good starting point, with the original firmware hack, and then if you want to get Arduino-crazy, I have a page too
http://www.slosh.com/rc/flysky/addl6switches/
Your paint skills far surpass mine, that's for sure.
I'm chuckling at the jackstands, as, well, I might have done exactly the same thing for mine. They're handier than you'd think for multi axle builds like this -- I did a 10x10 military truck that was a total PITA without them.
Do I detect a few pieces done in ABS and warped in there?
-- A