I've been into this fad for 25 years.After years of working with bead and cove I switched to hand beveling. The reason was, I kept having big glue lines appear after the surfaces were sanded. It's very hard to tell if the bead edges are totally seated in the cove.
If your cutters are not set PERFECTLY this problem will be worse!
I'd be willing to bet 90% of novice builders who mill their own bead and cove do not set-up their cutters PERFECTLY!
That's all true, but I also see you start with "25 years," and I think that also exceeds the experience with hand tools that most novice builders have.
My premise assumes accurately milled stock. That means stock with uniform thickness (run through a thickness planer after ripping) that is perfectly set up with B/C bits. It takes time, and it takes scrap to test. If you don't want to burn your WRC during setup, be sure you cut and plane some pine or other scrap along with your cedar so you have identical stock for testing, and use that for setup. Spend the time now, or pay the price later.
As for B+C gaps- it's not enough to attach them only at the stations. You'll need tape or clamps or something between the stations. I'm guessing that's the same for either method.
That was the point of the engineers as well.
m