Thanks for the suggestions guys. I followed DB's advice and now have a much better looking body.
I actually sanded a bit more aggressively than "light", especially on the top and bottom, because the blotches were somewhat persistent but also to get a more even base tone in preparation for the fourth coat of stain. I have since applied the stain coat plus two coats of intensifier, picking warmer days to do this. I'll know tomorrow if a 3rd intensifier coat is needed.
I think some of my previous troubles arose from applying stain back in October/November last year when the air temp was a lot cooler and humidity a lot higher. I also may have misinterpreted what was said on the instructional video because I let individual coats of stain dry before applying the next and it looked suspiciously like coat 3 dried on top of coat 2 without really soaking in. [This time around I followed the written instructions, not the video]. The other thing I observed this time was that the prescribed follow up rubbing after stain application helped eradicate places where the stain subsequently started to pool. I went over the body two complete times after the initial stain pass and the diligence paid off.
I'll post some more pictures on my build diary entry when I've had time to shrink them.
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