Joe - since you just did the practice board and the Quark in close succession, how would you compare the two projects?
The practice board was great practice for the Quark! I did the entire practice board except I gave up on those teeny 0402 parts halfway through. Even with a lighted magnifier they are TINY, and fortunately Cris uses 0805 and 1206 parts in his designs.
On that 858D clone, I've used 380 degrees C and the air flow at about 4.
Some of the parts on the Quark are a bit closer together than on the practice board, but it wasn't a huge difference. The group of 3-4 resistors to the left of the processor clumped together when the solder paste started to flow, but they were easy to coax into position (or for one, remove and re-place after things had cooled).
I had no solder bridge issues other than between IC pins -- not the pads, but the pins themselves. That was usually easy to clear with tweezers, though one time I removed the part and vacuum desoldered the excess and sort of started over.
I carefully inspected joints with a 10x loupe as I went, and reflowed or added a bit more solder paste when it wasn't up to par. Though it's a new skill, the solder joints are "professional quality" versus some obviously-not-pro joints on my hand-soldered Quantum. Overall, I agree 100% with you that the hot air is "magnificent" and I wish I hadn't delayed getting one for so long!
For the solder paste, I pressed the plunger with my right hand and "aimed" with my left hand, since I hold the board in a Panavise (elevated). When I'm done with the few parts I'd place at a time, I pulled back on the plunger to avoid the oozing. That two-handed reflex bit me ONCE during the Quark build, though -- put my left hand BRIEFLY on the hot air gun (OUCH!). Won't do that again (I hope)!