RE: 1/2A Planker Finish
Most folks just sanded the balsa smooth and used dope for a finish.
First a coat or two of sealer letting dry completely then sanding between coats after which several coats of clear, again sanding between coats. The clear has no pigment and weighs less. Sealer can be made using clear dope with a tablespoon of baby powder mixed in it. Using available lighting, see how it looks before you add colored dope. When it meets your approval then the prep work is done and you can then use the colored dope.
Only use enough color to make it look great and after letting it dry completely, add a coat or two of clear to give it a deeper gloss.
Many of these type original kits used a cloth hinge. it was simply a piece of thin cotton cloth a half inch wide and about six inches long and you would cut it to length for each half of the elevator and glue it into place, trying not to get much glue in the center where it will bend.
It will look better if you round the LE and sand the rest of the wing into an airfoil.
Before you glue the wing to the bottom of the fuse, mark the centerline on the wing and poke the ends of a couple of toothpicks to act as dowels where the wing joins the fuse strengthening the joint.
Covering with light tissue could add minimal weight and make your prep work less before doping. The tissue seals easier than the wood grain.
Love to see you do a build thread for it!
Lots of these planes were marketed to use .020-.075 CID engines. Can you imagine what a Norvel .074 would do on a plane like this?
Of course the engines of the day had much less power than the modern Norvels.
Robert
P.S. BMatthews beat me to it!