RE: House 0f Balsa 1/12 P51 (.061-.10) build
I had one of these and had a blast with it. I put a magnum .15 in it. This was in like 94'-95'. I would just paint the fuselage. Light fiberglass it with polycrylic and then get some silver dope. Use the plastic on the wings. Monokote will not last too long on that fuselage.
This is the plane that got me into scale RC combat. The FW 190 was even more fun!