As for the covering, I would recommend practicing A LOT before attempting to cover your actual plane. Maybe you can make random pieces out of extra balsa you have and cover them... covering can easily be extremely hard to do for a beginner (I had troubles), but once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze... usually Anyways, that's what I've got to say. PRACTICE! That's how I learned.

I know that you've probably read this... but just in case... [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=67]How to cover[/link]