Zack,
Have you met any of the guys in your area if you intend to fly combat with the plane? It's always worthwhile to find out what the others in the area are doing.

In general, balsa structure for a combat plane is a really bad idea. One mid-air, and it will be the end of your plane.

A good foam with tape covering plane can fly through multiple mid-airs and keep going. And yes, you can paint over tape just fine. It's the lightest and strongest covering method I've seen anywhere.