RE: To paint or to cover?
Cover your Chipmunk with Solartex and then prime and paint it. Use the white covering. It is not painted yet. Fill the weave by putting a couple coats of primer on it. Then sand the primer with 400 grit sandpaper and paint your base color. Tape off where you want the other color and sand and paint it. If your going with multiple colors just paint your base color where it is going to be. Then tape your second area and tape off the rest of the plane. Continue doing this until your done. I clear coat mine after I put the decals and pin-stripping on. This keeps everything sealed and it is permanent. Heres a few pic's of my Chippy painted with this method.
Gibbs