I was recently given an old Stirling Supermarine Spitfire. There is no gear in it, just the constructed wing and fuselage. No engine, tanks, wheels, servos, or any of that. It does have some of the pushrods installed, but most are rusted. Now, I only recently started learning to fly, using a Wingdragon 4. I have an experienced pilot training me, but obviously I won't be ready to fly the spitfire for quite a while. My question is this: how do I go about returning this spitfire to useable condition while I'm learing, so that when I am competent to fly it, it will be ready?

I have also heard that Stirling kits tended to be heavy, and this seems like no exception. It weighs about 5 pounds already, with no gear. Of that, the wing is 2lb 6 oz. The wingspan is 64in. The skin is in good condition, just needs some sanding and repaint, but is it too heavy? The skin looks pretty thick (to my untrained eye), so would reskinning it in a thinner balsa cut enough weight? Should I try disassembling it and copying the parts in a lighter material? My mentor suggested I could build a new, composite wing from wire cut foam with some light ribs and balsa skin.

I'm a college student, so while I have enough money to complete it, I'd prefer to spend time before money at the moment. Likewise I'm still learning about both flying and building models, so I'm in no rush. What are your suggestions?

-Dylan

P.S. The two pictures of a skinned spitfire are of mine, the unfinished one is a picture I found of someone elses, and added it to help show the understructure.