ORIGINAL: Campy

While paint will provide a much better finish (in my opinion ), it requires a STABLE surface. Wood is going to move due to temperature changes and humidity. This will cause the paint to crack. To provide a stable surface for painting you need to glass the plane, and fiberglass CAN NOT be applied over open bays, they must be sheeted.

If you decide to paint, another option would be to use silkspan combined with waterbase polyurethane. Here is a link to how that is done.

http://www.egpworld.com/ultrahobby/t...INGARTICLE.htm

FWIW - I paint with latex paint, then clearcoat to fuel proof it and provide the degree of "shine" I want. Latex is inexpensive, you can get an exact color match and is one of the lightest (if not the lightest) paint job available.

Hope this helps.