RE: How prepare Balsa to cover with paint?
What you can get by with and what makes your life EASY are usually 2 different things.
The Devilbiss gun is nice, that should be fine right there. If you want sweetness in a HVLP form, check out a Sata minijet or an Iwata LPH80. Those are the 2 best paint guns for our application that I have found, there are probably others.
Compressor: no such thing as overkill. Install a quality filter/dryer for insurance. You don't want moisture in the line.
Ideally you want about a .8-1.0mm tip/nozzle. Any more really puts out too much paint, any less and you'll really have to thin it and be patient.
The Paasche is fine for trim, just make sure it's clean, lubed and in good working order.
A note about colors: some colors lay down better than others. White SUCKS. It is the hardest to get a good coat for me. So, use the white for setting up and testing. if you can lay that down nice, the other colors will be a walk in the park.
-Mike