I want to finish my plane with paint.
I don't wanna monokote it, I want to get a smooth surface on the wood and prep it for paint.
The plane is built but haven't went any further, I need advice.
Thank You
Catfish
Email me !

The best way to get an absolutely smooth surface on the wood for painting is to cover it. The most commonly used coverings for this purpose would be silkspan or lightweight fiberglass cloth.

If you just fill the grain and paint, the grain will eventually show up again.

Details man, details... What kind of plane? Fully sheeted? Partially open structure? 40 sized? Giant scale?
If it's partially open structure, I'd go with something like Solartex sold by Balsa USA. It's available by other names like Colortex, Worldtex, etc. but it's all the same. It takes paint beautifully.
If it's fully sheeted like a Top Flite warbird, go with fiberglass cloth.

I'd suggest covering as well. I haven't covered too much, but I've covered a LT-40, and it's really not bad at all. Just get a covering iron (and I've found a heat gun helps if you want to speed things up) and go for it!

Yes Indeed, I forgot the most important thing..
Its a TF 40 size P51 Mustang Fully Sheeted.

Hmmm... I always thought that plane had open bays in the wings. At any rate, I'd fiberglass it with .75 or lighter fiberglass. You can get a light, durable finish with glass cloth if you don't overdo the epoxy and paint.
With a plane that size, it can get overweight in a hurry.

Yes it was supposed to have open bays but its been sheeted for glassing.
And any other advise will be welcomed also...
Catfish

Follow the link below to a pretty good how-to if you're new to fiberglassing.
http://www.arts-hobby.com/howtos.htm

Checked the site out and its exactly what i was looking for.
A BIG THANK YOU!
Catfish