Silkspan over solid balsa?

[paulwells66]

I am trying to keep the combat streak light. I have been told to silkspan over the box fuselage because the sillspan pores fill faster than the balsa. However the fuselage  sides and top that came with this kit do not seem particularly porous. I am not going for a perfect finish trying to keep it light. Not sure how much the extra silk span will weigh?. Interested in the pros and cons of both ways

[paulwells66]

Thank you - and yes, Purely nostalgia

[john e. holliday]

Here is a pic of my Combat Streak and Flite Streak built at the same time.  I still have the kit I cloned the planes from.  Both McCoy 35 powered like back in the day when I was mucho younger.   Neither use any dope.  If you do a search in the finish section you will see they are Monokote the colored areas.  The base wing/tail areas are what is called DOC paper with mylar over it.   Makes for strong covering   They are both the same size as the picture makes the Combat Streak look smaller.

[paulwells66]

Looks good