There are many methods of doing the same thing. Some involve traditional materials;- balsa, tissue and dope, which are fine in the right model, but put a motor in a model or push the limits of that glider and down it'll come, gutted you will be. The only hope is a friendly voice to say 'sorry to see that happen, perhaps if you try balsa and a polyester cover such as Solafilm, (as you're starting Solafilm is half the price and just as easy as Profilm).
So
the task at hand, and this isn't trying to teach you more seasoned
flyers to suck eggs, but maybe something in all of this will give
you something new to think about, an alternative, or like me the
solution to a puzzle that's been holding up a build and and you've
been afraid to ask. We've all been there maybe not recently, but
I'll bet if we're honest.
There are bucket loads of "short cuts" to building a model, each of which has to be considered on it's own merit, simply because of structural intergrity, weight and application for the task in hand. One short cut to lighter weight fuzes is to make a ply from cross grain 1/32" or 1/16" balsa sheet. As long as the former isn't load bearing i.e. near wing securing nut position or motor bulkhead, you can save nearly 50% of the finished weight of the formers.
Alternatives to balsa dope tissue...
Balsa on it's own, is for the best part weak as a building material which is why we put formers, cross grain sheet on fuz bottoms and amounts of ply where it doesn't show, mostly. If you're planning to use ply, cut plenty of lighteners so that you only have wood where it needs to be, or the weight will shoot up so quickly. But ply is marvellous and used sparingly can enhance a model strucurally and aesthetically.
Pay attention to what you're doing and try the fit of every part before gluing because if you are using super glue it's too late already, and the thin stuff goes a lot further than you think, especially on harder balsa where it doesn't soak in so quickly, but it will find your fingers. Be careful with hardwoods as it won't always work as fast or well. PVA or epoxy may be needed. When gluing harder materials like epoxy sheet or spruce, it pays to provide a key for the glue, usually a gentle sanding with 320 grit will do.
As time has gone on I've learnt that a kit is a good way to
start. After reading the plan review and checking the drawing,
discussing with your club instructor it's suitability, and even
then still determined to proceed, go and select your radio gear.
This is to ensure you can get it all in and where it needs to
be relative to the control surface or function it's there for.
Also if you're doing a conversion from glow power it's good to
know that you can get your battery in/out to change/charge packs.
it's no good converting a model to electric then finding it's
so weak in a critical area because you've had to remove 2/3 of
the load bearing formers. Load bearing formers are there to take
the loads and stresses of the propulsion, power supply and primary
flying surfaces, i.e the wings. It's all well and good losing
50% of the structural weight of a glow to E flight conversion,
but if during even a basic manouver the wind catches you side-
ways and the wings fold it's a bit of waste of effort. 
If this is one of yor first scratch
builds then material selection can be as much of a challenge as
the construction itself. Get help here as I've been lucky up until
now, never having had someone tell me the best way to grade balsa
I've always gone by what I think is right, and what I've read.
One detail I have learnt is that speckled grain balsa is good
for wing ribs. Adhesives are another questionable subject in so
far as traditional or modern glues, and then there's epoxy....
So, traditional. Throw out most of them and use mainly P.V.A,
buy a good quality one of these as a little can go a long way
and most cheaper versions go rubbery rather than off, which means
when sanding a wing skin can leave you with a peculiar ridge at
the glue joint. P.V.A is good for skinning wings and fuzes to
give shuffle time. Don't over clamp a glue joint as you could
end up with glue starved joints, which give out at the most inappropriate
of times. Aliphatic, never gotten around to using this although
I know I should do. When dry, it forms a very sandable joint.
Superglues are all much the same brand wise. The differance being
in viscosity, how runny, which relates to how fast the stuff sets.
A critical point to consider in building is that only low odour
is safe to use on foam, any other type will melt foam. Cyano is
great for quick building if you've cut your kit. As long as you've
spent time accurately cutting formers, ribs, spars and the crutch
for the fuz, then laid it out accurately on your bulding board,
you can assemble and glue the main part of your model in the time
it takes for the kettle to boil. Good close joints are critical
for use with supaglues. you can get away with less than perfect
joints with P.V.A, but let's not get into bad habits at the start.
If while using superglue you need a fillet, to impart a little
extra strength, but not weight then you could try balsa dust packed
fairly tightly into a corner and a few small drops of thin supa
glu. Works for me, and it's cheaper than micro balloons.
Epoxy is great for strength, but
heavy in use, so only where nescessary and very sparingly. Motor
mounts, battery trays wing joints and bandages, and undercarriage
mounting plates. Those of you who have used resin before know
that it comes in a range of setting speeds, from 5 minutes to
24 hours, and different viscosities, how runnny is it. Runny resin
can be made runnier by warming the resin and hardener depending
on type, at the expense of reduced cure time, because as we know
most resins give off heat as a by product of the curing process.
Later on you will probably use it for glass skinning wings or
a fuselage, but caution here as epoxy and polyester resins don't
bond well to each other. Another point worthy of note is that
polyester resin shrinks as it hardens. There are also several
types of fibreglass tissue and cloth, from your chopped strand
to your finishing tissue. There could be a whole evenings worth
of fibreglass technique stuff, and there are people as knowledgable
about it so I don't have to monopolise.
Since starting to write this article I've had experiance of aliphatic. It's brilliant stuff... The only things I can say are;- Wipe excessive glue off joints, this stuff dries quickly, and don't try to plane dried excess glue away, sand carefully and blow out dust regularily to avoid waste getting in under the sand paper and scratching the heck out of the surface you're trying to clean up. I'm embarrased to say that's the voice of unfortunate experience talking. Having said that;- like most silly mistakes,- you only tend to do it once...You hope.