Most of the fabric covered aiplanes I've seen didn't seem that hard.
That is, you could walk up to them and push the fabric in with your
hand. The way I understand the fabric process, it is basically a
composite structure. You have a nylon cloth with a paint "epoxy".

Could a much stronger and lighter covering be made by wetting out some
2.5oz glass cloth on plastic, waiting till it's tacky and then wrapping
it around the airframe? The epoxy would be much lighter than paint, and
fiberglass cloth is MUCH stronger than nylon.

I've seen some places where builders used composites in place of fabric,
and it seemed that they all aimed for a multlayer, stiff panel, putting
the weight far above the original. I just don't understand why?

--
http://www.ernest.isa-geek.org/
"Ignorance is mankinds normal state,
alleviated by information and experience."
Veeduber