Unsupported, glass strands or filaments have low shear and tensile strength, however the compressive strength is immense or that of the parent glass material...when the glass strands are supported in the epoxy resin is where the mechanical strength of the two are achieved
...Hmm, In my memory, glass fibres are made from solid "glass" which is not good in tension but better in compression and no bending. When it's turned into a fibre, it's far, far better in bending and
very high tensile strength (but no compressive strength at all). The binding "polymer" (whatever it is) is
usually rubbish in tension but good in compression. It's when the two are combined in a matrix of fibres oriented in your chosen direction (or all in the case of CSM) that the
synergy is made. Nobody would mould a big hull from cotton sheet because it's not the right base-material and doesn't suit application.
...Lets not get mixed up with details on here anyway.
Dillinger have you tried anything yet? Your ultimate intentions are still a bit unknown. I would have had
no problem using some cloth and diluted epoxy to do what you originally asked -as far as I know it's been done in aircraft for donkeys and model aircraft last long enough also. To be honest I'll reckon allot of us on here (myself included) have stretched material and painted with dope, thinned epoxy or just paint before. Not meaning to be aggressive but what is the actual goal of doing this because there's always lots of options and on forums usually everyone wants to do things their own way. If you have some ideas now the forum is full of previous builds and how to's etc. But you can still be here in spring if you need a complete how to a-la Airfix kit. I'm not having a go, but sometimes I think I'm not the only person just wanting to say -have a go and try yourself becuse you might get on well with something from the start, and none of us have this part in our hands so how can anyone come up with a single fix that individually suits you?
Sorry -not meaning to come across bad -but time to go try something I think! The sooner you try you can see where it might / might not work, and lastly, there is the old paper and card method -by that I mean try with paper or card strips first before you commit!