You would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the 1/2 oz and 3/4oz cloth znd no it isn't hard to work with at all. As I said, I use Deft Sanding Lacquer sealer and not the water based poly. I have gotten warps with the water based products. The negative of the Deft is the smell, I can't stress that enough and it isn't fuel proof. I never gave that any thought because I almost never glass a glow plane. I think I showed how I do it on my Swoose build thread. I just buy a lot of the cheap throw away brushes but if you go out to the shop about every 20 minutes or so you can keep using the same brush. I put down about three or four coats then do a final coat or two with a 50/50 mix of baby powder to fill any weave I may have missed. Those are the heavy coat but it almost all sands off so not a big deal. I think I showed how to use it on my Sukhoi 29 build too and gave the before and after weights. I use latex house paint on my gassers too. It's cheap, does a nice job and you can get any color you want mixed at the hardware store. I have the samplers mixed for me for a couple bucks, it's enough to paint a giant scale plane and in case of an accident I can just get more paint mixed if needed.
Keep in mind, the deft and poly are not fuel proof but are gas proof. If you go with latex get the exterior paint.
I stink at painting but if I keep it simple I do OK and Latex works for me.
Unlike Bongo, if you give me an air brush I will manage to mess it all up. He did a great job on his plane. Found a couple of thumb nails of the last Sukhoi I built and painted.