I built a House of Balsa Nomad back in the 1980's, but made the fatal mistake of using Monokote for covering all over the plane, big mistake, made it too heavy to fly, Tee Dee .020 struggled to pull it in the air. It became a shelf item, until succumbed to moving damage.

Had I covered the wings with clear doped light silk and clear doped the wood surfaces with color trim, it would have been light and flew well. Wing was designed for silk or silkspan, provides tautness and strength. Good discussion in another forum, else needs a hardwood spar or wing will snap. With a spar a lightweight covering like Polyspan or Coverite Coverlite would work.