It sounds like a "trial by fire" proposal your school gave you. I'm not getting from your post that you know much if anything about aircraft design, or how to build or fly any particular type of model.

I looked up the Vertigo in a Google search, and found this link... https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...years-later%21

It looks to be a follow up on the original design... It also looks like the gentleman worked for years on it to get it where it's at in the article(which the article in the link is 16yrs old). The model does look to be a somewhat proven design, but also very advanced, in every way. Not only development and construction, but also takes a very knowledgeable experienced pilot, of which even most seasoned modelers wouldn't be able to conquer... at least without a firm commitment and hours/days/weeks/months of study and work. It's a huge undertaking.

I hope you and your school understand what you/they're contemplating is a project that could literally take years, especially if nobody has any modeling experience. If they did, they would know without a doubt what the process of creating such model would entail. How long are you going to be going to that school?... Do you plan to see it through?.. It could take quite a while. Some of use in the real world with alot of experience are known to work for a few years or more on one plane...and that's with planning and experience..Even mainstream kit building takes considerable time.

As for material... Fiberglass will weigh far too much to do the whole frame.. The wings and tail must be light.. as light as humanly possible. With experience though(there's that word again), balsa can be built into some seriously strong structures. There really is no need for fiberglass though.. Its a .40 size engine, with maybe a few electric motors..so it won't have immense power, or much vibration... What you described for power is just something to create thrust..

I suggest further studying the Vertigo, and really looking at how long that process took... and what your resources are (consider everything..equipment, tools, and especially experience).... it's the experience factor that will dictate most everything. Really there's helpful people around these sites... but most of us aren't going to write it all down for you.. and it wouldn't matter if we did...The fact is, it's all already been written, you just have to study and figure out if it's even possible to create something like what you're contemplating. Good luck with it.