I have covered a number of nosecones in Monokote trim sheets because they are the right color, they are smooth, and they are self adhesive. I know they are not fiberglass. I tell you about this so you could use a similar method for covering your nosecones.

If we start with the ARCAS nose cone, I will measure the circumference at the base of the nose and take this distance and break it into 20 equal lengths (for example, it could be 10 or 30 or what ever you should decide upon). I will then move up about an inch from the first measurement, find that circumference, and break it into 20 equal lengths. I keep doing this a number of times until I have the entire length measured. From this I will learn my circumference at the base and the length of the curve that is defining the nosecone. I then will start drawing a pattern, starting with a rectangle that is the length of my base circumference by the height, which is the length of the curve. (For a nosecone like the one on the Big Bertha, I may need a greater sampling rate.)

In my patter that I am making, you will see that I am really making a graph that defines the cylinder that is my nose cone. In my pattern, I will draw lines that are perpendicular to the base or bottom of this rectangle, and they will be parallel to each other. If I broke the base circumference into 20 parts then I will have 19 lines on my template, that will extend across the entire template, bottom to top. These lines will be my center-lines for making somewhat triangular shaped pieces. If my sampling distance is every one inch in the vertical, I will make marks at that distance all the way across my pattern so that it is a graph. (If my description is simplistic, then I do that for those who do not understand completely, so they might have a chance to do this and gain in understanding.)

When I measured the physical nosecone at each of the sampling locations, and divided down into 20 equal lengths of circumference, I established what the width of my pattern would be at those spots or intersections in my graph/template. I then take that standard dimension at each sample location, divide it by two, and that is half the distance. On my graph/template, I then take this new dimension and mark it on each side of the center-lines at the appropriate elevations, take a French curve to connect my dots, and now I have a template for a 3D curve in 2D. (like a sinusoidal projection map of the earth) For those of you familiar with hemi-spherical parachute construction, you are drawing gores for your pattern so you can represent the 3d shape.

I then transfer this pattern to my medium, such as the Monokote or fiberglass cloth. I then cut out my pattern and apply it to my nose-cone. If my fiberglass cloth is light enough, then I might make it double layer with over-lapping seams.

I hope this helps. This method is not easy. It is time consuming. I am looking for a better method. I do know it works.

Thank you for the details. I try that on the Arcas.

I had an entertaining first attempt at this last night. I think that I made 2 key mistakes: I used 20 sections and I didn't consider static. For this small of a nose cone, I think that 4 or 5 sections would be good enough. Using 20 sections resulted in very narrow triangles. I lifted the FG up after roll-cutting the triangles and had about .25 seconds of happiness because the cut looked great. And then all the triangles went in different directions and twisted.

I attempted to get this laid out on the nose cone but it was a mess. With the FG so narrow it didn't handle very well.

I'll try again with fewer sections. I may switch to just using some individually cut triangles.

I agree, you can have too many sections. You might draw lines on the cone so you know where the triangles are suppose to go. After you have several in place, you might lay wax paper over it and then apply pressure with masking tape to help hold it down. (this is presuming the epoxy (generic term for the glue) is already saturated into the cloth.)

I am just talking off the top of my head, but you might try putting down some epoxy, and before it sets up, lay the cloth on it, and then saturate it with the brushed on epoxy.

The number of triangles need will be dependent on the curvature of the nose cone and the size of the nose cone. I have done this on nose cones on Big Bertha's, on Mean Machines, and on an Intimidator 3. Nothing bigger yet, but I have not had the need.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.