You aught to try Doculam! I don't think it would sag as much. If you are interested I can send you some to try.

Robert

Thanks friend. I will get some to you.

Robert

Thank you George,  rib height I'm currently using is 1.5" on a nominal 6.5" chord, that's 23%, sags to about 1", 15%...it's working really really well--the planes are very fast, track well, snap through turns with minimal speed loss, turn tight consecutive loops with no bogging, upwind maneuvers no problem, etc.  An all-around good combat plane. A thorough experimenter would try taller ribs (shorter as well) to find the optimal.  I'll probably get around to it eventually.  Don't know how a guy could get much better performance than I already have though.

Quote by minnesotamodeler:
"And clear!  It practically disappears"

I know! Nearly like glass.

Robert

Where do you get Docu-lam, and how is its weight?  Also, is it paintable?

Hi Larry,

I got mine from Robert!  I think it's the stuff used in laminating machines, for laminating documents...so should be available through any office supply house (Officemax, etc.).  However, if that's the stuff, it comes in, like, 500' rolls or something, for big $$$.  Somebody oughtta buy a roll and piecemeal it out to modelers in manageable quantities--somebody probably already does. Somebody oughtta research this (hint, hint).

It is extremely light, about like Coverite Microlite, but much stronger.  Robert tells me it is paintable, on the outer surface if sanded lightly to get some "tooth", or on the under surface with no prep necessary--I don't know how that would affect the adhesion however. I'll probably be trying some of these things since Robert sent me a bunch of the stuff.

Ray,

I've been using this stuff since the late sixties, mainly on combat models back when.  The stuff I use is called SEAL - LAMIN and you can google it and find it at a number of places.  Here's a few:

http://www.teamphoto.com/products_lamsupplies.html

http://www.schooloutfitters.com/catalog/product_info/pfam_id/PFAM3911/products_id/PRO11777?sc_cid=shopping.com_GBC-3000004

http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/stock/AudioVisual.rtf

You're right about the high temp.  You can actually scorch the balsa underneath the film and it doesn't melt.

Be careful if you sand prior to painting.  I tried it a couple of times and let go  when I lightly passed over a rib.  I painted my wing tips on the old combat cats about 30 years ago and it hasn't cracked or peeled after all that time.  Still tight as a drum too.  For all of you that want to paint it I would suggest just wiping it off with a solvent to make sure its grease free and paint it as is.  I used dope and like I said 30 years later and still looks fine.  Build a test frame to try other paint.  I think it will work well with Rustolium.

The laminates come in either matte or gloss.  Both types look the same until applied.  When heated the glue on the gloss melts and becomes clear.

Here's an example of wings covered using this stuff a couple of years ago.  This was off the same 200' x 11-1/4" roll purchased in 1972 or thereabout.