The Range foamboard

[Rich Griff]

Anyone using The Range art studio white foam board ?

 

It's made in PRC for The Range chain of shops which are nation wide ?

 

They only had A4 and A3 in stock today but I have bought larger sheets when they had them.

 

It's also available in black.

 

More colours to come ??

 

It's available locally in Bangor and is 5mm thick. 5 pack A4 @ £2.99, 2 pack A3 @ £2.99.

[martin collins 1]

Sounds interesting, what are you building with it, how do you find it to work with?

[Nigel R]

Sounds exactly like the stuff sold by Hobbycraft.

 

Makes a very reasonable replacement for 3/32 balsa.

 

I've used it for ribs and fuselage formers. Also for making non structural bits and bobs to e.g. keep servo leads tucked away. Dead easy - straight swap for balsa. For a parallel chord wing, a set of ribs can be cut out around a ply template very very quickly.

 

With some balsa strip around the edge to reinforce, I've used it for flat sheet ailerons and flat sheet tailplanes. Works ok here too. Some small bits of 1/32 ply make a bulletproof horn mounting area. Add some fore/aft strips of thin balsa (or even paper) to simulate a bit of internal structure.

 

Exercise caution when covering with film. If you get it too hot it starts to melt and the air within expands. This leads to large bubbles or blisters. Guess how I know.

[David Davis 2]

I have heard a lot about using this material for wing ribs. I would like to see a picture of a wing under construction, ditto Nigel R's flat sheet tailplanes with balsa support because I have difficulty in imagining what such a tailplane would look like.

 

Which glue do you use?

[Eric Robson]

Hi David, 

Sorry for the quality of the picture this is what a foam board wing and tail plane look like uncovered, the tail plane on this model is Hobbycraft foam board and maker foam sandwich as is the wing. the tail plane has no other stiffeners and has survived over 130 flights, it is 16" span, the wing span is 57" 

[David Davis 2]

Do you have a build log of this model Eric?

[Flying Squirrel]

Theres another thread on this with some good info..

 

 

[Graham Davies 3]

I've not tried the Range board, but as with others have experience of both hobbycraft and Flitetest. I would expect it to be similar to the Hobbycraft board as the original intended purpose was as a photographic backing board, so the paper skin is strongly bonded to the foam. The flitetest board is easier to strip the paper. Both have their uses.

 

My latest build, a CAP232, uses Hobbycraft board with the paper removed from one side using an iron. It works really well as a modelling material, and there are a few of us on here who are experimenting with techniques and structures. For me, I love it. It allows subjects to be modelled quickly, cheaply and with some thought, accurately. The models tend to come out lighter than traditional materials too. Here's a selection of confectionary, all using minimal (or in the case of the CAP, zero) balsa...

 

Graham

[martin collins 1]

Hobbycraft foam board for the internal fuselage structure, wings (paper removed from inside of wing upper skin), tailplane and fin. B&Q depron underlay used for fuselage skin. Fuselage covered in brown paper/thinned PVA all other surfaces have the paper left on the board. Sprayed with Valspar paint mixed at B&Q built from free plans off the net, a lot lighter than my slightly smaller Cambrian Funfighter 109, flies great. Build thread over on foam forum on this site.

Edited October 20, 2022 by martin collins 1