It's Gone!!! Readi-Board that is!

[CF Av8or]

HEFA Modellers,

A huge tragedy has struck the RC community in the Maritimes! Okay, perhaps the tragedy is actually limited to just me and the other diehard scratch-builders out there. What is it you ask? Well, it is that Dollarama has stopped carrying the Readi-Board brand of foam board!!! Yes, it’s the horrible truth!

I discovered Readi-Board several years ago when I was looking for an inexpensive alternative to Depron foam for small model building - in particular, light-weight models for backyard and indoor flying. As many of you know, I have built a bunch of semi-scale models from the stuff. This is the material which we used for the first HEFA Build Seminar, in which ten of us constructed the indoor foam Piper L-4/Cubs. The stuff is a dream to work with, is nearly one-tenth the cost, lighter and, in a lot of respects, it is better than Depron. The Readi-Board brand of foam board is unparalleled in the ease in which the paper facing can be removed to reveal a beautiful foam construction material that is both stiff and light-weight - and at $1.25 a sheet is super affordable. In comparison, the foam board you can buy at Staples or Walmart (typically Elmer's brand) is not only 3 or 4 times the price, but is completely useless for lightweight aircraft projects. The paper won't come off without tremendous effort and mess, and when it does, the foam surface is rough and pitted. The foam is also thicker and heavier.

Unbeknownst to me, several months ago Dollarama switched suppliers from Adams, the producer of Readi-board, to the Elmer's brand of foam board. Had I known this was happening I would have hoarded boxes of the stuff before it all disappeared. Now, it's too late! I contacted Adams to ask if they would ship a box or more to me, but evidently they won't. What they did say was that Dollar Tree Canada still carries their product. Good news, except that there are no Dollar Tree stores in the Maritimes!

First they took Fan Fold (Bluecor) away from us – and now Readi-Board!! When will it end?!! Aaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhh!!!

Ahem….sorry about that…..you’ll have to forgive me for getting emotional, but for crying out loud, what’s next – balsawood?!

I have already written Dollarama to voice my disappointment, and if you happen to feel the same way, you may want e-mail them as well (contactus@dollarama.com). Maybe we can make a difference!

Signed,
Frustrated and Depressed

[saboo]

I bought some of the Elmers. I decided to take the paper facing off it to see what it was like.

One side came off very easily. I thought this will be great. I was busy and left the other side on as it did not seem to want to come off like the first side.

Now I have this sheet of foam that is in the shape of a big U. It bent away from the paper side. Or maybe the foam shrank. Either way the U shape is about 12 inches high when laid on the bench. Have not had time to try and remove the paper from the other side. The foam also appears to be much thinner and weaker.

So we all have lost another low price building material as Vic bemoaned.

[Paul E. Wogg]

That is very disappointing...only 3 sheets left myself
I also tried the Elmer's, could not find a viable method to remove paper
Emailed disappointment to Dollarama ..... You never know.


An update...some experiments....
I have some Elmer's boarding accidentally bought..i had soaked in tub and got frustrated with months ago.
So...being stuck with this stuff...I tried a few experiments tonite.
Rubbing alcohol...70%....nothing..just like water.
Heat with Iron...forget it..destroys the foam....was suggested on rcgroups...but no go for me.
looking around my shop...lots of chemicals to try....on a few samples.
Javex, bleach, nothing....can't say I didn't try...same as water.
Vinigar...interesting it bubbles like its touching soda, but no go...same as water.
Lighter fluid....Fantastic! Paper came off immediately and cleanly.but dangerous obviously...but...no odor. Soaked in fast though...would take too much to be practical.
Oil based paint thinner...Great! Again. Paper peeled right off and cleanly..spreads great with a plastic trowel...about a tablespoon did a whole side....but smelled terrible! And again, flammable....definitely an outside deal. And the boards will have to air out. Seems practical.. Paper will have to evap before disposal as well.
WD40...ok...yeah...it was a silly idea....but it did work....and worked ok....but residue would make it useless

From what I can see...oil based paint thinner is cheapest....and needed less....worked just slightly less well than lighter fluid...just need to do it outside...and let everything evap for a day.

Maybe someone can verify my result. Just in case it was an anomaly.

One last odd idea I had was a good soak in soap and water....and freezing in my freezer....thought was the expansion would separate the paper from the foam....initial test seemed promising,,,but I don't think I left it to freeze long enough. Will update if it works better after a long freeze...this would be mich more desirable if it does indeed work! May take longer, but no chemicals!

Thinking outside the box...kicking the box..shaking the box....and beating the box with a sledge hammer
P

[Paul E. Wogg]

Well....got response from Dollarama...such as it is....I'd like to think its positive...and they are considering it.....guess it depends on inventory rollover now....

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us. Customer feedback is important to us and we will certainly taking your comments into consideration.

Thank you for your patronage of Dollarama.

Best regards,


Marielle A. Morin
Equipe Service à la clientèle - Customer Service Team
DOLLARAMA L.P./S.E.C
1-888-755-1006 poste - ext 1000

[CF Av8or]

Paul,

Great work on the Elmers foam board experiments. I went through a similar gammut of paper-removal products, many of them "guaranteed to work" by various posters on various forums. Of course, none of them worked to my satisfaction.

About the only thing I did try that defintiely made the paper come off easily was wax and grease remover (used in automotive painting to clean a surface prior to applying paint products), but with the paper what also came off was a lot of the melted foam! The smell was horrible as well.

I have not tried paint thinner yet, although you make it sound promising. I'm gong to give it a try.

Thanks for the post.

Vic

[Paul E. Wogg]

Yes, seems it must be an oil based product to work..I'm going to buy some odorless paint thinner and give that a go...but I still think it will have to be done outdoors, odorless or no, I'm sure it's still flammable.
Will advise results.
I did try freezing a few more times, but it didn't work, must have been a fluke the first time.
Paul

[retiredVTT]

Here is a link that Vic guided me to, regarding a replacement for Dollarama Foam sheets (Readi-Board)

The link reveals that a few years back, a group of modellers saw the end coming for DTF (Dollar Tree Foam) and approached the Adams Company to make a replacement called Model Plane Foam (MPF)

The thread is an interesting one, and makes for a long read. This MPF is available to we Canadians but requires shipping from the US, and shipping is not cheap.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1533245


Bill