I just used Elmer's brand foam board to build a FT Racer and had a much better experience than the Adam's foam board. The Elmer's only cost $1.50 per sheet and it does not have to be treated to paint, almost water proof, paper backing does not peel(better hinges), does not tear when cut with a dull knife and much stronger than the Adam's board. It may not be as forgiving for newbies in crashes but should fold wings at high speed.
eagle4
Member
I use elmers, personally I prefer using Adams ready board, especially for the flitetest test planes. As trying to separate the foam from the paper really is difficult. Also I prefer the feel of the paper on the ready board to elmers. But that being said I find they are very similar in all the other ways.
rcspaceflight
creator of virtual planes
I started with using "Flip Side" foam board which is almost identical to Elmer's. Now I only use Dollar Tree/Adam's.
Elmer's and Adam's both certainly have their purposes and strong points. Adam's is good because of what eagle4 said, and Elmer's is good because of what FlipFlop said.
To me it really depends on the design of the airframe. It's easier to get away with wings that are a single thickness of foam board with Elmer's because of it's strength. But you don't want the fuselage too big like the FT Old Fogey because that's just too much unnecessary weight. But an FT Old Fogey with Elmer's wings and Adam's body would actually be an improvement to the design.
Elmer's and Adam's both certainly have their purposes and strong points. Adam's is good because of what eagle4 said, and Elmer's is good because of what FlipFlop said.
To me it really depends on the design of the airframe. It's easier to get away with wings that are a single thickness of foam board with Elmer's because of it's strength. But you don't want the fuselage too big like the FT Old Fogey because that's just too much unnecessary weight. But an FT Old Fogey with Elmer's wings and Adam's body would actually be an improvement to the design.
lonewolf7717
Senior Member
Elmer's is substantially heavier than Adams, not a big deal with larger overpowered craft but can become issue if slow fly is your thing. I am also surprised you can buy it for 1.15....most places around here it retails around $2-3 a piece!
rcspaceflight
creator of virtual planes
Yeah, I think Target sells a sheet of 20" x 28" Elmer's foam board for $3. It is heavier, but can be worth the extra cost and weight depending on the application. Elmer's is great for winter use because snow/water doesn't harm it. Waterproofing Adam's adds to the cost.
After using both I can't say that one is better than the other. They each have their uses. But reading this makes me want to build a winter beater out of Elmer's. I think I still have a sheet, or at least the majority of a sheet, somewhere.
Well, technically I have some Flip Side left. The nice thing about Flip Side is that it comes with color on one side and white on the other. Which means I can end up with a great color scheme without any painting or tape.
This is what I ended up with back when I compared Elmer's with Adam's: http://www.flitetest.com/articles/comparing-foam-board
After using both I can't say that one is better than the other. They each have their uses. But reading this makes me want to build a winter beater out of Elmer's. I think I still have a sheet, or at least the majority of a sheet, somewhere.
Well, technically I have some Flip Side left. The nice thing about Flip Side is that it comes with color on one side and white on the other. Which means I can end up with a great color scheme without any painting or tape.
This is what I ended up with back when I compared Elmer's with Adam's: http://www.flitetest.com/articles/comparing-foam-board
I got the white Elmer's board from WalMart for $1.56 and they had colored Elmer's for $2.88. Made planes out of both but will stick with the white board just because it takes paint much better than even treated Adam's. Another reason I am going to stick with the Elmer's is the high humidity here in SC warps the paper backed Adam's and your nice new plane will not fly.
