ESAKI COVERING PAPER

[nickhawk]

Good evening everyone
I searched for the ESAKI covering paper ( I am trying to blame  my bad covering work on the paper) .I came across ASOKA not ESAKI it seems that its difficult to get it in various colors. Is ASOKA the same??

[calgoddard]

nickhawk -

Japanese tissue has been used to cover balsa wood model airplanes since the 1920's. It is made of natural fibers indigenous to Japan. The particular Japanese tissue that has long been preferred for covering balsa wood frames is Esaki tissue. It has been favored in our hobby because of its considerable wet strength and light weight. Esaki tissue only weighs about 12 grams per square meter. This tissue is characterized by a readily discernable grain, a shiny side, and a dull side. Shrinking Esaki tissue with a spray of water or isopropyl alcohol adds substantial torsional rigidity to the model. The grain should run spanwise on the wing and stab, and lengthwise on the fuselage for best results.  Unfortunately, the manufacture of Esaki tissue was discontinued several years ago. Rule II.C of the PRIMARY RULES of the Flying Aces Club requires that models be covered with "Japanese or domestic tissue paper, or equivalent. Silk, silkspan and polyspan are OK." Therefore, suitable commercially available alternatives to Esaki tissue had to be found. Domestic tissue sold by craft stores can have intriguing colors, however, it is typically relatively heavy and has almost no wet strength. I will follow up with a post on alternatives to Esaki tissue. I hope you find this post helpful.

[calgoddard]

For decades Esaki tissue has been considered the best tissue for covering balsa wood models. It is no longer being manufactured and sold commercially. You can still find some Esaki tissue available from estate sales. Otherwise, these are the commercially available alternatives.

Asuka Tissue

    This Japanese tissue is currently being sold by Volare Products as a substitute for Esaki tissue. Asuka tissue is slightly heavier at 14 grams per square meter, but otherwise is comparable to Esaki tissue in terms of grain and wet strength. The colors for Asuka tissue being offered by Volare are currently limited to red, orange, yellow, blue and white. You can cover your model with white Asuka tissue and spray it with lightweight Design Master floral spray in the color of your choice. Serious scale modelers paint the white tissue with an air brush. Sometimes they apply colored chalk to white tissue before sealing it with dope or clear Krylon.

Mt. Fuji Tissue

    This Japanese tissue is currently being sold by Easy Built Models as a substitute for Esaki tissue.  Mt. Fuji tissue is significantly heavier at 18 grams per square meter than Esaki tissue and Asuka tissue, but otherwise is comparable to Esaki tissue in terms of grain and wet strength. Mt. Fuji tissue is offered in a wider range of colors than Asuka tissue sold by Volare Products but covering with the former will give you a slight weight penalty.

Easy Built Lite Tissue

    This is a domestic tissue is sold by Easy Built Models as an alternative to Mt. Fuji tissue where weight is less of a concern. It is apparently heavier than Mt. Fuji tissue, despite the use of "Lite" in its brand name. I could not find an exact weight per square meter for Easy Built Lite tissue. It can be applied wet or dry. It has a grain but I also could not find any comments about its wet strength. Easy Built Lite tissue is available in a wide variety of colors. Easy Built Models has sold its Lite tissue for two decades and it has many satisfied customers who have purchased this tissue according to the company's website.

Eze Tissue

    This tissue is being sold in the US by Deluxe Materials, a UK company that sells excellent water-based dope, tissue paste, and adhesives for constructing balsa wood model airplanes. Here is what the company's website says about this product:

A specially developed lightweight tissue paper ideal for the construction of lightweight balsawood model aircraft, superior to many other tissues. Features include
exceptionally low weight
high strength to weight ratio
high wet strength
availability in a range of colours. 
The paper is designed to be bonded with Deluxe Materials Tissue paste AD60 and subsequently air-proofed with multiple coats of Deluxe Materials Eze Dope BD42.
Supplied in a sheet size 75cm x 50cm wide and a range of colours each pack contains multiple sheets, as shown below, and fully illustrated instructions for use.

Mitsumata Tissue and Gifu Tissue

    I found this information on the website of Humming Bird Model Products:

Tissue papers for covering model airplanes and other light translucent structures. The basic tissue is white and comes in large sheets (36"x39"). I have two types: Mitsumata - very similar feel and weight to the Esaki tissue of past years and Gifu - like an ultralight model span. A rougher texture with open weave - less that [sic] 9 g/sqm.

    Bernard Guest, the proprietor of this business, is a very serious model builder and flier. He would probably only offer the best available tissue.

Peck Tissue

    In addition to Asuka tissue, Wind-It-Up Enterprises, the successor to the old Peck-Polymers business, offers domestic Peck tissue in a wide variety of colors. There is no indication of its wet strength or grain, and the weight is listed as 3.0 - 3.5 grams for a sheet measuring 15-inches x 20-inches.

Other members of HPA III may want to comment on my two posts about tissue for covering model airplanes.  My posts tend to be lengthy but I hope the information provided is valuable to some bulders and fliers that read them.

[lincoln]

If you're looking for more colors, I seem to remember that Hallmark tissue was superior to other domestic tissue. Or, at least, the navy tissue I had. I think that means it was a little lighter and a bit less flimsy when wet, but it was a long time ago, so I may be remembering it wrong or what they have now may be different. The old stuff was definitely heavier than Esaki, though. Looking at the Hallmark site, what they have now is very inexpensive and you can even get it in patterns to distinguish your P-30 from others. No lozenge pattern, though. ;-(. Hallmark has retail stores, at least in the US.

I once bought a package with many colors of what was labelled as Japanese Tissue. It sure seemed like domestic, and the colors ran when shrinking with water. I don't know if its still being sold, but be aware of it.