
A Short History of Paper Boats (2011) - vezycash
http://www.cupery.net/SH.html
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stcredzero
_In an age without plastic or composite materials, this new inexpensive paper,
which could be molded, formed, and otherwise manipulated, became the high-tech
construction substance of its day._

This combination of varnish and paper _was_ the compsite material of its day.
It's basically a precursor of fiberglass + resin construction.

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anitil
Interesting! I was just reading about aircraft dope
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_dope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_dope))
which had a similar purpose. Unfortunately, the material of the day was
nitricellulose, aka gun cotton, so had a habit of catching fire.

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tafycent
I'm guessing this was supposed to be a link, but it doesn't go anywhere and
now I'm curious.

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dang
From the log it looks like the desired link was
[http://www.cupery.net/SH.html](http://www.cupery.net/SH.html), so we've added
it above.

It's a great submission. Obscure but curious things that haven't appeared on
HN before are some of the scarcest goods here.

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tafycent
Ooooh. I've seen this page before, but it is a great submission. Fascinating
article about something I'd never heard of before. Thanks for the link.

