I'd guess you could make some really good body tubes by a similar technique with balsa. Or REALLY thin veneers of other wood, if obtainable. You'd have to soak, steam, or boil first.
Rolled balsa tubes have been used for R/C B/G tail booms, and occasionally on scale models. I last used one on a stupidroc. This enabled me to taper the tube from BT-20 size to 0.40 In. diameter at the tip. It had been described as a 8" rocket with a 65" hollow balsa nosecone. I used 1/32" A grain balsa, sanded thinner near the tip, and I did steam it quite a bit. Contestants will sometimes do some crazy labor intensive things that a normal rocketeer needing a motor tube would never do. 1/64" aircraft plywood also rolls nicely, but the seam is more difficult to deal with.
I have a tube I made with boiled 1/32" balsa. The ID is only about 1/4". Lengthwise grain in this case. I imagine something like that, without cross-grain reinforcement, might split from an ejection charge. Not with a spiral wrap, though.
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I notice that same supplier has okuome, which weighs much less than birch. Still much heavier than balsa.
