Jaager

Ship model building flourished during the 1930’s and 40’s encouraged by serialized articles published in Popular Mechanics and Mechanics Illustrated Magazines and probably because it did not require a lot of expensive materials in depression era America and later during WWII.  These models featured hulls carved from solid blocks or laminated pieces of pine.
 
During the 1970’s there were a number of articles published in the Nautical Research Journal and Model Shipwright Magazine advocating use of today’s classic ship modeling woods; Boxwood, Pear, holly, etc.  This was in connection with making built up or Admiralty style models.  About this same time, POB model kits began to be imported into the US.  Heavily marketed, they displaced many of the traditional American solid hull kits.  Hooking on to the desire of the uninformed to build a “museum quality” model these kits often feature deluxe sounding but unsuitable Woods like a brown wood marketed as walnut.
 
I have two models built by my father with solid pine carved hulls.  One is over 70 years old and one is over 80, even though adhesives used today are much better than those available to him.  Both are in perfect condition.  The solid hull construction method using readily available inexpensive pine lumber should not be overlooked by scratch builders wanting to build a model that can be passed along to grandchildren and great grandchildren.
 
Roger

We have very different imperatives it seems.   The avoid Balsa part still stands.  But you can use open pore hardwood - it just means using a sand-n-sealer to fill the pores.
 
Hobbymill - a new European supplier has more than suitable wood.  The premium species than he offers is best used with a clear finish.  Painting it hides what is being paid for.
If you have professional or amateur woodworkers nearby,  you can ways buy construction lumber and have someone with the required tools resaw it into a thickness that you can use.
 

I wrongly assumed that the Balsa was for a filler for POB.  I never dreamed that you intend to use it for something important.
For a deck or anything that shows  the only species that rates as "quality" is Birch.   Lime is better than its American brother Basswood but it is only sort of OK,   average kit sort of stuff.
North American Black Walnut is "quality" but not for our uses - it is open pore and does not scale.  Anything else called Walnut is there because it has a color that is sort of close.  All are also open pore, often coarse grain and or brittle.  None of it is scale appropriate.  aircraft plywood is suited for use as a sub flooring if a deck is then planked wth a scale appropriate veneer that is too thin to be a single layer.
 
If you can only find one supplier that is domestic to you, I would guess that you are not in either North America or Europe. Without you should tell us where you are, none of us can help you find a helpful source, or suggest species in your region that would be appropriate.

We have very different imperatives it seems.   The avoid Balsa part still stands.  But you can use open pore hardwood - it just means using a sand-n-sealer to fill the pores.
 
Hobbymill - a new European supplier has more than suitable wood.  The premium species than he offers is best used with a clear finish.  Painting it hides what is being paid for.
If you have professional or amateur woodworkers nearby,  you can ways buy construction lumber and have someone with the required tools resaw it into a thickness that you can use.
 

I wrongly assumed that the Balsa was for a filler for POB.  I never dreamed that you intend to use it for something important.
For a deck or anything that shows  the only species that rates as "quality" is Birch.   Lime is better than its American brother Basswood but it is only sort of OK,   average kit sort of stuff.
North American Black Walnut is "quality" but not for our uses - it is open pore and does not scale.  Anything else called Walnut is there because it has a color that is sort of close.  All are also open pore, often coarse grain and or brittle.  None of it is scale appropriate.  aircraft plywood is suited for use as a sub flooring if a deck is then planked wth a scale appropriate veneer that is too thin to be a single layer.
 
If you can only find one supplier that is domestic to you, I would guess that you are not in either North America or Europe. Without you should tell us where you are, none of us can help you find a helpful source, or suggest species in your region that would be appropriate.

We have very different imperatives it seems.   The avoid Balsa part still stands.  But you can use open pore hardwood - it just means using a sand-n-sealer to fill the pores.
 
Hobbymill - a new European supplier has more than suitable wood.  The premium species than he offers is best used with a clear finish.  Painting it hides what is being paid for.
If you have professional or amateur woodworkers nearby,  you can ways buy construction lumber and have someone with the required tools resaw it into a thickness that you can use.
 

I wrongly assumed that the Balsa was for a filler for POB.  I never dreamed that you intend to use it for something important.
For a deck or anything that shows  the only species that rates as "quality" is Birch.   Lime is better than its American brother Basswood but it is only sort of OK,   average kit sort of stuff.
North American Black Walnut is "quality" but not for our uses - it is open pore and does not scale.  Anything else called Walnut is there because it has a color that is sort of close.  All are also open pore, often coarse grain and or brittle.  None of it is scale appropriate.  aircraft plywood is suited for use as a sub flooring if a deck is then planked wth a scale appropriate veneer that is too thin to be a single layer.
 
If you can only find one supplier that is domestic to you, I would guess that you are not in either North America or Europe. Without you should tell us where you are, none of us can help you find a helpful source, or suggest species in your region that would be appropriate.

I wrongly assumed that the Balsa was for a filler for POB.  I never dreamed that you intend to use it for something important.
For a deck or anything that shows  the only species that rates as "quality" is Birch.   Lime is better than its American brother Basswood but it is only sort of OK,   average kit sort of stuff.
North American Black Walnut is "quality" but not for our uses - it is open pore and does not scale.  Anything else called Walnut is there because it has a color that is sort of close.  All are also open pore, often coarse grain and or brittle.  None of it is scale appropriate.  aircraft plywood is suited for use as a sub flooring if a deck is then planked wth a scale appropriate veneer that is too thin to be a single layer.
 
If you can only find one supplier that is domestic to you, I would guess that you are not in either North America or Europe. Without you should tell us where you are, none of us can help you find a helpful source, or suggest species in your region that would be appropriate.

Barlett pear is a variety of eatable pear.  It is actually a variety of Pyrus communis - the tree that is
the source of what is called Swiss Pear.  Swiss Pear is not a tree name or growth location, it means that the wood
has been steamed.  I believe this oxidizes the polyphenols in the wood - in any case - it turns the wood into
a relatively uniform pinkish color. 
Bradford Pear is a cousin that is a horticultural specimen.  It does not produce significant fruit, but it is urban hardy,
attractive flowers and grows relatively fast.  Was or still is popular as a street tree.  It has one unfortunate characteristic -
 the branches leave the trunk at an acute angle - rather than horizontal.  The more vertical form looks good and is
predictable from design point of view.  The problem is that when the larger trees experience wind storms, the branches 
peal like banana skins.  A good way for us to get a lot of sizable lumber stock.   The other part - if you self harvest it -
because of the branch angle,  it is difficult to get much stock with right angle grain for knees or breast hooks.
 
Actually, I think most any species of Pear would produce excellent wood for our purposes,  the problem is obtaining it.

Dogwood I have.  A relative owns a tree farm in Caroline Co. and I have Dogwood and Holly from there.
The Holly has a yellowish tinge so even if there was interest in marketing that difficult species, the available
strain does not seem to be a desired one.  For me, even the billets that have Blue Mold should be usable,
since the pure white version is not really appropriate for any ship timber. 
The Dogwood was about as large as that species gets, so my billets are fairly large.  Not large enough for 
frame timbers at 1:48 or 1:60 scale, but I could use it for most any other part.
 
I am not sure that Crab Apple is all that different from regular Apple wood.  One species that may be surprisingly
useful is Bradford Pear.  It has anything but fine tight grain,  but it is much harder than Black Cherry to carve, 
does not want to split, and has a wax-like nature to it.

Before the Dockyard tools - the suggestions involved making your own from steel rod
or knitting needles.  Amazon sells packs of steel rods - some quite small.
The heating and blacksmithing and grinding edges onto rods as well as Rockwell scale tempering
and quenching is getting into a whole new set of skills.  Dockyard did most of that for us, but if
they are gone, the tools can be home made.
 
As far as wood -  I have my eye on genuine Boxwood and Dogwood.  One that I not been able
to source is Hawthorn.   There is a material that flashed in our world a while ago, but did not take
for some reason:  an ivory substitute - Targa Nut. 

Bruce, Alan,
 
Your subject of interest best belongs in the Painting Forum.  It could seriously divert this build log. 
Copy/paste #296-299 to that forum and even though it is a subject that has many threads that intersect, it may have legs for a while. 
I can add a bit of clarification as can several others, but not here.  An important aspect of it is that it is more opinion than Science.  It is also a love me? love my opinion! sort of subject - a whole lot of emotional investment on the part of some.
 
Mark,
I have become a bit of a medical apostate.  I am willing to accept the consequences if I am wrong and there is only one investor, so keep this is mind.   About the >BP and the meds to affect it.  I would balance just how > the Bp gets and what the probable harm could be vs the side effects of the meds.  I have been away from the field for over 10 years and have not kept up at all.  But way back then, there were several paths with many different bundles of med induced problems, so if the course you are on is causing problems, try a different one.  If your doc is a love me, love my choice sort of Ego, rethink your choice of MD.   How bad would ignoring it be? How bad would just tapping it with HCTZ be?  Or just Atenolol?  or the two?  I started in the mid 60's  in hospital, and the basket of meds that were "vital"  to take chronically to reverse long term poorly chosen life style damage is very different from the basket when I bailed.    

I did some more armchair experimenting:
Would it help to use cardboard that is close to plank thickness?
Would it help to use a penetrating treatment with a varnish on both sides to stiffen it?
Would a plastic sheet that is thick enough to be stiff, but thin enough to cut with a sharp violin type knife and straight edge work better?
Once the pattern is refined to make a good fit, it can be transferred to two layers of planking stock bonded with something like double sided tape.  This way P&S planking can be spilled together.  About half the work and a better likelihood of bilateral symmetry?
 

I wrongly assumed that the Balsa was for a filler for POB.  I never dreamed that you intend to use it for something important.
For a deck or anything that shows  the only species that rates as "quality" is Birch.   Lime is better than its American brother Basswood but it is only sort of OK,   average kit sort of stuff.
North American Black Walnut is "quality" but not for our uses - it is open pore and does not scale.  Anything else called Walnut is there because it has a color that is sort of close.  All are also open pore, often coarse grain and or brittle.  None of it is scale appropriate.  aircraft plywood is suited for use as a sub flooring if a deck is then planked wth a scale appropriate veneer that is too thin to be a single layer.
 
If you can only find one supplier that is domestic to you, I would guess that you are not in either North America or Europe. Without you should tell us where you are, none of us can help you find a helpful source, or suggest species in your region that would be appropriate.

Bill,
 
I strongly suggest that you avoid using the book illustration and order the plans from The Smithsonian.
The particulars for this specific vessel:
Page#               Plan#           Description                                        Cost
101                   HASS-18      US Revenue Cutter 1815  31 tons     10.00
 
The Processing                                                                                5.00
 
Processing  is for up to 12 sheets    I usually order  12 at one go   except that the last page is for 7 because I could not find another 5 that I wanted.
 
Smithsonian Ship Plans
P>O> Box 37012
NMAH/MRC
Washington, DC  20013
 
This vessel is a little boy.  Quicker and easier to build than some you might choose.
 
You have the spar dimensions.  Books and/or the NRJ  CD   will provide the diameter changes over distance from the mast.
 
The rigging would be standard for the time and the time is about as well documented as any.
There is even a post here that does a pretty good job of explaining schooner spars and rigging.

Drafting gun ports must be boring,  subject to lapses in precision, and more than a few plans have some of them as inconsistent in their pattern.
 
When lofting, I pick a port at midship and develop a gauge/jig for the the distance of the sill and lentil from the underside of deck planking/top of deck beams.  I add the thickness of the sill and lentil timbers to size the opening.  I use this gauge for the rest of the ports, rather than using the profile to determine gun port height,.  Transferring the data to a card and installing the beams before finishing the ports gets the slope of the sill parallel to the deck for each.
 
 

The more efficient and satisfying way is to avoid this inappropriate species to begin with and use a species that is better suited.
In North America -  the most economical is construction Pine, then comes Yellow Poplar,  if you gotta, Soft Maple, Aspen or other Cottonwood.
These are soft, but are less prone to crush and hold trunnels; and sand without tearing.
Other geographic regions will have local species that serve. .

The more efficient and satisfying way is to avoid this inappropriate species to begin with and use a species that is better suited.
In North America -  the most economical is construction Pine, then comes Yellow Poplar,  if you gotta, Soft Maple, Aspen or other Cottonwood.
These are soft, but are less prone to crush and hold trunnels; and sand without tearing.
Other geographic regions will have local species that serve. .

The answer to your specific question might be a product called “git rot,” sold here in the US by marine supply houses to salvage rotted wood (it would be easier to answer questions if you guys would give us a rough location of where you live.). This is a very thin epoxy resin intended to penetrate the wood.  In the last few years there has been an explosion of other specialized epoxy resins intended to solve various problems, and you might find something that meets your needs, sold by companies like WestSystem and System 3. Intended for use by wooden boat builders and repairers, they can be expensive for modeling applications.
 
I second, Jaager’s suggestion to solve your problem by substituting a different species of wood,  IMHO, in the rush to build a model from what is considered to be “museum quality lumber, ordinary construction grade pine, not spruce or fir, is overlooked by many modelers.  If you sort through wood at your local lumberyard or big box home improvement store you will find a nice piece of pine for a fraction of what it will cost you to salvage the balsa.  Since most of our applications require small pieces, we can generally work around knots and checks.  This means that less select grades can work fine for us.
 
Roger
 
 

The more efficient and satisfying way is to avoid this inappropriate species to begin with and use a species that is better suited.
In North America -  the most economical is construction Pine, then comes Yellow Poplar,  if you gotta, Soft Maple, Aspen or other Cottonwood.
These are soft, but are less prone to crush and hold trunnels; and sand without tearing.
Other geographic regions will have local species that serve. .

The more efficient and satisfying way is to avoid this inappropriate species to begin with and use a species that is better suited.
In North America -  the most economical is construction Pine, then comes Yellow Poplar,  if you gotta, Soft Maple, Aspen or other Cottonwood.
These are soft, but are less prone to crush and hold trunnels; and sand without tearing.
Other geographic regions will have local species that serve. .

You have something now, so if your carving never produces a satisfactory product, you can always use what you have.
As it is, you have a no lose opportunity to develop a new skill.  Buy several blocks of wood that are the appropriate species and carve.
It would be an inspiring way to begin scratch building - should that be your ultimate ambition.
 

John,
 
It looks like I completely missed what you were asking.  It did not occur to me that you wished to paint a metal casting to look like it was raw wood.   The only practical reason for a figurehead on a model to be raw wood at all, is if the builder had actually carved it from a block of wood - and wished to show that off.  As others have pointed out, in your situation pigmented covering layers should be used.    The other factors - water based paint vs oil based paint  - bright and garish vs subtle, subdued, and scale sensitive - is a matter of personal taste and you are the final arbiter of that.
 
To be glib,  I think the only way to get a convincing raw wood figurehead is to start with a block of wood and carve it yourself, using the casting as a guide.  For this sort of part,  there is a wide number of choices for wood, since among other sources pen turning stock can be used.   That stuff has a high cost per BF,  but fraction of a BF is small.

No data here.
 
My guess would be that the decoration would adapt to the structure.
To be cynical,  the second option where the hull is damaged to accommodate the decoration - the carver probably valued the wreath more than the hull and did not wish to risk having to remake the carving.

No data here.
 
My guess would be that the decoration would adapt to the structure.
To be cynical,  the second option where the hull is damaged to accommodate the decoration - the carver probably valued the wreath more than the hull and did not wish to risk having to remake the carving.