Wood Recommendation For Scratching Ship's Boats

[vulcanbomber]

Hi all,

 

I want to scratch the ship's boats for my Pegasus. I am going to purchase from Cornwall Model Boats and can't decide between cherry, maple or walnut for the hull planking for them. I will be purchasing a mixture of 0.5mm x 2mm and .05mm x 3mm.

 

What are the for's and against for the three woods? Which would look best left natural and only varnished? My Pegasus is mainly walnut that came in the kit.

 

Thanks

[druxey]

Walnut, as you already know, has a pretty coarse grain structure. Lovely as this is for furniture, I would not recommend its use for small open boats. Cherry or maple would be more suitable.

Edited March 28, 2019 by druxey

[vulcanbomber]

Thanks Druxey, I'm leaning towards maple at the moment, but I've never worked with it yet.

[vossiewulf]

I recommend Castello Boxwood. It has a finer grain structure than any of your current options, and is easier to work than maple. 

 

If you're stuck with those three, I'd recommend cherry as it could be left natural and will turn that nice cherry brown on its own, and is somewhat easier to work than maple.

[Roger Pellett]

Pear is also an excellent choice for your purpose:  close grain, Works nicely and bends well.

 

Roger

[allanyed]

My all time favorite for planking ships' boats is holly.    When wet it is extremely flexible for bending into frames over a forming plug and works very well dry for the planking.  If the boats were painted white, the wood itself will negate the need to add paint.   For other pieces European box or Costello Box are both great.  Just one more opinion.....

 

Allan

 

[vulcanbomber]

Thanks for the recommendations.

 

Allan, I really like the holly on your boat, it contrasts really nicely with the other wood. I have some left over cherry I can use for the thwarts and other bits and I think the holly would look lovely with that.

 

 Does anyone know where I can get holly strip wood from in the UK?

[druxey]

If you can obtain holly and Castello, they are superior to your other options for model open boat work.

[Griphos]

Holly, pear, and boxwood are the go to woods for me. If I were choosing between cherry, walnut or maple, it would be cherry. Lovely to work, takes a lovely finish, and stable. Maple is not as stable as the other woods. Walnut is problematic for the reasons mentioned, and I just don’t like the look of it on boats.

[bruce d]

2 hours ago, vulcanbomber said:

 Does anyone know where I can get holly strip wood from in the UK? 

Keep your fingers crossed for me: in the next week or so I am making my first attempt at sawing up some holly logs that have been seasoning for a few years. If it goes according to plan I will have more than I could ever use.

What do you need?

[vulcanbomber]

It seems that holly would be the best choice by far. If I can't find a supply, I think I will go with the cherry. 

 

9 minutes ago, bruce d said:

Keep your fingers crossed for me: in the next week or so I am making my first attempt at sawing up some holly logs that have been seasoning for a few years. If it goes according to plan I will have more than I could ever use.

What do you need?

 

Wow, thank you!

 

I have had no luck finding holly strips at the moment, only planks, but I have no way to get them down to the sizes I am after.

 

I'm looking for strips 0.5mm x 2mm and 0.5mm x 3mm  and probably about 3-4m of each size, I don't know if this is something you can do, but would be great if you can.

 

Caroline

[bruce d]

Caroline, like I said, 'fingers crossed'. My target sizes are not far from yours. First attemts will be from stock that is 6 - 10 inches length.

[vulcanbomber]

12 minutes ago, bruce d said:

Caroline, like I said, 'fingers crossed'. My target sizes are not far from yours. First attemts will be from stock that is 6 - 10 inches length.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[vossiewulf]

Jason sells holly strips at Crown Timberyard. I used them for my deck.

[Jaager]

Bruce,

Here in the US, Holly is a special case when seasoning.  The fresh log contains a lot of water and the internal communication is such that no part is isolated.  There is a fungus that lives with the tree and quickly infects the wood when the tree is felled.  It is termed Blue Mold.  It leaves the wood with a lt blue or grey color.  The other properties of the wood are unchanged, so it is usable.  It is just bot snow white.  It makes for realistic sun bleached deck when grey.  It takes dye well.  If you find that your stock is similarly infected,  It is still a superb wood for model construction, it is just not the unrealistic white favored by some for decks.   The tree is too small to be used for a full size deck and no other tree has wood that color even when stone sanded.

 

The way to obtain the white wood is to fell the tree in Winter, billet it and get it into a kiln - essentially all on the same day.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Jaager

[bruce d]

Hello Jaager,

Thanks, humidity and mould with holly is also a problem here although I have heard from someone who knows about tonewoods that for some reason holly is slightly less problematic here than in North America. There are contradictory accounts of the best way to handle the holly once it is cut but all seem to agree that speed is important.

All my holly was cut from my own garden, and the oldest (and largest) pieces are from the winter of 2013. I don't have kiln facilities and I did not know at the time about the need for quickly sealing the ends, but to my surprise the wood seems to have survived in good shape. I will post after the experiments, and I predict it will be 'boast or toast': don't see any middle ground.

[Jaager]

Bruce,

I wish to re enforce - if you have toast, but the wood is solid and not full of checks and splits, even if grey or blue, no better wood can be had for planking a hull.  It is hard, very faint grain, no obvious pores, it bends like a champ, holds a crisp edge, takes a dye really well.  Dyed black, it is probably easier to work and just as attractive a Ebony for wales.  So it would not really be toast.

I read a short story long ago, where the punch line - a sharp salesman had sold what he thought was junk (but was anything but junk) and had pulled one over a wealthy buyer, received a gift   from the buyer =  a block of solid gold painted to look like a brick.

[vaddoc]

Steer clear away of walnut. Maple is fantastic for planking, cherry and pear are far more stiff and do not respond as well to bending. Maple sands very well, holds nails, glues well and is soft enough to cut with a knife even at 2 mm thickness. Holds an edge well and can be very white with no/little grain

 

Beech as another excellent wood if you don't mind the wood pattern. Never used castelo or holy.

 

Vaddoc

 

 

[bruce d]

2 hours ago, Jaager said:

... no better wood can be had for planking a hull. 

Thanks, it is good to hear the voice of experience.

[vulcanbomber]

I'm going to see how Bruce's holly turns out, from reading the comments, it should be fine.

 

Thank you everyone for your help and advice.

 

Caroline