Tiny white creature spotted.

[miketherock]

I was not sure exactly where to put this topic but wood discussions seemed the most likely.

I am in the process of building my HMS FLY. Three times during the build I have seen a small bug on the hull.

It is about 1mm long at most and moves quite quickly. When I first saw it I tried to squash it with my finger but it moved too fast and I watched it just disappear into the wood grain where there did not seem to be any visible hole. I have seen it (I hope it is the same one but they all look alike. (( Is that statement PC?)) ) on another 2 occasions and it has evaded me still.

I coated the whole of the exterior of the hull with Matt clear coat varnish to try and seal the grain but I can not get to the interior. I bet the little sod is thanking me for stopping all the draughts to his nice cosy nest. 

I have checked my stock of wood and other ship hulls as I have a few on the build but HMS BUG oops FLY seems to be the only victim.

I will try to photo the little fella.

Has anyone else been infested by 1 or it could be three...or more of these critters?

Could it be woodmite?

How could I get rid of my stowaways?

Any ideas will be greatfully concidered.

        

           Mike.

 

[samueljr]

put the pieces in the freezer

[realworkingsailor]

You could also try enclosing the ship in a garbage bag and dropping in a good quantity of mothballs.

 

Andy

[druxey]

Fumigation?

[normanh]

The freezer will work, I have done that professionally on many forty foot containers ensure you get down to -25C will kill almost anything thats crawling around.

 

orman

[twintrow]

If multi-legged creature, probably a silverfish....they travel the globe in cardboard boxes.  My exterminator explained this to me.  She suggests always taking the cardboard boxes to the trash outside immediately after opening and emptying them.

 

Otherwise as druxey, Brian c and Norman suggests.

Tom

[druxey]

Silverfish are usually longer than 1mm, Twinrow. They look like miniature prehistoric torpedo shaped silver-grey things. Unfortunately what Mike has a re probably wood borers. Silverfish like paper and paste; they do nasty things to old books.

[rdsaplala]

I forgot what species those little bugs are but they indeed love boring into wood, the freezer technique or placing the model in a sealed bag with mothballs for a few days will kill the present dwelling ones.  They are however bound to return so fumigation of the work area is advised. I would also suggest that once you're finished with the model, just place it in a sealed display case together with some mothballs. Don't forget to replace the mothballs once consumed   

[miketherock]

The freezer idea is sound but I will have to talk to my local butcher or supermarket to get access to a large enough container. I have been spraying Raid in the work area since yesterday and close over each of the models.

My concern is the inaccessible compartments inside the models bulkheads. I was thinking of drilling small holes close to the keel through to each compartment and spraying via a straw plenty of strong bug killer, then sealing the holes back up.

A friend of mine said to use WD40 through the holes as it will soak into the soft wood grain inside and the bugs wont want to eat it. I am not totally convinced but it has its possibilities.

How far is ever enough?

      

                        Itchy Mike

[rdsaplala]

I'm afraid WD40 or spraying alone won't easily reach all the crevices of the ship. If a large freezer isn't accessible, you could go with Andy's suggestion of using a garbage bag, filling it with substantial amount of mothballs (about 3-4 large bags of balls should do it), closing it tightly with rubber band, then waiting about 2 weeks. The vapors produced will penetrate virtually all areas of the ship and kill all bugs. A word of caution though, the fumes of mothballs can be irritating so you may need to let the model sit for a few more days before touching it.

 

Note also that these bugs tend to recur so you may need to repeat the process once every few months and like I said, place mothballs in your display case once you finish the model.

[miketherock]

I have just purchased a bottle of woodworm treatment that kills all wood boring bugs and mites. It can be applied by brush, spray or dipping. It has a high strength so needs to be diluted 25 to one. It absorbs into the timber and acts like a preservative and has a 30 year protection guarantee.

It can be painted or varnished over when dry and is colourless. My plan is to inject a solution through the planking on the hull in various locations and to repeat the proceedure a few times to ensure good coverage. I will moth ball it and my work area too incase I have further colonies hidden away. I have enough of this liquid to treat all future timber that I may use for building. Every plank in future will be dipped for bending and forming in the solution.

At least my ships will out live me. 

Well, that's the plan anyway. 

Edited September 22, 2013 by miketherock

[Bernhard]

Big plastic bag and good fly/creepy crawly killer.

Boat in bag spray also close bag and press the can till bag is inflated wait a day spray again and presto its done.

Had to use this to get rid of crocroches i picked up in a hotel.

Killed the lot actually 3 of them, but that is enough to start a war.