Poor Planking Created Finish Problems

[Coyote_6]

Before I move on to lines and rigging, I finished the ship with Watco Danish Oil (3 coats) and Watco Wipe-on Satin Polyeurethane (3 coats).  In general she looks ok.

 

 

But if you look closely at the hull there are some void areas between planks after finishing.

 

 

Probably 10 or 11 places throughout, some as long as two inches.

 

 

My question - is there an easy way to fill these with a clear material (white glue, polyeurathane) to get a nice smoothly faired surface?  Or should I live with it and move on to rigging?

 

Obviously I will have to do better fitting on my next build.

 

Anybody have any thought or ideas on this?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Edited Saturday at 06:29 PM by Coyote_6

[Coyote_6]

Here she is in the sun in standoff distance for reference.

 

 

Probably the worst offender/viewing angle.

 

Edited Saturday at 06:36 PM by Coyote_6

[Justin P.]

I would use a UV active clear resin personally.  Its sands well and will blend very nicely with the rest of the finish.   It wont react with any glues or other finish you've put in and wont shrink like like other fillers might.  You can get a bottle of it and a UV flashlight for under $25.  Easy stuff to use.

Edited Saturday at 07:02 PM by Justin P.

[Keith Black]

 The best solution (IMHO) will require refinishing the hull once done but it will be worth it in the end. Do the separations one at a time, fill the separation with CA glue and before it sets sand with 400 grit sandpaper. If the separation you're working on doesn't completely fill, repeat the process. The sanding dust is the exact color of the surrounding wood and the fill will almost be invisible. Cut your sandpaper into two by two inch squares and discard frequently as the CA will clog the grit. Don't get overly aggressive with sanding and dig grooves into the hull. 

Edited Saturday at 07:48 PM by Keith Black

[Knocklouder]

Another thing you may try is to , if you have planking left over from the build , make sand dust out of it, then apply wood glue that drys clear.  Apply the glue pack the cracks with sand dust. Wipe off the axcess and pack it again with dust, sand,  after drying repeated if is  necessary . Then refinish it with two coats of  the oil you used. I am not sure is right but this is what I do for mine, good luck.

Bob M. 

Edited Sunday at 02:06 AM by Knocklouder
Always typos 🙄

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  I'd likely just leave it as is, and call it 'character' - after all, at a distance the thin gaps are not very noticeable ... close up pics always magnify any defect or every bit of 'fuzz' on rigging lines.   Sanding and refinishing is a pain and would amount to a 'delay of game' - but there is an approach that might be less trouble, given the mahogany-like appearance of the lower part of the hull.

  That would be amber shellac.  Cans of Zinsser 'Bull's Eye' amber shellac do just fine.  Apply the shellac (and I tend to use the clearer portion floating on top of the contents of the can) with a thin artists detail brush to get into the cracks, then wipe away any excess on the adjacent planks lightly and quickly with a lint-free cloth bunched up.  

  The shellac in the cracks will dry in a few hours and shrink as the alcohol (methanol) solvent vaporizes.  The solids left behind will have partially filled the crack, and each successive application will fill the cracks more until totally filled - and the color should be pretty close to what you have now.  A very light pass with a bunched cloth having a little plain denatured alcohol on it will remove any traces of shellac on the adjacent planks, but will not affect either the poly coat or the crack filling.

  In cabinetry work with mahogany, larger cracks are filled with 'stick shellac' melted by candle flame to liquify it before forcing the goo into the large fissure (made either by repair or perhaps a less than satisfactory joint) with a small spatula or large dental tool.  It solidifies as it cools and can otherwise be blended over with regular shellac (color modified as needed).  Stick shellac comes in several shades to accommodate other woods, but this technique does not apply to you model's situation.  

[SaltyScot]

I have also used the glue/sand and fill method mentioned here. By adding a little glue to the crack (I use an aliphatic resin glue, applying it with a fine dental tool) and sanding shortly afterwards, the sanding dust basically applies itself to the glue in the crack and fills the hole - if it is not too expansive of course. I prefer this method to the mixing sawdust with glue beforehand method but we all have our preferences, right?

[Knocklouder]

I agree with you @SaltyScot  sand dust but I wrote saw dust    . Lol.

Bob M.

[Coyote_6]

Thank you immensely for all the great ideas.  I tried every one and they all worked well.

A report of sorts:

 

1. Sanding sawdust into the various recommended adhesives is something I did very successfully prior to danish oil/poly coloring with good result.  Definitely better than the poorly matched wood filler I tried in some places.  I chose not to use that technique (sanding sawdust) here to ensure more uniform finishing.  But I know this works well and probably would have worked fine.

 

2.  UV curing resin - my daughter had some for jewelry making and I used it on a test piece.  Very fast and easy to sand.  I only chose not to use it due to it being a "new" material and not part of my current system.  Longevity/interaction concerns.

 

3.  Super glue - again filled a test piece crack with CA and sanded.  It is very hard when cured so requires more effort/time to smooth, but it definitely worked well.  I didn't want to work that hard.

 

4.  I didn't actually try the shellac although as a new material to me it was very interesting.  The drawback was this - only sold in 1 quart cans (946 mL).  As I learned, I only used about 4 mL "fixing" my mess and had read shellac has a short shelf life when opened, thus I would have to discard 942 mL eventually.  I will try shellac on a future project because it sounds awesome.

 

5. PVA glue by itself was also successful on the test piece.

 

6.  An argument could be made for leaving her alone - not sure the juice was worth the squeeze here.

 

Ultimately what I did do was careen the ship on her side, fill a syringe with Watco Satin wipe-on poly and then lay a bead of poly in the cracks.  After cure there was shrinkage so the process was repeated.  Sanding was easy-ish and finish was re-applied over the whole lower hull.  The results were pretty good. 

 

 

 

 

And the final result.  Needs a final coat of satin to tone down the shine but turned out ok.

 

Benefits include:

 

The filler matching the overall finish for expansion/contraction (thermal and humidity).

 

The applicator needle matched the gap size and would follow the gap when applying.

 

Easy-ish to sand.

 

Follow on poly coats bonded to the fills pretty seamlessly.

 

Anyway, VERY appreciative of all the great options.  They all clearly have their merits and I have added them to my "toolbox" going forward.

 

Detail of my "sample piece".  White glue on left joint, CA (superglue) center, and UV resin on right.  All three would have accomplished this task.  

 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by Coyote_6

[Keith Black]

 The hull looks peachy, Steve. Thank you for the review on the different filling techniques. Regarding using CA, one has to sand while the CA is still wet or else it will harden and become hard to sand with a finner grade sandpaper. 

[Coyote_6]

@Keith Black Doh!   I missed that critical step for sure.  Even with waiting the CA approach worked well.  Thanks for the ideas.

[SaltyScot]

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

 The hull looks peachy, Steve. Thank you for the review on the different filling techniques. Regarding using CA, one has to sand while the CA is still wet or else it will harden and become hard to sand with a finner grade sandpaper. 

I use this technique quite often too Keith and for that very reason!

[SaltyScot]

1 hour ago, Coyote_6 said:

Thank you immensely for all the great ideas.  I tried every one and they all worked well.

A report of sorts:

 

1. Sanding sawdust into the various recommended adhesives is something I did very successfully prior to danish oil/poly coloring with good result.  Definitely better than the poorly matched wood filler I tried in some places.  I chose not to use that technique (sanding sawdust) here to ensure more uniform finishing.  But I know this works well and probably would have worked fine.

 

2.  UV curing resin - my daughter had some for jewelry making and I used it on a test piece.  Very fast and easy to sand.  I only chose not to use it due to it being a "new" material and not part of my current system.  Longevity/interaction concerns.

 

3.  Super glue - again filled a test piece crack with CA and sanded.  It is very hard when cured so requires more effort/time to smooth, but it definitely worked well.  I didn't want to work that hard.

 

4.  I didn't actually try the shellac although as a new material to me it was very interesting.  The drawback was this - only sold in 1 quart cans (946 mL).  As I learned, I only used about 4 mL "fixing" my mess and had read shellac has a short shelf life when opened, thus I would have to discard 942 mL eventually.  I will try shellac on a future project because it sounds awesome.

 

5. PVA glue by itself was also successful on the test piece.

 

6.  An argument could be made for leaving her alone - not sure the juice was worth the squeeze here.

 

Ultimately what I did do was careen the ship on her side, fill a syringe with Watco Satin wipe-on poly and then lay a bead of poly in the cracks.  After cure there was shrinkage so the process was repeated.  Sanding was easy-ish and finish was re-applied over the whole lower hull.  The results were pretty good. 

 

 

 

 

And the final result.  Needs a final coat of satin to tone down the shine but turned out ok.

 

Benefits include:

 

The filler matching the overall finish for expansion/contraction (thermal and humidity).

 

The applicator needle matched the gap size and would follow the gap when applying.

 

Easy-ish to sand.

 

Follow on poly coats bonded to the fills pretty seamlessly.

 

Anyway, VERY appreciative of all the great options.  They all clearly have their merits and I have added them to my "toolbox" going forward.

 

Detail of my "sample piece".  White glue on left joint, CA (superglue) center, and UV resin on right.  All three would have accomplished this task.  

 

 

Steve,

 

This is a great summary and a very interesting and fact filled "report". I particularly liked the Wipe-On Poly solution. I too will tuck all this away for future builds. Thank you!