Lady Isabella by palmerit - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - Zulu

[palmerit]

I hoping to leave the upper portion natural wood. I'm leaning toward using WOP by itself. I've seen some recommend shellac instead. Despite reading a whole bunch of posts, I haven't been able to figure out the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two options. I know shellac is dissolvable with alcohol. And I believe you can use PVA glue with shellac, but likely not to WOP. The planking is pear, so I know I don't want to use a stain. I've seen some recommend a tung or danish oil, but some posts have recommended against using those.  

[palmerit]

Two coats each of clear shellac, amber shellac, and WOP (on pear wood that’s the 2nd layer of planking). The amber is my least favorite. 
 

I think I like the clear shellac the most - and it has both the advantage and some would say disadvantage of coming off with alcohol). But that could be more the particular strips of wood than shellac vs. WOP. 
 

I have not been able to get a clear sense of whether shellac or WOP is better - and have seen  completely opposite recommendations about doing WOP over shellac, from never do it to do it. Lots of posts with strong opinions here and elsewhere. If anyone has objective thoughts on (1) shellac, (2) WOP, or (3) both, I’d love to hear. 

Edited November 25 by palmerit

[Sterling59]

Is the WOP oil or water based? Ive seen bith advertised but havent used either yet....

[palmerit]

Minwax wipe-on-poly is oil based.

[Ronald-V]

I wish I had experience with Shellac so I could give you a honest opinion...but only used WOP (home made, not the ready-made American brand).

That said, I do like how it looks and the workability of WOP.

[Steve1970]

Three thoughts on shellac.

 

1) Shellac is an excellent sealer and the raised grain and 'fuzz' can be sanded off in 10-15 minutes. You can reapply many coats and sand in a single sitting and get a really nice smooth surface. This is extremely nice if you are working with end grain that you want smooth. 

2) Shellac is repairable since it will dissolve with denatured alcohol. 

3) You can always use WOP over the shellac if you prefer the look or sheen of it. 

 

Edited November 25 by Steve1970

[palmerit]

Googling around, it looks like you can use WOP over "de-waxed" shellac, but if you use WOP over shellac that has not been "de-waxed" it will not adhere. The Minwax shellac I have has not been "de-waxed". They do make a special de-waxed version. I think the "wax" comes from the shellac itself, but you can find de-waxed chips to make your own shellac.

 

And I found this video (granted, not about wooden ships, but about wood more generally). For example, it notes that the Zinsser Bullseye Seal Coat (a thinned shellac) is de-waxed (it says 100% wax-free shellac on the can); the regular Zinnser shellac contains wax. The video also notes that the shelf-life of an opened shellac can is only a few months.

 

BT&C shellac flakes (that he shows) are de-waxed. I bought shellac from Lee Valley and they are also de-waxed. 

 

The video also gives a nice formula for making shellac flakes. They're using expressed as a "2 lb cut", which would be 2 lbs of flakes to 1 gallon of alcohol but who makes that much at one time. His formula uses a 4:1 formula, with 4x the alcohol in liquid ounces to 1x the shellac in weight ounces. So a 1/2 pint would be 8oz (liquid) of alcohol and 2oz (weight) of shellac.

 

 

Edited November 25 by palmerit

[Danny_CZ]

Hello, first of all, I am a fan and I really look up to your continuous improvement!!

 

Great post on the finishes, I checked as well and I think shellac flakes and making own mix is the way to go! When we already have beautiful wood, it feels like the correct option - also feels more easy to use compared to Wipe on poly which in my honest opinion does not look good at all anyway.

 

As for color, both clear and amber look great. I think for pear clear is better, while amber gonna be nicer on lighter colored woods.

 

One thing to watch out for I guess is that shellac can soften PVA glue, so making sure the glue is fully polymerised and any spills sanded is important!

 

Good luck further!!

Danny

 

 

[palmerit]

Finished the second planking and did some standing. I still need to sand a bit more in a few spots. But being my third real strip planking (the first being my Vanguard Sherbourne, second being my Vanguard Ranger) I can see my slow improvement. 

Edited yesterday at 04:54 AM by palmerit

[Nightdive]

Looks great!

[palmerit]

I'm thinking next Vanguard model I build I would like to buy some extra pear wood strips for the planking. There were times I cut a strip too short or shaped them too thin or too fat or was unhappy with a few after adding them and would have liked to strip them off. The model kits come with extras, but not enough to set a high bar for what makes it on the model. Someone shared with me a photo recently of someone's build - I think of one of the Syren kits - with more trashed planking strips than ones that actually made it on the model.

 

@chris watton Can we order more pear strip wood for planking from you? Or can you point to where you get yours from? Or is pear wood pear wood wherever you get it, so long as it is the right dimensions?

 

I suppose I could just order from  https://www.modelerssawmill.com and compare with the wood with the next Vanguard kit (and either combine them together or use the unused pear from that Vanguard kit for the next Vanguard kit if it uses the same second planking dimensions). 

Edited 20 hours ago by palmerit

[woodartist]

12 hours ago, palmerit said:

I can see my slow improvement

I disagree, it shows a ton of improvement. That s a great job.

[Ronald-V]

1 hour ago, palmerit said:

I'm thinking next Vanguard model I build I would like to buy some extra pear wood strips for the planking. There were times I cut a strip too short or shaped them too thin or too fat or was unhappy with a few after adding them and would have liked to strip them off. The model kits come with extras, but not enough to set a high bar for what makes it on the model. Someone shared with me a photo recently of someone's build - I think of one of the Syren kits - with more trashed planking strips than ones that actually made it on the model.

 

@chris watton Can we order more pear strip wood for planking from you? Or can you point to where you get yours from? Or is pear wood pear wood wherever you get it, so long as it is the right dimensions?

 

I suppose I could just order from https://www.modelerssawmill.com and compare with the wood with the next Vanguard kit (and either combine them together or use the unused pear from that Vanguard kit for the next Vanguard kit if it uses the same second planking dimensions). 

Pearwood comes in quite a few different color variations, from dark pink to light beige/yellowish. What I did for my Sphinx build was order the same number of planks (different widths) and a sheet of pearwood from a company like "Modelers Sawmill" (I ordered from "Hobbymill.eu") so I could go in any direction with the planking. I first sent photos to this company of the laser-cut side planks above the wales so they could choose a roughly similar color tone for the planking (you can never get it exactly right unless you send a sample).

 

Of course this is not strictly necessary for the Vanguard kits, because of the good quality wood Chris provides, but if you want to go all-out with planking it is useful/desirable  

[palmerit]

I pulled a screen shot from my first (Sherbourne) and second (Ranger) planking. I realized I didn't have a shot of my Ranger before I used some wood filler.