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Post by pieterhb on May 26, 2010 7:46:41 GMT 1
I finished my second layer of planking and are now at the stage of smoothing my ship's exterior planks.
Overseas I see the builders mention many products, that are either not available in South-Africa or that maybe is available in South-Africa, but that I have never heard of before.
Personally I prefer wood filler for filling in all the cracks, holes, and other sort of gaps. If I remember correctly, Johan from South-Africa mentioned that he used wood filler all over his ship for sealing and smoothing purposes.
I am going to experiment a little with wood filler. I am going to use a little bit of water to thin out the wood filler and then use that "watery" paste for the very small cracks and holes. Sand it down after wards and then use the normal wood filler consistency for the bigger cracks, holes, etc.
I will post my pictures, once I have finished.
(P.S. I reckon most of you out there already does this with the particular sealing product you use).
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Post by grantj on May 26, 2010 9:20:00 GMT 1
Pieter
I used Polycell Polyfilla Woodfiller ( comes in a small white tub and available in various wood colours)
I also gave the planking a good few coats of Plascon Sanding Sealer before putting wood filler. You can also add about 15% Johnsons Baby powder to the sanding sealer to give it more filling properties.
All the above are freely available in SA
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Post by pieterhb on May 26, 2010 9:54:07 GMT 1
Much appreciated for the tips Grantj
Will buy it this coming weekend and try it out.
I just love the mention of baby powder. How on earth did you decide to use it and that it actually works?
Just shows that baby powder is also for all the men out there...
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Post by nm on May 26, 2010 10:14:21 GMT 1
Talcum powder is made from rock! OK its a soft rock - old puncture repair kits for bikes often had a piece, with a grater on the tin.
One source is in the Pyrenees.
nm
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Post by grantj on May 26, 2010 10:17:16 GMT 1
Glad to help  The baby powder is an old trick from back when people still built radio control planes as against todays Almost Ready to Fly planes. We used to paint this mix on the balsa framework before ironing on the covering so tried it on my Bismarck hull and it worked a treat! |
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Post by pieterhb on May 26, 2010 12:50:16 GMT 1
I had a look on Wikipedia about talc powder. (Main ingredient of Johnsons Baby Powder).
Quite interesting. It has for instance a complicated chemical and physical structure.
Talc is being used in many industries for things such as paper making, plastic, paint and coatings, rubber, food, electric cable, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, ceramics, etc.
It is also waterproof, from there that it should work extremely well for example, as a sealer, filler, strengthener and protector, as Grantj has discovered already a long time ago.
Can't wait to try it out myself.
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Post by Mike B on May 26, 2010 22:28:24 GMT 1
Hi Pieter,
When you have done your initial sanding of the second planking, coat the whole hull with PVA cold glue, diluted slightly with water. This will seal between the layers of planking and prevent the paint cracking later if the planks were not glued together properly. The woodfiller used by itself is rather soft and powdery so I add 25% by volume of PVA cold glue to the filler and mix.
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Post by pieterhb on May 27, 2010 7:07:40 GMT 1
Thanks Mike B for your tip.
It is interesting to note that it looks like all the builders has his/her own way of a mixture or some kind of recipe to seal the planking...
I am now just wondering whose method gives the best results, or is it a matter of fact that most of them does a good enough job anyhow?
With all the different kind of mixtures out there, I am sure that some of us can patent a new glue mixture that does it all.
I think it could be an informative new topic to ask everybody how they sealed their respective ships outside plankings.
I consider the sealing of the ship as probably one of the most important things on the Bismarck, that one should actually do 100% correct. Experience told me that a hasty job, when it comes to working with wood and sealing and painting it, could turn out to be a real nightmare later on, if it was not done properly in the first place.
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Post by grantj on May 27, 2010 8:20:01 GMT 1
Pieter are you building yours radio control or just as a static model?
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Post by Mike B on May 27, 2010 10:11:08 GMT 1
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Post by pieterhb on May 27, 2010 10:57:25 GMT 1
Hi Mike B
Great! Thank you very much. I think you should patent your mixture... Will try it out this weekend. Wood filler biggest disadvantage for me is that is is still to "soft" compared to
wood, thus your mixture might just be the thing I am looking for.
Unfortunately everyone of us has seldom the time to read through all the previous posts and thus I am grateful for other members to help us newbies in the right direction.
I will also experiment with Grantj's suggestion.
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Post by pieterhb on May 27, 2010 11:13:45 GMT 1
Grantj
No, I am making a static model. The model already cost me a small fortune in superglue, new dremel tool and all other kinds of tools and equipment. I am thus "bankrupt" at the moment for expensive electric motors, radio controls, etc.
Furthermore I am to cautious/protective to even try out my Bismarck on a lake of some sort. The transport, handling, etc. might just cause some damage after all the hard work beforehand. I would rather build myself something smaller and more rigid later on, to play on the water with.
This particular model I personally think looks the best on display. I might test it out in my bathtub once or twice though, just to see how it performs.
That said, I still try to build my Bismarck to be waterproof, strong and beautiful as possible.
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Post by mike on May 27, 2010 11:28:47 GMT 1
Hi Pieterhb
I use Isopon P38 sets rock hard and easy to sand, nice smooth finish
mike
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Post by pieterhb on May 27, 2010 11:33:42 GMT 1
Hi Mike
Cannot see from where you are?
Is this particular product available in SA?
I have not heard of it before, not to say that it might still be available in SA.
Thanks
Pieter
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Post by mike on May 27, 2010 12:03:19 GMT 1
Pieter
Isopon P38 is mainly used in the motor industry, can buy it in most car accessory
shops in the UK, I would think it's avaliable in SA.
It's a two part filler paste and hardener mix together spreads easy
mike
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