Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Model Boating => Topic started by: RichardW on March 18, 2023, 04:38:10 pm
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Hello all. Firstly I should introduce myself. In my early teens I took up making control line aircraft and the occasional model boat. Whilst my workmanship left a lot to be desired (awful really !) at least the planes flew and the boats didn’t sink! However, in my late teens other interests took over so that was that. Since then I have kept my interest in model making (ie buying the magazines) but without actually doing any. Now, almost 60 years later I decided to have another go and last Christmas bought a kit from SLEC for a River Police Launch although my intention is to make it purely for display and probably not even labelled as a Police launch. Progress is well underway and, if I can work out how to upload pictures, I hope to share my experience so far.
Meanwhile I would welcome some advice please. When it comes to finishing it:
1 Bearing in mind that it won’t be going in the water is it still necessary to cover the hull with tissue or cloth?
2 Would you recommend I use a sanding sealer on the ply? If so, do I need to thin it down? And if so do I use ‘cellulose thinners’ or something else.
3 I am proposing to matt or satin varnish the deck. Any recommendations on what to use please? And do I need to thin the varnish too. And, bearing in mind that the deck planking has been lasered in by SLEC should I use sanding sealer on it before varnishing or not?
That was a lot to ask in my first post but any advice would be welcomed.
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Welcome to the forum Richard.
If you don't want to ensure your boat is waterproof, there is no need to cover the hull with tissue. However, doing so gives a better surface for painting negating the need for sanding sealer. When using sanding sealer it is advisable to thin the first coat and yes cellulose thinners is the correct thinner. I didn't use sandibg sealer before I varnished mine (see here https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,69112.msg749683.html#msg749683). Fundamentally they perform the csame function. However, I did use a stain varnish.
Best of luck with your build.
Doug
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Personally I prefer satin varnish for deckwork, it gives a much more satisfactory finish and appearance.
I have used cellulose sealer but as it is very high toxic odour I now only use shellac sanding sealer, works well for me.
I would also use sanding sealer on decking before varnishing. Gives a good smooth finish for varnish coat.
N
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Thank you both for your replies. I’ve now bought sanding sealer and thinners and will choose a satin varnish. It’s a sad sign of the times that I have to order everything online as I no longer appear to have a model shop anywhere near me.
I had thought about putting up photos of various stages of my first construction but see that this particular kit has been illustrated a lot on the forum so perhaps it would not be of interest?
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By the way Dougal, I only stumbled across your excellent build blog for the Police Launch a few minutes ago. Photos are no longer visible but from the text our experiences have been near identical ie basically a good kit for a beginner like me but still with a few challenges to test the mind, fingers and use of language!