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[mk1]

Hi I am going to build a 1935 Lifeboat with Diagonal Planking and my question is do you cover the final boards with a coat of filler or not. The reason I ask is that I looked at a boat that Gribeauval built and that was just sanded and painted but have been following the build of the George Elmy by Fred Crowell and he has put a coat of something on top of the final boards and sanded down to a nice finnish. I wondered which way these boats were done. Thanks in advance for any answers.
 
John

[heritorasphodel]

The real boats have nothing but paint over the final layer of planking. That's why the older the boat gets the more obvious the plank lines become. On a model though it's useful to use a coat of filler because when scaled it's more difficult to get an absolutely smooth hull.


Andrew

[gribeauval]

Hi I am going to build a 1935 Lifeboat with Diagonal Planking and my question is do you cover the final boards with a coat of filler or not. The reason I ask is that I looked at a boat that Gribeauval built and that was just sanded and painted but have been following the build of the George Elmy by Fred Crowell and he has put a coat of something on top of the final boards and sanded down to a nice finnish. I wondered which way these boats were done. Thanks in advance for any answers.
 
John

All Fred has done with the George Elmy is to use filler in the countersunk holes where the planks are nailed and to fill the large seams between the planks. This is then sanded, primed and top coated. That's why he had her back in the water to allow the planks to swell and check for major leaks.
This is exactly what I do with my models. Filler all over the hull to fill the small gaps then sand it all back off before painting. Less than 5% of the filler I put on is left in place.
Don't forget we want to see pictures of the boat as you build it! 


regards   Mike

[spongie]

The real boats have nothing but paint over the final layer of planking. That's why the older the boat gets the more obvious the plank lines become. On a model though it's useful to use a coat of filler because when scaled it's more difficult to get an absolutely smooth hull.


Andrew

not all real boats.

all the MTBs and etc I used to work on at the boatyard used to have a skim of filler all over the hull to seal in the screw holes and to make sure a smooth finish was acheived all over. probably no substitute for good workmanship mind...

[heritorasphodel]

I meant Lifeboats, certainly the ones we have at Chatham have no noticeable filler on the hulls, other than areas that have been damaged.


Andrew

[mk1]

Thanks for the replies will post pictures when I get sorted out have to finnish the Mersey first nearly there.
 
John