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[Klunk]

Have picked up and old balsa boat. while refurbishing it I noticed the paint peeling at deck level so thought I would pick it off, tub back and spray it. when I picked it off it seems to be gummed packing tape. seen this on airfcraft but never a boat!  was this common at any point ?

[Stan]

Hi klunk looks like you a sticky problem on your hands. In all my years of model building never seen this material on model boats.Sorry about the pun.


Stan

[Ron Rees]

Hi Klunk


Yes, Sticky brown parcel tape has been used for boats for ages. In fact with a vac-formed hull and double diagonal planking method you can make a decent hull copy using layers of this stuff, but it has the be the old brown paper with the water based glue that tastes like dead fish on it. Glynn Guest and others have used this and written articles about it, as well as brown Kraft wrapping paper and even newspaper to make models this way.. It is in fact an ideal way to make little ships lifeboats etc.


Depending on the glue used on the balsa you can remove it using a steam wallpaper stripper or if that seems a bit drastic, scratch away as much paint as you can (Or use paint stripper)  then brush with warm water and slowly peel away at the edges. The only other way is to cover over all of the damage with a modern material like lightweight glassfibre laminating fabric 1 ounce per metre sq. (34grammes per metre square) and an acrylic resin or varnish. (Don't use cellulose products as they can react with the old paint making it worse) Fill any damage that shows through and repaint.


Ron.

[Colin Bishop]

As Ron says, it used to be a very common method of covering a hull before GRP came along. I have used it several times very effectively and it is a lot less messy than GRP so I still prefer it. I take the added precaution of using a Cascamite glue solution instead of plain water to wet the paper tape when applying it to balsa or wood When dry I prefer to use shellac as a finishing coat to give an all organic finish which sands beautifully although you can use dope or sanding sealer instead. The gummed paper tape contracts slightly during the drying process to give a very flat surface. Just as good as GRP for covering a hull in my view and some people such as Don Brown used to laminate it to make hulls for his award winning destroyer models. Very strong and lightweight.

Colin

[Ron Rees]

Hi Colin,


Cascamite is an amazing product, my really early experiments with nylon stockings in the late 60's and early 70's (Long before the foam ones) used cascamite powdered glue which can be mixed from runny and paintable, right up to thick gap filling. We used to knock up a balsa flatty racing boat (Marksman by Phil Connoly and the like as well as some Vic Smeed designs.) Cover them with tights and two or three coats of cascamite, unbelievably strong and totally waterproof. Dried hard like a drum skin. Works well on paper, nylon covering, and F/G laminating fabric although a new material...Frostguard from a garden centre is incredible for covering, costs about £5.00 for a massive 10m. roll.
Happy days!


Ron.