RE: Norbert's 1.1m balsa cat build
SV27dayton, Stokes,
Thanks for the kind words! I'm always trying to be as precise as possible when I work.
The small boat's shell is made of 1.5mm balsa laminated with 0.4mm 3 layer ply. It's very strong. The ply does wonders.
The light blue coating is actually a 2 component base coat. It is sprayed over and it fills the grains very nicely. When it dries it feels like it's some kind of a plastic, still it's easy to sand. I still haven't decided on the color. Maybe light blue metallic.
The big cat will have 3mm balsa on the bottom and the sides, 2mm balsa on the top, and everything will be laminated with either 0.8mm or 1mm ply. Plus I'm thinking of adding 2 or 4 carbon pipes going through the hull lengthwise and woven glass fiber reinforcement from the inside of the hull.