Am building the U.S.S. Missouri from plans. The plans are for a 1/192 scale ship which i have the hull done but ran into a snag. How do i go about water proofing it and sould I use car bonded for the low spot's. am enclosing some pictures of it. I need help from the ruff balsa wood, waterproofing it, to priming it and sanding it. So any tips are welcomed. Thanks What a great website. P.S. I also need the website for swampworks.

OOOOp's i forgot to metion that the hull was cracked in half before i started on it. I got it from a guy for 7.00 was i thought was a deal. since the kit cost abit over 250$

The use of Bondo is OK for this, to seal the balsa you can use many different sealer. My preference is epoxy. It's available a boat supplies. You can use a cheaper alternative if polyester resin. It is also available at boat supplies as well as automotive parts. You can use clear varnish available at hardware stores (Home Depot, ect). Remember to seal inside and out, as water will find it's way inside the model.

Good luck, you are braver than me in taking on a boat broken in half.

Yea but it was easy to put back together had it done in 3 days. I took it out to the local pond no leaks as for now but still want to find something to make it water tight. Thanks for the tips.

I'd put a coat of thinned West Systems Epoxy inside and out. The reason I specify West Systems is it's formulated for marine use on full sized boats. Thin it with alcohol and brush it on. it will act as a base coat for your primer as well on the outside of the hull.

Thanks that helps alot but is it sandable too?

Yes, but you need to be cautious not to sand through it. You will have to start over if you do

I was planning to put a couple of coats on it any how. So sanding throught it, am not to warried about. Thanks for the tips.

Check out the forum on www.rcgroups.com
Several of us have built wooden runabouts and have been using the WestSystem line of epoxy/glass. There are some very detailed steps over there under scale ships. This is what I'd do if it were my boat.

The write up can be found in the pinned thread in the scale boats section of RCgroups.

If you are epoxying, you might as well work in a thin layer of fiberglass.
You can't go wrong with that combination.

Ok i bought the fiberglass resin today but, is the cloth really needed to seal the hull. I plan to put at least 5-6 coats on. As descibed in my plans i recieved. It says to apply 3 coats of clear dope (but fiberglass would be ok i think) then sand with 320 wet or dry. Then apply 3 more coats sand agin. Then paint. Is this ok. Or should i get the cloth too. Remind you i don't have a work shop and have to work outside (if weather holds back).

P.S.S. Almost forgot anyone have the swampworks website link. Please post it. Thanks Again.

Hi deathwish, I just checked it out and it`s still the same web address, www.swampworks.com Skip