The reason I ask this is a project I did sometime back. Many of you may remember my previous Avatar as a hand-carved speed boat from the fifties. The Deck planking on many of them was Evergreen Sheet in a plank pattern. Many, like the avatar were engraved right on the basswood as they had Crown Planks and Curved planks at the Edges.
Basswood works well for this. Sometimes it takes too much material and time to create something out of Resin ( Making the mold and such), Sculpting Material or Built up Plastic with Fillers. The last especially because of the surface difference between the plastic and the filler which can come back to bite you!
In those cases, where an interior will not be needed or wanted. The answer? Basswood! Hey, It works easy, is Tight Grained, Seals well and is impervious to shrinking after many years of sitting in that showcase! I have a Wheeler Cruiser under Construction. I used Basswood which was shaped, sanded, sealed, and painted . The interior area and engine spaces were routed out Before I planked the deck.( Nice clean Edges that way) Now, at this point I am making the running gear from two Marinized Chevy Model Car engines, stainless steel shafts and Brass props made to scale.
Except for weight and the unmistakeable wood grain on the SemiGloss cabin sides you would think it’s Plastic, But it is Oak tinted a a Mahogany color. Yes, the cabin sides were done in White Oak, Why Oak? It was paper thin cut-offs from a cabinet shop and worked great as far as thickness and grain were concerned. All the plastic and brass fittings fit perfectly, including using flattened silver wire for the Cabin and Porthole Framing,Why? It polishes up fantastically. So next time a project requires a large amount of material Think Basswood. You won’t be dissapointed
Basswood is God’s gift to woodcarvers and scratchbuild modelers. Balsa is for flying models. Two coats of auto primer and it is usually ready for paint. That includes, of course, sanding the two primer coats.
Hobby Lobby and Michaels both carry it. They are more expensive than in lumber yards but carry smaller sizes.
That’s a funny! In that case, I’ll try to catch the limit! Large or Small Mouth, if you git hit in the face with a chunk, You’ll know which one LOL.LOL. It makes no difference. All kidding aside. As a part time carver I have learned to be wary of the blocks sold at many places. I bought one from the now De-Funct Hobby-Town in S.A. It was piffy( Soft and stained) inside!
Now that said, here’s why I don’t usually do that. When carving a large Eagle wing for instance. To indicate it is moving requires many curves and individual feathering. This is where a laminated piece falls flat. If you have to carve around the laminated surface it can get tricky. Sometimes resulting in break-outs that then need filling. Remember I do mostly Birds. Some are quite small.
Now for Barn owls and Critters like that Lamination is great. When doing Chipmunks I laminate the pieces so the laminated joint enhances the little guy’s stripes!
