A can of spray varnish works very well and being an aerosol it gets into every space and corner.

How rude Martin I don't use cheap old resin ,mines always new and fresh you can warm it up by standing a pot of resin in some hot water It will soak into all wood without the need to thin and in any counts the brush cleaner for the resin is a suitable thinner anyways ….mark

Take 10 paces turn and brush but be careful as solvents at dawn tend to be tacky and if you hold your tool wrong you might end up with sticky fingers

Mark,

I have found that polyester doesn't soak in and stay soaked in very well with most woods, but it is probably good enough for toy boats.

Also, my info is backed up by none other than Dick Clarke of Lake Tahoe, who uses epoxy to glass the bottoms of wooden boats, as lake Tahoe boats need that protection. He says polyester doesn't soak in enough and lets go easily and so uses epoxy, but only with a glass cloth that has been treated to suit epoxy, which "normal" GRP mats and cloths do not. He, of course, will have experimented with all sorts until he found a combination of materials that do the job he charges a lot of money for!

I have never used the model GRP systems as they are overpriced, being small amounts. I wouldn't know if the cloth is treated for epoxy or more suited to polyester as I never use it. My experience is only with WEST or SP epoxies which I am quite happy using at normal viscosity. In fact the WEST technical rep turned his nose up and warned me that they were not aware of the effects of thinning, but at that point (about 2006) they had not investigated the subject. I wasn't likely to upset him as at that point he produced a 25 litre drum of the stuff gratis as their sponsorship of our restoration of an historic wooden canal boat. Now, everyone talks about thinning it!

Martin

Sorry. I didn't realise I was mixing in with the big boys. I use Z-Poxy Finishing Resin which I buy in very small quantities, like most boat modellers do. Its resin:hardener ratio is 1:1. I have no experience of West or SP resins but 25L would be a little too much for me to store (even if it were free).

All I can say is suit yourselves – and may the best man win.

DM

Frankly, Ashley, I think you're right. If I didn't have the WEST epoxy on the shelf from when I did the boat restoration, I probably wouldn't buy any more. Fortunately it lasts for ages. I would probably use a treacly varnish from the pound shop! Failing that, waterproof any unknown or iffy joints (we all have them sometimes) with Pound shop rapid epoxy, then paint or varnish the rest of the structure. I would never leave it unfinished as ordinary storage damp can get into the wood, so some sort of waterproof paint is needed, hence my advice for enamel paints.

Dave, nothing free is too much to store! And it was a full 70 foot narrow boat we were restoring!

Cheers,

Martin

BTW, it helps if you do it as you're moving along with the build as I have here. Nice smooth skin of epoxy (or Mark's smelly old polyester (<GG&gt slapped in there with a cheapo Chinese brush (from the Poundshop!)

Cheers,

Martin

I also like Z-Poxy resin. It's very easy to use and sands well and can, as Dave says, be bought in relatively small quantities. I have used SP and West Systems epoxy for model and full sized boats and it goes in well if heat is applied, gently, in the form of a hot air gun. This makes the epoxy more runny. Don't overdo the heat or you will end up with melted bristles mixed in with the epoxy- don't ask how I know this.

I would alway finish the inside of a boat with epoxy as wood has a habit of moving about and I find it tends to stabilise it. I always finish the inside with a coat of paint as well just because it looks neater.

Epoxy will do the most thorough job of waterproofing in my opinion..

Regards,

Ian