Paint

[BRYAN ASTONParticipant @bryanaston57723]

Greetings all

I have almost completed building a Huntress kit, As I cannot get into Halfords to peruse the colour chart can DM (the Fairey expert) tell me the name of the light blue paint used on the cabin roof and the rear seats. As an aside I wish it to be known that I have developed an extreme dislike to Light Ply.

Regards

Bryan

[BRYAN ASTONParticipant @bryanaston57723]

Fairey Huntress

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Bryan

To each his own. Ford Olympic Blue.

DM

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I have previously avoided liteply but for the two Fairey kits I built as review models I found it worked very well once you got used to its characteristics and the way it is used to build the kits. It's inherent weakness disappears once the model has been framed and sheathed in glass cloth. It is also very easy and quick to shape and sand.

It does enable the model to be built really light compared with using traditional birch ply which is important in delivering the performance.

For my scale models I will stick to birch ply and balsa as weight is not so critical.

Colin

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I have developed an extreme dislike to Light Ply.

Perhaps you'd tell us what you dislike about it, Bryan. I would endorse everything Colin has said above, but I suppose I would do, wouldn't I?!

Dave M

[BRYAN ASTONParticipant @bryanaston57723]

Greetings Dave

I posted a reply to you and Colin yesterday but it appears to have disappeared into the ether, however I thank you for your swift answer to my question, regarding My dislike of Light ply ,mainly it is so fragile and I cannot see its advantage of 1.5 mm ply and even when coating it in EZ-Cote resin it is difficult to get a good paint finish.

Colin

I agree with your comments regarding Light ply ,

Thank you both

Bryan

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

It really is a matter of preference and I won't use it for building, though I do, er, have a model built from it!

My neighbour uses it for aircraft but won't use it for boats.

Chris

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

it is difficult to get a good paint finish.

Playing a musical instrument or riding a bike is difficult, but once you've learned how to do it they're easy. There are step-by-step instructions on how to go about obtaining a decent finish on Liteply elsewhere on this website. It all works for me and it's repeatable. Chris Fellows has a model made from it and you can ask him yourself whether or not he thinks the finish is "good".

BTW Eze-Kote is decidedly un-good c/w epoxy. (Heads down for incoming!!)

mainly it is so fragile

I could cite the example of thousands of model aircraft kits – all made from Liteply – which are "as tough as old boots" (to quote one review). Depron and other synthetic foams are much more fragile yet many models are made and flown/floated successfully from them when correctly used and handled. Even cardboard can make a serviceable model boat (see elsewhere on here) although I have to admit that, with a workshop full of ply, I'd not thought to try it.

Finally, as Colin says, Liteply is much easier to work than birch ply and about half the weight for a comparable thickness. I've been using it for 40 years and it's a very serviceable material in the right application.

Dave M

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Every material available to us has it's use's and personnel choice is just that 😄I

Live & let's build

Regards Ray

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

As Ray says, a lot of it is down to personal preference. We all get better results with materials we are comfortable with. Having said that, as Dave states, its also horses for courses. The framework for a Huntsman or Swordsman kit would not work well with 1.5mm ply as it would be too flexible so you would need to use the much heavier 3mm or more ply. Skinning with 1.5mm ply would be OK but as it is thinner you would need to be more precise in fitting. Liteply gives you a bit more wriggle room and is easier to sand in.

Here I will make a confession! When building the Swordsman kit I did press a bit hard at one point and snapped the keel – oh joy! But i just gave the ragged break a squirt of Superphatic glue, straightened it up and within an hour you couldn't see the join.

For the boats I usually build Litelpy is not very suitable but for the two Faireys, although it was a new material for me, I thought it went well with the constructional design and was very happy with th finished result although this was also due to the CNC parts being very accurate and fitting together well. I have built a lot of review kits in my time and these two were the most satisfying in many ways although I struggled a bit with the painting which is purely down to me and nothing to do with the kit.

As far as Epoxy vs Eze Cote covering is concerned I was bamboozled by Dave as in his original Huntsman instructions he specified Aerocote rather than Aeropoxy. So I ended up with filling the cloth grain with a very hard fuel proofer which was a so and so to sand down although I got there in the end.

On the Swordsman I used Eze Cote and while it is obviously not as hard as a finishing epoxy I found it quite adequate and pleasant to use. Again, personal preference. It did the job.

For my current project, a 1903 liner, I am looking at going back to my roots and using gumstrip paper tape to simulate the hull plating. On previous models I used diluted Cascamite to wet the gumstrip and apply it and may do the same again. But I also have a test piece using water based Eze Cote to apply the gumstrip. The advantage of gumstrip is that when it dries out it contracts very slightly and offers a very smooth surface for final finishing. So I like the old ways which I know work but am happy to experiment with new materials as well. All part of the fun really.

Colin

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

It's good, very good!

Out of interest I shall have to compare the weight of the Huntress against the River Cruiser, both being the same length and very similar hull design. The latter being build like a proverbial house of something!

Chris

[BRYAN ASTONParticipant @bryanaston57723]

Greetings all ,Colin I have never used 1.5mm plynfor keel or bulwarks, much too thin, but I have used it for everything else, I have on occasions used a staple gun to hold the ply in place until the glue goes off, disgraceful but it works.the bottom line is whatever floats your boat,

It is a personal choice, but the comments were interestingl

regards

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Quite agree it is a personal choice and go with what you are happy with. My current liner model hull is pretty much all balsa so I can carve and sand it to shape.

But if you buy a kit then obviously you are largely constrained by the efforts of the designer and manufacturer as is the case with the two Faireys. It was obvious that the prototypes worked fine so I accepted that I needed to embrace the design intentions to get a good result and so I did.

When you design your own model then you are free to do whatever suits you and have much more freedom and if it doesn't work there is only one person to blame!

Colin

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