That's great news and I am glad to hear that. Great work on the research. Hope everybody hears about this. Thanks!
Found a new supplier of silk span at http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/parts.htm At least they have it in stock for now. Get it while you can.
Hi all; I know that this is an old topic but... Last night I was in a place called "Hobby Town". They had a very good supply of silkspan in stock! $2.50 a sheet. I hope the rest of you have been able to find silkspan as well.
I saw this thread... did not know that SIG stopped..ugh.. No problem I thought... I have a roll in the shop someplace.. I cant find it!!!! I so dont want to buy from down under... it's 4 bucks a sheet....:cry:
I need to skin my Mutsu here soon so I will put up a thread showing you how. This next weekend will be a good time for it because wife will be out of town.... she hates the smell..
Basically you have two ways in the fastgun clubs that are used... One side vs both sides... If the wood is old, use it for a model airplane but not your ship..... You want the wood as flexible as possible. You should be able to "twist" the wood from both ends without it cracking. If it cracks, find a different supplier. You take the 1/32" thick balsa and cut a piece of silkspan to cover the wood... Lay the silkspan onto the wood, take some "Sig" Dope or a decent sealer or urethane and lightly wet the silkspan till it soaks through to the wood. It should "stick" to the wood... Let it dry... Then do the same for the other side. This keeps the wood from "cracking" and "Splintering" when the bb's go through it. It should leave a nice little hole.. I use DAP "Weldwood" contact cement to place it onto the hull. First sand the hull real good till it is smooth. Then "only" glue a area as you go... take a piece of wood that fits a small area... I never use one large piece.. you may need to replace a section and it's best to have it in small sections already. I usually cover two to three ribs per piece. No glue yet... lay the wood on the hull and from the inside, mark the frames on the wood... then place a thin layer of cement on the hull area and then on the wood where it will touch the hull... once the cement is tacky to the touch and not "wet" place the wood on the hull.. You have to be very careful to line up the wood..... it sticks good! The reason I use Weldwood is the ease in which it can be removed... other methods like CA are difficult to get off.... PS Before painting..... You can also smooth this out more after the skinning is done.. I use balsa wood filler, and fill in the gaps and cracks.... then lightly sand again.
I believe so... you will have to verify from the biggun fellas though. I know they use different thinkness in bals for different ships...
I resheet my Rodney in one piece, and we are only allowed to silkspan one side of the balsa. I personally sheet using contact cement and use a single precut sheet of silkspan to cover it once the edges are feathered and filled. Dope the balsa, apply silkspan, coat over with dope, squeegee as you go.
