Ok so I am planning on useing the self leveling sealer on my ship and was wondering if adding leadshot as ballast to the mix would still work? Also my batteries sit a little lower then the top edge of my water channel. I still want to cover that area with the sealer. Would covering the bottoms of the batteries with clear plastic food wrap prevent them from getting stuck in the sealer? Any help would be much apperciated! Thanks, Jon
Plastic would help,with the batteries, but creases and bunching-up might make it loose. I would try using Vaseline as a "mold release". Test it first, in an old container first. You should be able to just pull the battery free, and after cleaning, pop it back in.
Justin did the plastic wrap when he laid out his Tirpitz, the thread is buried here somewhere. It worked really well, but he laid the sealer thick and it took forever to cure as I recall.
Define thick haha. For the most part, it will be no more then 1/4" thick and even thats probably higher then reality. There are a few portions aft that it will need to be thicker but I am thinking of adding lead weight (currently the ship is to heavy forward) to counter the unequal weight distribution but I may use the epoxy method Kotori mentioned in the Bearn build for those parts simply because I do not know how the sealer with react with the added metal. (though I really can't see it not working)
Ok so I used the sealer today and leaned a couple things my first time that will help on my next ship: 1) I need to use a little bit more because it did not fill all space I intended it to. 2) I should wait until I pour it all and then place the batteries instead of placing the batteries and pouring 3) The sealer does not seep through all the weight balls (similar to small bird shot) so the area should be either epoxied only or CA'ed only Lessons learned. All in all it still came out decent but will need some touch up work once it completely cures.
You can pour the sealer and then place the lead shot on top. As long as it is not too small its sinks to the bottom just fine. But the high viscosity will prevent the sealer from flowing around lead shot and can even be used to create slopes depending on how you lay it down.
