Best way to seal a wooden hull

[youth must fly]

Hi this is my first time building something like this and i need some suggestions as to how i can seal/cover the wooden hull

Can i cover it with monocote?

Or brush it up with epoxy resin and then sand it down?

Or sparaypaint it with plasticoating/rubberize spray paint havent tried that ?

I mean what do you guys use i have no idea need some help!!!

Regards Tomm

[sleb]

Epoxy resin and sanding will work. You can then paint it also. another method is to use fiberglass to give a stronger covering. If you do a search for sealing wood boats there have been a few posts already on this topic. Good luck with the airboat. :)
Steve

[youth must fly]

That is something i was wondering myself so you can paint it over epoxy resin

Will automotive paint work or not

[keith S]

You can paint oner epoxy resins but you will need to do a couple of things first. 1 light sand the surface and degrease it with rubbing alchol. 2, use a good primer ( Krylon in a can), to have a good base for the paint to adhear to. Good luck.

[youth must fly]

Ok thanks for help do i lay a couple of coats of epoxy or one coat will be enough

Tomm

[cdog46]

I surmise that is a balsa hull. Balsa is porous or "thirsty" wood. Rather than straight epoxy resin-you might want to cosider cutting the expoxy with alcohol-say 3-1 epoxy to the thinner.
I am old and tired and have CRS-can't remember sh**-so I forget WHICH kind of alcohol thins well with expoxy resin-just Googl it and you'll get answer. What you also get with 2 coats is a super smooth coat especially if you wet sand bwtween coats with 8oo or finer wet sandpaper.

[LtDoc]

Tomm,
After looking at the construction pictures and finding out it appears to have an IC engine, using a sealer that's fuel resistant is also a good idea (inside and out). At the 'stage' it's in now, that 'inside' sealing thingy might be a little bit difficult, but still not a bad idea (change that "a little bit" to "extremely" and it'll be much closer to real life - lol).
Good luck!
- 'Doc

[youth must fly]

I decide to go with 3/4oz glass cloth to kind of reinforce the balsa hull, epoxy resin itself might not give it enough strenth.

What concerns the waterproofing inside i already did that

LtDoc what do you mean by changing it a little bit to extremley and it'll be much closer to real life do u compare this boat to something else
Cant catch the drift

Tomm

[LtDoc]

Tomm,
Sorry. Just meant that sealing the insides of a completed/covered hull is never 'just a little bit difficult', more an 'extremely' difficult procedure (at least for me). Sort of like painting a floor, and painting my self into a corner?
- 'Doc

[youth must fly]

ahahahah ok gotcha

[Ray Farina]

I found that Epoxy resin is best thinned with acetone, but you might want to apply 1 reduced coat and two additional full coats, When you just about get your nail into the 1st coat, put on the secong coat, and the same with third coat. West system depends ong hardener takes about 1 to 1-1/2 hours to set up, but do all three coats on the same dat, not different days. And after 2 - 3 days wipe off and then sand with 80 grit paper and finish with no finer than 150 grit, so your paint will adhere.

[Tollytime]

I use the West System 206 hardener for longer pot life (20 minutes). I never ventured to cut it with acetone, but thats what you should use. I usually use a penetrating epoxy for my first coat. After two coats of West system, you got a pretty hard finish. It's hard to sand, but very strong. The actual resin will take about 2 hours to tack up, but the mixing pot can cure within 20 minutes. Some penetrating epoxies I use take over 5 days to fully cure. See your local marine store or go the West Marine online.

[youth must fly]

ok thanks for advice guys

[norgale]

So Tomm,what did you finally decide on? I have the same problem with a basswood planked hull and don't know what to do to seal it. Pete
What do you fly?

[norgale]

xxx