Balsa wood!

[Paulc]

Hope this is of interest to someone, you don't hear much about balsa anymore.

I was looking for some "foundation" material to put some Das or scribed plastic on to form a quayside/dockside wall.  I found an old strip of balsa just the right size and was going to use this.  Then I thought, "why not scribe the balsa and see what it looks like?"

So I scribed it and painted the scribed lines black (Picture below)  Then I painted on a mix of browns for the stonework (again below)  Not too promising as the balsa absorbs a lot of paint and is quite rough.  However I persisted with a couple more thinned down coats and some green for the area which gets submerged.  I then painted the scribed lines again with a thin wash of black which I smeared over the "stones" with a finger leaving the joints very dark, and because of the texture of the balsa producing an interesting effect on the stone.

I think it'll do, just need to add the timber pilings, mooring rings, water etc.  But as the last picture, of the finished paint job, shows I have a famous pair on the case!


Paul

[tedp]

Excellent result, Paul. If you scribe the balsa across the grain carefully, it is a very useful material.

I have used balsa in many of my structures - building walls, bridges, quays and jetties, and even as filling blocks on level crossings. Just like card, it is an old-fashioned modelling material and often under-rated.

[Paulc]

Thanks, Ted.  I was quite surprised at how "old" some materials are.  I'd always assumed that "seamoss" was a fairly recent innovation until I discovered it mentioned in John Ahern's miniature landscape modelling from 1951.

Don't suppose there is a use for dyed sawdust anymore though.....

Paul