"Sealing balsa wood" Topic

When basing my figures I use white glue. I have balsa wood 30 years old sealed with balsa wood and the wood has not dried out. However, when it comes to larger cannon and artillery men bases, I have to use thick balsa wood because of the warping effect of white glue as it shrinks.

Is there a glue or sealer I can use to strengthen thinner balsa wood to resist curling when I use a basing material to simulate earth?

Rich

Could I recommend using Basswood and CA Glue instead? (Watch the fumes and use an accelerant). Work in small patches and use the accelerant to set it. You will find it is indestructable, dries fast so you can get right to priming, and is less prone to warping (though it can also cause slight warping when done over too large and area at once).

I also recommend metal washers (zinc or steel), but that's a different topic.

Balsa wood is generally too light weight for use as a basing material.

Paint or spread glue on both sides of the balsa. It will usually only warp if only one side is painted. You can also "seal" paint, glue or varnish both sides before you mount the figures. I always use balsa wood for my troops. All my 30 year old 25s are on 1/16th balsa. My newer 28s are on 1/8. Only larger figures, wagons, elephants etc. need to go on something stronger. Rob.

I would not use Balsa for bases, but the best way to seal it is with Sanding Sealer.

Essential doing what imnotanaga suggests.

Another prodcut that works really well on wood is "Deft" which is laquer in a spray can (very fast drying).

"Balsa wood is generally too light weight for use as a basing material."

This pronouncement is likely to startle a good many wargamers "of a certain age".

COL Bill Gray may remember a fellow from our detachment at Fort Hood who cut his bases for 15mm ancients from strips of balsa--using a pair of nail clippers. No, he did *not* do a neat job.

I have lots of older figures (Airfix plastics, Custom Cast 20mm, early Minifigs; and quite a few early 15mm) still on balsa bases. In hobby shops around military bases of the Army of Occupation, there was always balsa available, but not all shops carried basswood.

Allen

<startled> I still use balsa wood for bases! I've done so for 30+ years with no warping problems, but that may have something to do with the lack of humidity out here.

I tried to find basswood but could not find it in the width I needed it, at least at my hobby store.

Rich

"This pronouncement is likely to startle a good many wargamers "of a certain age"."

I too am a wargamer "of a certain age". I have tried balsa wood for bases and it is just too light weight.

I wouldn't use balsa wood for basing either, but that is hardly the point and not a very constructive reply.

Rich – use polyurethane varnish on the sheet before cutting out the bases. Apply sparingly to both sides with the sheet hanging from a support or propped up against a wall so it can dry freely on both sides. Experiment with a smaller pc first but it should work without warping.

I used the technique many years ago to allow me to work more precisely with sheet balsa for model building and it worked well.

What you end up with is a lightwieght 'plastic' base that is as easy to cut as balsa but cuts more cleanly.

Bass or lime wood would be great but I can never find either in UK model shops either, they seem to be US products that don't make it to shops over here. They are available from some suppliers but ina very limited range of sizes and at very high prices.

"I wouldn't use balsa wood for basing either, but that is hardly the point and not a very constructive reply."

If I was going there, I wouldn't start from here.

The idea that because he wants to use balsa wood as a basing material then that must de facto be a good thing is a fallacy.

Sorry Mike you lost me there – is that supposed to be logic or funny ?

Rich,

Hmmm, that is odd. The hobby stores usually carry Basswood in the same sizes as balsa (sheets and strips both). Perhaps try an art supply store like Michaels or AC Moore if you are in the U.S. (or whatever is local).

I switched to basswood for all my projects where I used to use balsa. I love it. Doesn't chip or crush or bend as easily, is stronger, and yet is still easy to cut.

Good luck, I hope you can find some and try it, I think you will be sold on it.

Keith

I glue metal bases to 1/8" balsa using carpenter's glue, clamp or weight down until dry, paint each side in turn, never had one warp and the paint over the metal facilitates moving the bases on the board without snagging/dragging. I use magnitized storage/transport and the painted bases allow just the right strength to keep the bases in place yet easy to remove.

When I used balsa wood for basing, I tried to methods to prevent warping; painting the underside first, then later, placing weights on the base corners to prevent curling during the drying process. The bases remained flat.

Using wood filler to cover the surfate further strengthened the base.

It is not so much the shrinkage of the glue, but rather the wood absorbs the liquids and expands at a differential rate.

One method I use is to cut two thin bases, with the axis along the grain of one piece and across the grain of the other piece, then glue these together using carpenter's glue, in such a way that the grains of the two pieces are perpendicular when glued.

Thanks everyone I really appreciate the help.

OK Mike, I'll bite what does "lightness" have to do with being used as basing material? I might be able to see it if one used it as basing material for those degenerate 28mm plastic figures (I'm a metal man myself – can you tell? ) But good old fashion metal figures (the kind god intended us to use) seem to bring plenty of weight.

Rich