"Working with Hobby Woods" Topic

I'm planning on building some small shanties for my 15mm sci fi project, as a starter project, to learn how to use some of the tools of the hobby.

I bought a small saw and mitre box for cutting the wood, but I haven't really worked with balsa, basswood or hobby plywood that much.

Can I cut the sheet stock with a straight edge and a matte knife? Should I use PVA or wood glue to attach the pieces to each other? Should I build the (hollow) buildings around small forms to aid with dry fitting and clamping during final assembly? Are there any particular properties of these woods that make them react differently to various adhesives? How should I attempt to reduce warping and swelling? What size hobby woods are appropriate to represent "real" dimensional lumber and sheet stock at 15mm (1/100) scale? About how tall should a 1/100 scale building be to represent a small shack with a flat roof? What paints and washes should I use to paint and weather the tiny structures? Should I sand the pieces before and after assembly? What grit would be useful for such small wooden bits?

As always, any tips, tricks, hints or help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Should I use PVA or wood glue to attach the pieces to each other?

Wood glue. (It kinda makes sense to stick wood with wood glue!) It's the same as PVA but with less water in it. Don't use ordinary PVA, the extra water content will cause warping.

What size hobby woods are appropriate to represent "real" dimensional lumber and sheet stock at 15mm (1/100) scale?

That's simple enough to work out. take the full size dimensions and divide by 100.

About how tall should a 1/100 scale building be to represent a small shack with a flat roof?

Dunno. How tall is the small shack in real life? Dvide that measurement by 100 and there's your answer.

Should I sand the pieces before and after assembly?

If you want 'em to be smooth, then yes.

We always used an x-acto knife and steel straight edge for building basswood models in architecture school. Some sort of chopper would be useful, too. Look for Aleene or Sobo glue-it dries quickly and makes a great bond.

To reduce warping, use as little glue as possible, also the direction of grain will matter.

A fun property of these thin single ply woods is that you can dampen it with water, stretch it around a round form of some sort, tape it down, let it dry, and it will retain the shape.

Cutting sheet stock with a straightedge and a knife if possible, if you have really steady hands. I would just buy stripwood if you have it available.
I tend to use the really thick superglue for gluing wood models. You need to be very careful to place each piece exactly where you want it, but it adhere almost instantaneously, so you can keep building. Any kind of wood glue will have more dry time.
As for size, try making a mockup with cardboard and see how the figures look next to it. Wargame buildings are more for the look rather than exact measurements.

Once you learn the tricks to balsa it is very easy to work with.

- Always use a sharp blade

- Always make multiple passes rather than try for a complete cut on the first swipe. If you try for one, the grain will tend to split ahead of the knife if you are ripping, and you will crush the wood if you are tearing.

- practice at keeping your blade perpendicular to the table. It is very easy to accidentally bevel the wood by leaning the blade as you cut.

- be sure to put weight or pressure on all lengths of your steel edge as you cut. Lack of adequate pressure at the end as you start your cut tends to cause the wood to rotate clockwise at the point where you have the most pressure, and lack of adequate pressure at the finish of the cut tends to cause the wood to rotate counterclockwise where you have the most pressure. I often walk my fingers along the steel edge as I cut.

- pay attention to the last third of your cut. As you get towards the end, you tend to relax and the blade has a tendency to curve away from the straight edge as you relax.

- try to have your work piece (the part you want to keep) outside the steel edge and have your scrap under the edge.

- if you are tearing (cutting across the grain) towards the edge of the piece of wood take it slow and easy – as you approach the edge a heavy hand tends to cause the wood to split along the grain as you get near the edge

- if you are cutting a circle, start on the tear and ease into the rip (grain). Tryng to turn from the grain to the tear tends to cause the wood to split.

- never force the blade. That will crush the wood or cause a split

- if you are cutting out, like windows in a wall, make a couple passes on the tear sides (across the grain of the wood) of the window first. Then do the cuts along the grain. If you cut the along the grain first, the wood will tend to split ahead of the knife and the split will not nicely stop where you want the angle of the window to be. Cutting the tear sides first sort of creates a "split break", in that the splitting when you cut on the grain will not jump the cuts you have made across the grain.

- if you are cutting something like a door or window out and there is not a lot of material on one side, like the door is at the extreme end of a wall, cut the tears first, and then cut the side that has the least material next to it. Try to get this cut and the angle cuts finished first, before you make the cut on the other side. This helps maintain the integrity of the wood as you cut, minimizing the chance that the minimal material will break.

Excellent advice.

A straight edge with a cork back is really good at resisting slippage, and will help with Virtual Scratch Builder's fourth point (but you still need to do what he says).

That is excellent advice, and much appreciated, as well.

Thank you, as always, TMP TotH people, you are most knowledgeable and exceedingly generous with your hard-earned wisdom. Cheers, wood wizards.

I like to take a used up Bic pen, one that doesn't write anymore, and score wood grain into the surface of the planks.

Also window and doors are the key.

If they look correct the shack will as well,
If the door is too small it will look odd.