Thursday, February 07, 2008

Resin rope


Resin fender
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
This fishing boat kit is a triumph in polyester resin. If it’s not made of plastic then it’s made of the stuff.

The ropework is particularly nice. My picture shows the fender for the front of the boat. I suspect the master may have been made in real rope, if not George is an incredible model maker.

The photo doesn’t do the finished item justice. I started with a coat of dark brown and then dry brushed paler browns on top. Brushing talcum powder onto the pale coats before they were absolutely dry provided finishing touch. This gives some extra texture, which nicely mimics the rough rope the real thing would be made from. It also kills any shine dead. The result would fool anyone who deosn't actually touch it.

One thing the resin can’t do of course is replicate the softness of a real fender. It’s solid as rock so I’ll need to be careful not to hit anything too hard for fear of damaging the hull. Since I want to use this boat for the club steering competition I’m not sure that will be possible. Still a bit of weathering will hide any damage won’t it ?

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