Painting Balsa wood

[former user]

sorry, I only wanted to help with the basswood

But Sangenarru is right - Allthough basswood is pretty strong though easy to work on, when cut in very thin stripes it tends to rip up as opposed to balsa, that has a better coherency (tropical wood lacks the growth rings that mark the seasons)

I guess the question is wether appearance or workability is more important, as wall as taste of course 

[Sangennaru]

I guess the question is wether appearance or workability is more important, as wall as taste of course 

I'm for the balsa. Forever 

[gamer Mac]

I built this out of mainly basswood. But some of the smaller details are made of balsa
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=13752.msg159878#msg159878
Balsa is a lot easier to cut just using a craft knife, basswood needs a bit more elbow power.

[archangel1]

Sounds like there is a big difference in the two woods on either side of the pond.  In the New World, basswood is the overwhelming material of choice for building in wood in the smaller scales.  I think that every single one of the hundreds of Model Railroad Craftsman kits includes basswood as a matter of course.  If they do include any balsa, it's there simply as a filler or spacer.  Considering, on average, it can be up to 4 times as dense as balsa, that makes it much easier to work with and, former user, I've found no tendency for it to rip up.  I've had balsa, though, that is so open-grained that cutting it with a razor saw gives it the appearance of shell-splintered beams!

If you haven't seen it, here's some work I was doing on some Western buildings.  All wood is basswood.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?action=gallery;su=user;cat=65;u=1266

Just click on Gallery Name for several photos.  (Before anybody asks, no, there is no more progress on completing the diorama.  I'm an easy victim to the 'Ooo, shiny!' syndrome.  One day...)

Sangennaru - Here's a link to a couple of downloadable articles regarding staining and weathering stripwood that might be of use to you.

http://www.rustystumps.com/HowToArticles.asp

[Dewbakuk]

All the basswood I've seen in the UK is sourced from US trees, so ours is the same at least

[Sangennaru]

no, the point is that you can use the balsa for much more things, and is much better for making rotten wood or almost everything for fantasy and 28mm. for smaller scales is not as good.

thanks archangel for the links, the tutorial will be really useful - thanks averyone!

[former user]

thx Archangel for the clarification

with basswood I mean very thin layers, thinner than 1 mm
and it surprises me to hear that anyone would cut balsa with a saw and not a knife?
it is natural to use basswood with kits, since these are cut with mechanical saws or "sand jet?" saws and this of course works best - they are also more durable

I think it is up to personal preference - everyone experienced enough will then find his ways to deal best with the material.

For instance I hear all the time of people working with cardboard - I simply hate it, but I see the wonderful results 

[Sangennaru]

and it surprises me to hear that anyone would cut balsa with a saw and not a knife?

actually, cutting balsa with a saw is nearly impossible. It tooks some pratice, but usin a knife gives the best results.

[archangel1]

I do normally use a knife if I'm working with balsa but, on occasion, I came across a strip or block that was so dense that cutting it with a knife was virtually impossible.  Even the razor saw jammed and I ended up using a coping saw! Balsa hardness can vary considerably, ranging from butter soft to almost the consistency of hardwood.  That's another reason why I seldom use it for modelling.  You can never be sure you'll be working with identical weight wood and the finished product's appearance may suffer.

[former user]

that's interesting

never encountered such a balsa block - but essentially it is about what I said about balsa coherence as a tropical wood

[Silent Invader]

In the past when I wanted a lot of balsa for a specific project I went to a balsa dealer serving the model aircraft industry and was quite surprised at the extent of the workability differences between the various densities available (with resulting variations in strength and weight).

[Cheeky Monkey]

Just thought I'd weigh in on this topic. I have worked extensively with both balsa and basswood and prefer basswood by far. It works well with all sizes of builds and is much more stable.Balsa finds its best use in the building of flying model airplanes which need to be light in weight - especially rubber powered ones. For applications where a thinner material is needed I usually use some of the more exotic woods such as mahogany or walnut - which - while a little more expensive - are much stronger, especially when as thin as 1/32". Basswood is prefered by most all model railroaders and professional model builders as it is much more consistent in grain and strength. It is easily stained and aged and there are several product available to make it appear as if its quite ancient. But if you are looking to replicate worm-eaten lumber then balsa is good because of its porosity. Weathering solutions like the ones  here :  http://www.micromark.com/weathering.html    are usually available at most finer model RR shops.