Mahogany planking for model boats

[spangle82]

I wonder if the expert modellers here can help me with a mahogany problem.

I'm building a WW1 Thornycroft 40' CMB and rather than just paint it grey, I want to emphasise the beautiful lines by finishing it in polished mahogany (think Chris Craft, slipper launches etc).

I went to a good model shop and bought all the planks (6 x 1.5mm) - but after I'd planked the transom I realised they were were too pale and with little obvious grain, in fact it just looked as if I'd just stuck plywood on!

So I went online and found a model place selling 'lovely rich red finish' mahogany planks. Sadly they're not much better, the same basic colour but with dark lines of grain that look rather harsh.

Does anyone know where I can find really nice, rich dark mahogany planks please? Id prefer not to get involved with stain if I can help it.

[dr_gn]

spangle82 said:

I wonder if the expert modellers here can help me with a mahogany problem.

I'm building a WW1 Thornycroft 40' CMB and rather than just paint it grey, I want to emphasise the beautiful lines by finishing it in polished mahogany (think Chris Craft, slipper launches etc).

I went to a good model shop and bought all the planks (6 x 1.5mm) - but after I'd planked the transom I realised they were were too pale and with little obvious grain, in fact it just looked as if I'd just stuck plywood on!

So I went online and found a model place selling 'lovely rich red finish' mahogany planks. Sadly they're not much better, the same basic colour but with dark lines of grain that look rather harsh.

Does anyone know where I can find really nice, rich dark mahogany planks please? Id prefer not to get involved with stain if I can help it.

I guess you've tried EBay? I put "mahogany planking model boats" into the search, and a few came out, but maybe the same as yo have already.

[clockworks]

Try Cornwall Model Boats?

[951TSE]

Have you tried finishing a plank with your chosen finish to see if it then meets your expectations. It might well be that the colour you want will come out after the requisite number of coats of varnish with sanding in between.

Otherwise there are loads of lumps of mahogany on Ebay you could buy a very fined grained one and work out how to plank it yourself.

[spangle82]

I saw Cornwall Model Boats and have got things from them before. However a friend mentioned slecuk.com, they sent me a sample which looks good with varnish so I plan to visit next week, And thats why its tricky - you can have two bits of wood from two places and even if they look the same colour, they can be different after varnishing.

951TSE said:

Have you tried finishing a plank with your chosen finish to see if it then meets your expectations. It might well be that the colour you want will come out after the requisite number of coats of varnish with sanding in between.

Yes, tests done!