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[wasdale32]

Dave, have you considered laminate flooring panels - they are "high density fibreboard" and are much more moisture resistant. They can be cut with a hand saw - most are around 15cm by around 90 or 100 cm

[Guest]

B & Q or any other type of supplier.

Conti board. Has a melamine finish no problems used it many times. Also B & Q have shelving in different sizes again all plastic surfaced.

All perfect no movement no absorbing of water. No treatment needed.

But you need a saw B & Q to cut to size. If you live in Jersey will cut it for you :tongue-out:

Laurie

[rtfoe]

Hi Dave, I would use thin ply with a formica finish on one side. The formica will be waterproof. PVA will dissolve and lift if in contact with moisture for a significant amount of time as its waterbased. Always use petroleum or resin based surface primers if you're working with waterbased paste or putty.
Wouldn't you have a simple hand saw at home?

Cheers,
Richard

[Gern]

I use 6mm MDF cut for me by my local hardware store for all of my dios (As my dios are usually squarish, I buy an 8ftx4ft board which he cuts into 4 pieces 2ftx2ft; 4 pieces 2ftx1ft 6inch and 4 pieces 1ft square for less than £20. You would end up with more pieces.

However, I always cover the MDF with blue foam board as it gives me a bit of depth to work contours - and I fix the foam with PVA adhesive so that acts as a moisture barrier between the MDF and whatever paints etc. I use.

[Dave Ward]

I'm sad to say, the only saw I possess is a 150mm razor saw! A problem with melamine faced board is actually getting the DAS to stick to it - with the plastic card I could score rough lines for a key, melamine/formica is much tougher. I don't need depth - I'm not going to do a ship vs Tsunami! Max wave height would be 20mm or so, any more and you would run into problems with painting a hurricane sea! In 1/350, 20mm gives a 7m wave ( 20+ ft ), which is big enough.
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

I wouldn’t go with the melamine board idea at the moment Dave, it‘s like hens teeth. I wanted to put up a shelf in my garage and looked in a fifteen mile radius for melamine shelf board and couldn’t find anything at all!

[RonGlass]

Unless I'm way off-base here (accidental pun), why not consider XPS foam board ? The stuff used as insulation in construction, can be found available in 4x4' and 8x4' sheets at DIY home stores (Lowes / Home Depot here) quite cheaply. Can be cut easily with a carpenter's knife / box cutter, quite easy to work with. And water proof. as well.

[RonGlass]

PS I've had success using the stuff with PVA glue, and the various commercially-available terrain goops , adhesion is excellent. It's quite lightweight but very sturdy nonethelesss.

[RonGlass]

Darn, just re-read that you only need it a few milli's thick Dave. My idea probably isn't suitable, sorry.

[Dave Ward]

Ron,
I had considered foam board, but in a seascape you would end up sculpting most of material away! At 1/350, you don't need a big depth to create big waves. 1" will give a 30' wave! If you use thinner foam board, then you will run into problems of rigidity & need a back up board anyway...............................
Dave

[RonGlass]

Yep, sorry Dave, lol, I wondered why nobody else had thought of it....

[Dave Ward]

Yep, sorry Dave, lol, I wondered why nobody else had thought of it....

Ron,
not a problem, I'm sure there are modellers who do it that way, it's the method you are most comfortable with. The air-drying clay may take a bit longer, but it's probably more forgiving of mistakes!
Dave