Need wood for a diorama....

[bigmikevee]

Hey Gang,

I am thinking about building a small garage diorama, found some wood online, but have not found a site that makes me feel like giving them my business yet. Who do you guys buy from and what type of wood should I use? I am thinking balsa, what do you think/use?

Thanks in advance!!

Mike

Edited March 8, 2013 by bigmikevee

[cobraman]

I think balsa and basswood. You may find it at a store like Hobby Lobby or Michael's or a well stocked hobby shop. Good luck.

[southpier]

see post #9, here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69705&hl=

actually, if you have time there's a bunch of good information in that thread which may help.

[rel14]

Balsa wood, basswood, foam board,

[Eshaver]

I quit using Balsa wood several years back. I guess it's O K for a airplane , not for doing any kind of structure . Bass wood and Foam Core . Both are available from Michael's art stores ............

[crazyjim]

There's a few pine and oak trees in the yard that need to come down. You're welcome to them. Later today I'll be sending trimmed branches through the chipper. You're welcome to all the chips. LOL

[crazyrichard]

i have found like these hard wooden strips of wood in a local modelstore .. works so good and you can really sand and saw it and it strong

balsa wood is soo light and fragile ..

balsa is great when you need a very light weight object and you want to give it some shape , its easy to sand in a shape and stuff ..

for real construstions like in a garage

i would choose something strong

[bigmikevee]

Hey Jim,

Would you be so kind as to drop them by the house, I could use a chip off the old block!!

Mike

Edited March 8, 2013 by bigmikevee

[crazyjim]

Just finished, Mike. How about I just take a truckload over to the Gulf and throw them in? Maybe they'll float over to you.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I think the closer grain of basswood looks better in models, for the most part. Balsa is great for model planes that fly, as it's light and cuts easy, and for hidden parts of strucures and cars.

Lately I've been saving Starbucks stir sticks for planking.

If you have a fine-furniture refinisher nearby, you can sometimes get fine-grained veneer scraps for free too.

Single-ply cardboard, illustration board (Strathmore / Bristol board), card-stock, and manila file-folders are all materials I used to use for model railroad structures.

Plastruct and Evergreen also make styrene sheets in various scales with things like stone, brick and shingle details molded in.

Edited March 8, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[crazyrichard]

yes those starbucks stir sticks are sooo awsome

recently i found out that the wooden coffee stir sticks from ikea are great as well !!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom Geiger]

Forget balsa. Everything I made using balsa in my early years has warped over time. I use basswood for everything now.

All basswood and built to 1/25 scale exactly, built from old Popular Science Magazine plans

[crazyjim]

There is/was a guy on this forum from California, I think, who had access to all kinds of wood veneer. He sent me some for free over a year ago. I'll try to dig around for his name. Maybe he could help you.

[Mercman]

Basswood is the way to go.

[andy1966]

Please pardon my ignorance, but what is basswood? I make my models from balsa wood. Does it warp after being varnished? New to this!! Thanks. Andy.

[Chuck Doan]

Basswood is a finegrained wood that is similar in color to balsa, but is not as soft. It is used a lot in woodcarving too. A good source for fractional sizes and sheets is Midwest products. If you use water based paints or stains it can warp and raise the grain. Oil based products should work fine, but always do some testing.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Chuck Doan