• SUBSCRIBE TO SHIPS IN SCALE TODAY!

    The beloved Ships in Scale Magazine is back and charting a new course for 2026!
    Discover new skills, new techniques, and new inspirations in every issue.

    NOTE THAT OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL BE July/August 2026
  • Win a Free Custom Engraved Brass Coin!!!
    As a way to introduce our brass coins to the community, we will raffle off a free coin during the month of August. Follow link ABOVE for instructions for entering.

Wood Source for my Build

H

Hawser

Joined
Jul 1, 2026
Messages
23
Points
13

Location
Corpus Christi, Texas
Hello!

I need to know where I can source the wood needed for my project. My 48" Tug has frames / bulkheads, on the drawings, that have a notch cut-out for the Keel, measuring 1/4", needless to say when I put the Port & Starboard frame together, I'll have a 1/2" notch for the Keel. I'd like to make the frames / bulkheads, Keel out of plywood, using 1/4" ply. Where is a good place to buy this lumber?

Thanks
Lou
 
If you are building a 48” long tug, either you have a big place to display it or it’s going to be a working model. If the latter is true, at least the keel needs to be made from marine or exterior grade plywood. That means that the glue between the laminations is waterproof.

1/4” thick plywood is stocked by suppliers of building products. I would first visit your local lumberyard or home improvement store. If you live where there is a Menards that would be my first choice otherwise Home Depot. There you can browse the stock and at least at Menards talk to someone knowledgeable.

Plywood also has a bad habit of warping so you want to be able to take the actual piece before you buy it and lay it flat on the floor. Also, some suppliers are also selling metric thickness and labeling it with nominal fractional thicknesses. I bought some 1/16” plywood on Amazon that actually measures .078,” take your carpenters rule with you.

It would seem that the plywood will be invisible on the finished model so I would be more interested in durability than fancy wood, like Baltic birch. Also since you need a piece at least 4ft long, if you buy it on line, it will be expensive to ship.

Roger
 
Hawser said:
Hello!

I need to know where I can source the wood needed for my project. My 48" Tug has frames / bulkheads, on the drawings, that have a notch cut-out for the Keel, measuring 1/4", needless to say when I put the Port & Starboard frame together, I'll have a 1/2" notch for the Keel. I'd like to make the frames / bulkheads, Keel out of plywood, using 1/4" ply. Where is a good place to buy this lumber?

Thanks
Lou
Click to expand...
Hawser said:
Hello!

I need to know where I can source the wood needed for my project. My 48" Tug has frames / bulkheads, on the drawings, that have a notch cut-out for the Keel, measuring 1/4", needless to say when I put the Port & Starboard frame together, I'll have a 1/2" notch for the Keel. I'd like to make the frames / bulkheads, Keel out of plywood, using 1/4" ply. Where is a good place to buy this lumber?

Thanks
Lou
Click to expand...
You can try Rockler. Besides selling online, https://www.rockler.com/wood, they do have local stores throughout the country. They often have two grades of Baltic Birch in different thicknesses. I have found that the staff at their stores are very knowledgeable and much more helpful than the ones you might find in a big box store. They also usually have a stock of different types of hardwood in thicknesses and widths useful for modeling. Great selection of woodworking tools and finishes also. My only complaint is that I can’t go in there and resist buying something.
 
Hawser said:
Hello!

I need to know where I can source the wood needed for my project. My 48" Tug has frames / bulkheads, on the drawings, that have a notch cut-out for the Keel, measuring 1/4", needless to say when I put the Port & Starboard frame together, I'll have a 1/2" notch for the Keel. I'd like to make the frames / bulkheads, Keel out of plywood, using 1/4" ply. Where is a good place to buy this lumber?

Thanks
Lou
Click to expand...
don't trust the so called marine ply from the big box stores. I special ordered some when i was building a small boat and the quality was atrocious
 
your tug over its lifetime will probably not spend a great amount of time in the water. whatever you use just seal it with good penetrating epoxy resin (west system?) and don't let water sit inside and you should be fine
 
Senorbob said:
your tug over its lifetime will probably not spend a great amount of time in the water. whatever you use just seal it with good penetrating epoxy resin (west system?) and don't let water sit inside and you should be fine
Click to expand...
I have used the West Marine epoxy on a Calder Craft Milford Star RC model I built and was very happy using it.

West System Epoxy: Resin, Hardeners & Fillers | West Marine

Explore West System epoxy products for boat repair and construction. High-strength resins, hardeners, and fillers designed for marine bonding tasks.
www.westmarine.com www.westmarine.com

It’s great stuff. Much easier to use than one might expect. Also very versatile, you can easily adjust rate of hardening, viscosity, strength and color by varying which particular components of the system that you use. They also provide excellent online documentation and instructions.
 
If you’re going to use West System buy the pumps that they sell. They’re calibrated to pump the correct ratio of resin and hardener. This isn’t a case where more is better. The ratio must be correct.

Roger
 
Hey Roger,

Thanks for the advice! Heard loud and clear!

This Type Tug (DPC) and I go a long way back since I was a Kid. I built the Revell 1/108 scale model, of this particular Tug, it's TRUE to scale too, and I've been hooked ever since. I do build models, but never a wooden Hull, like the one I'm about to embark on. When I saw the 48" Model plans, and saw it was THE Tug, I have to build it! Been doing allot of research, reading allot of ship building books, and glad to be here on this forum! I'm getting stoked!

..., and I do have room for it! It will go on the wall, on a shelf, and a cover, to hide everything from the water line below. This cover will be simulated water, with Bow Wave, and the Stern churning water, kind of making it look like it's under way!

Thanks for your Input, very much appreciated!

Lou
 
jjs1950 said:
You can try Rockler. Besides selling online, https://www.rockler.com/wood, they do have local stores throughout the country. They often have two grades of Baltic Birch in different thicknesses. I have found that the staff at their stores are very knowledgeable and much more helpful than the ones you might find in a big box store. They also usually have a stock of different types of hardwood in thicknesses and widths useful for modeling. Great selection of woodworking tools and finishes also. My only complaint is that I can’t go in there and resist buying something.
Click to expand...
Thanks!!

I found a Rockler store in San Antonio, Texas! This is just 2 hours from me! I'll go check these folks out very soon!

Thanks
Lou
 
I've got
jjs1950 said:
I have used the West Marine epoxy on a Calder Craft Milford Star RC model I built and was very happy using it.

West System Epoxy: Resin, Hardeners & Fillers | West Marine

Explore West System epoxy products for boat repair and construction. High-strength resins, hardeners, and fillers designed for marine bonding tasks.
www.westmarine.com www.westmarine.com

It’s great stuff. Much easier to use than one might expect. Also very versatile, you can easily adjust rate of hardening, viscosity, strength and color by varying which particular components of the system that you use. They also provide excellent online documentation and instructions.
Click to expand...
a West Marine near our house! I'll definitely take your advice!

Thanks

Lou
 
Just to confuse the issue more, I'd suggest you consider using "MDO"(Medium Density Overlay) plywood, also known as "signboard." MDO is a type of exterior-grade plywood that features a smooth, resin-impregnated fiber surface. MDO is available in actual (I think but check to be sure) thicknesses from 1/4" to 1.5". It has more plies than standard plywood and the plies are without knots or voids. The ply adhesive is waterproof (as is most all quality plywood these days.) MDO was originally designed to be used for highway signs, so it has great weather resistance and is very stable. The surface, being covered with a resin (epoxy) impregnated paper sort of sheet, is perfectly smooth and ready for painting without the need for filling or sanding prep. If exposed in the marine environment, the edges should be sealed with penetrating epoxy resin. Since it came on the market a few decades ago, it's all a lot of the pros have used in the boatbuilding trade for plain plywood. (The super-expensive marine plywoods with finish species on the outside plies, like teak or mahogany is used for clear-finished wood applications, of course.) MDO is available pretty much available at any lumberyard these days.
 
Nothing to add here other than to mention that vernier calipers are good for checking thickness, and a finely set, tuned hand plane can take down the outer 2 plies to narrow ‘too thick’ plywood. Equally, a couple of veneers can bulk out ‘too thin’ ply, then plane back to required precision.
Always balance this type of work equally from both faces.

I’d add that some decent pitch pine would also do the job you describe. As you say it’s a display piece, you could consider a waterproof mdf (the green stuff over here). As being dimensionally inert and amenable to tools. Very different stuff to work with accuracy and precision for this usage though, so unless you have the tools and experience you may be better with ply.

And always go for waterproof, as others have said, and find out about the international and local grading systems - there are all manner of subtleties about allowing joints and knots and repairs in the core plies - even in birch ply, so talking to big box employees needs you to have the vocabulary that shows they can’t sell you that bent sheet that got wet but has dried flat since they stacked it under the new stock.

And do tell us more about this soon to be modelled tug. I suspect a story is here.

Best
J

.
 
Thanks Popeye!!!
POPEYE_DA_SAILOR said:
Just to confuse the issue more, I'd suggest you consider using "MDO"(Medium Density Overlay) plywood, also known as "signboard." MDO is a type of exterior-grade plywood that features a smooth, resin-impregnated fiber surface. MDO is available in actual (I think but check to be sure) thicknesses from 1/4" to 1.5". It has more plies than standard plywood and the plies are without knots or voids. The ply adhesive is waterproof (as is most all quality plywood these days.) MDO was originally designed to be used for highway signs, so it has great weather resistance and is very stable. The surface, being covered with a resin (epoxy) impregnated paper sort of sheet, is perfectly smooth and ready for painting without the need for filling or sanding prep. If exposed in the marine environment, the edges should be sealed with penetrating epoxy resin. Since it came on the market a few decades ago, it's all a lot of the pros have used in the boatbuilding trade for plain plywood. (The super-expensive marine plywoods with finish species on the outside plies, like teak or mahogany is used for clear-finished wood applications, of course.) MDO is available pretty much available at any lumberyard these days.
Click to expand...
Every piece of information helps!
Lou
 
Hawser said:
Hello!

I need to know where I can source the wood needed for my project. My 48" Tug has frames / bulkheads, on the drawings, that have a notch cut-out for the Keel, measuring 1/4", needless to say when I put the Port & Starboard frame together, I'll have a 1/2" notch for the Keel. I'd like to make the frames / bulkheads, Keel out of plywood, using 1/4" ply. Where is a good place to buy this lumber?

Thanks
Lou
Click to expand...
Cap'n Lou:
Plywood is great stuff where used properly for multi-direction strength, e.g. frames and bulkheads. But for a longitudinal member like a keel, "real" wood is much stronger because the grain is oriented along the length. Also, I find it much more pleasant to work.
Fair winds!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top