Canvas hatch and boat cover

by Tom Lang
(Barrie, Ontario Canada)

The hatch cover of the steam drifter model I am building has a canvas cover. What material should I select and how would I paint it or treat it to withstand water and handling. This is to be a working model at 1:24 scale. I would also like to cover the ships boat as well in a canvas cover.

Thanks for your help,

Tom Lang

I'm pretty sure the canvas used on ships is the heavily oil-treated kind that you see on tarps sometimes. Essentially, the impregnation process evens out the texture of the weave and makes it very subtle. At 1:24 scale I think it's more noticeable if the weave texture is too coarse than omitted all together. In other words, too course will give you that doll-house look. Omitted may well fly by unnoticed. Getting it just right can be tough, but certainly not impossible.

I think there are a couple of ways to do this.

1. Use actual fabric: Canvas at 1:24 scale will be very fine. Taking a guess at 30 threads per inch for canvas, times 24 (scale) will put us at 720 TPI. There is cotton fabric in this range, but it'll be too thick. I'd investigate silk. I know you can buy silk scarves in white, untreated silk for the purpose of dyeing them yourself. They may be available at your local craft store or online. For coloring many people seem to suggest using tea. I've gone that route, but always been disappointed. I'd go with a wood or leather stain. Dilute it plenty, and test on several strips before you commit. After draping and gluing in place I'd give it a few coats of lacquer or shellac for weather protection. Be careful not to fill in the texture completely though.





2. Make it solid: The canvas we're talking about was most likely stretched to the point there were hardly any wrinkles. If you made the shape of your covers from your favorite sheet or solid material: plywood, balsa, styrene, card etc. To build up a subtle non-smooth surface you could cover it with tissue paper (see the tissue and dope). Use a paper color that will work (black, brown, grey or green probably), or stain it before you apply it.


3. Sculpt it from Bondo or Epoxy putty: This is a bit of a shot in the dark, so take it for what it's worth: Sculpt the covers to shape first with an even surface. Then use a piece of fabric and your thumb to imprint the surface with a subtle fabric weave texture. Once the putty is hard, you would have to paint it or airbrush as you would a plastic model.

Whichever way you decide to go, make sure you test on a piece of scrap first. Any time I have not done so, I've always regretted it.

I'd love to hear how it goes, and which way you decided to go.

Best of luck with your drifter and all future model boats!

Petter