Stu :) Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Hiya all, I want to have a sunken ship model in my tank. I've looked around the various stores and online, what I have seen so far I think is quite naff looking and almost all of them are the gallon/tall ship/pirate types. I myself am fan of ironclads and dreadnoughts. The idea is to build a "model" in either three or four parts with a bow, stern and one or two broken mid sections which will give lots of hiding places for the fish... plus it will look realistic as dreadnoughts and battlecruisers tended to break up after going down. I understand that styrene plastic is fish safe, but I don't want big white model. So any suggestions for paint? I normally use water-soluble acrylics (alcohol based) for my RC boats. I know water-based paint with flake over time. Not too sure about enamels as I avoid them like the plague... Many thanks Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Maybe you could use acrylics then put a urethane over it? I'm not sure what they'd be like in terms of fish safety though. You'll have to post pics when you've started building, it sounds like an awesome idea!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I can't offer any help with the paint. But will just say it sounds like a cool idea would be cool to see a scale realistic looking model in a fish tank Make sure you post some pics as you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Just give it a coat with polyurethane or similar, should be all you'll need. Oh and... I understand that styrene plastic is fish safe, but I don't want big white model. Most plastic model kits are made of polystyrene, same plastic as standard expanded polystyrene foam. It's just...Expanded. I think most model kits are died anyway, probably most model ships of the type you'd want would already be gray. Which would probably look good once you assemble it and maybe do some weathering on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu :) Posted October 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Maybe you could use acrylics then put a urethane over it? I'm not sure what they'd be like in terms of fish safety though. You'll have to post pics when you've started building, it sounds like an awesome idea!! Do you mean polyurethane per chance? If "yes" I've got cans and cans or that stuff around... Yes I can post lots pictures for build log... RC boaters online demand lots pictures when someone starts a new boat project and lets everyone know about it... Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu :) Posted October 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Just give it a coat with polyurethane or similar, should be all you'll need. Oh and... Most plastic model kits are made of polystyrene, same plastic as standard expanded polystyrene foam.... Arrr... yes there is THAT route, but I'm one those snobby scratch builder types, due to the fact there isn't many ironclad and dreadnought kits around and the ones that do exist are moulded in white styrene. I've got a spare kit; the Mikasa to be exact, I thought about using but... a). It never sank and is currently a museum ship b). It's $200something limited edition version Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Polyurethane is toxic. paint it with a clear coat of epoxy to seal it. If it was me id get some nice dense polystyrene, carve it to the desired shape coat it with epoxy with a really fine glass fibre mixed in (i think its called filler) then disolve the poly out using acetone. Viola hollow epoxy shipwreck. dremel holes where required for fishy entry. paint then clear coat, easy....on paper anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Epoxy! That's what I was trying to say! It seals and doesn't leach stuff into the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu :) Posted October 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 Ok... alarm bells are ringing here. As a RC boater I know that epoxy breaks down and starts to oxidize when exposed to water and UV light... and there's plenty of that in the aquarium Or am I over-reacting by cross referencing hobbies? :oops: Polyurethane is toxic. paint it with a clear coat of epoxy to seal it. If it was me id get some nice dense polystyrene, carve it to the desired shape coat it with epoxy with a really fine glass fibre mixed in (i think its called filler) then disolve the poly out using acetone. Viola hollow epoxy shipwreck. dremel holes where required for fishy entry. paint then clear coat, easy....on paper anyway. FYI - Epoxy "filler" (sometimes called "micro-balloons") is actually very fine polystyrene balls that turns good ol' two part epoxy into epoxy glue. You can also get very fine and short loose glass fibre, but for all intensive purposes both act fairly well as flaring material. Polystyrene foam for ship building is good idea, but I've got VAST amounts of styrene sheet, tube, rod, etc lying around. Also I'm fairly use to building model boats with styrene too. Plus I can 'cheat' on some parts and vacuform them. After some more in depth googling some posters on other fish forums say that paint with words "Non-toxic" and/or "Child's Toy Safe" on the bottle/can are good to use if left to cure for one to two weeks and well rinsed with a good test soak first. Can any confirm or deny this? Thanks Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 Ok... alarm bells are ringing here. As a RC boater I know that epoxy breaks down and starts to oxidize when exposed to water and UV light... and there's plenty of that in the aquarium Or am I over-reacting by cross referencing hobbies? :oops: There's very little UV in an aquarium, unless you have a massively faulty UV filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 epoxy will be fine yes it does yellow a bit but u wont notice that with darker colours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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