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Let me say first up that I thought I'd turned my back on papier mache. I started off making masks from the PM but later switched to using felt -- but I may soon experiment with the felt using strip PM techniques...
The main reason I gave up on PM was the drying time. I live in humid sub tropical Qld and the weather conditions can play havoc with your completion schedule.
Anyway I employ a technique thus which also suits PM: I sculpt the mask mould in clay and while still wet I cover it with Clingwrap then immediately start to build my face mask on top of that -- it is a "male" mould approach. The mask dries but with the Cling Wrap, the mould take its time. --so I don't have to woory about undercuts as I can simply pull the mask off the template below it without any trouble.
But with the felt I've built some fun masks. I also use a similar technique making puppets. Here I employ a core of Styrofoam and I apply toilet tissue pulp which has been soaked briefly in a paperclay slip. I sculpt the shape I want then (and this is the best part) I apply a very thin pancake layer of paperclay to finish off the sculpting. I get a smooth edge and can finish any final sculpting. While still wet I apply PVA glue. I let it dry and I have a very light head -- with all details I want to add. No sanding. No rough edges. Smooth as a baby's...
Since I dislike the colour shine that seems to mark off mache I never use acrylic to colour my masks or heads. Instead I use boot polishes and floor wax which gives the object a wonderful glisten. For colour I employ melted crayon which I spread over the object as I heat it with a hair dryer. It creates a totally different effect. This is an encaustic approach basically which works wonders on skin tones.
Any way, to make a long story short, I'm coming back to traditional mache techniques to build a cruising paper canoe. Yes there's things are possible! But I have to work out how to fuse the layers so they're waterproof and decide on what glues and other materials I want to employ. I'm thinking wallpaper paste with a touch of PVA glue for the layers (about 15 of them)-- followed every now and then (say each three) by Shellac -- then completed with a strong resin blend all over (although shellac used to be the coating of choice back in the late 19th century when this was a common canoe building process.
My reseach suggests that paper built like this is stronger than fibreglass.
Anyway I guess my key question is this: Does anyone have any thoughts regarding the waterproofding of a conoe such as this? What is the best way to strenuously waterproof Papier Mache?
Fibrous cement -- aka papercrete -- doesn't have good moisture resistance because it has air pockets --although I'm exploring it's potential. Papercrete is approx: 60 % paper+ 20% sand + 20% cement. But there are soem cement belnds -- used in pond waterproofing -- that can be applied to paper for waterproofing purposes. So I'm tempted to consider those but I;'d have to also cover them so I can attain a smooth hull.
dave riley
Brisebane
AUSTRALIA
The whole protection thing comes down to a question primarily of water solubility and clelulose.
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Hi Dave,
What an exciting project you are undertaking. I had been hoping someone would attempt to do this. If Issac Weld did it in 1800 I'm sure it could be done successfully today! 
There has been quite a lot of chat on this Forum about weatherproofing and waterproofing. A lot of people seem to swear by boat varnish. Others favour soaking in linseed oil. I'm sure you are already planning to do this, but some experimenting with little boats would give you a chance to put all the different techniques to the test.
Please keep us informed of your progress, and takes lot of photos!
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There has been some exchanges on this topic on some boatbuilding lists following on from my posts. also The paper canoe pages are full of wonderful information:
http://www.riparia.org/paperboat/paperboat.htm
you can also readf the wonderful story of the most famous paper canoe jouryney which is archived on the web and described the production process in deatil.
It isn't as straighforward as it seems however. The main problem is glue window between the layers which can let in water. Wallpaper paste does have quite a good waterproofing quotient -- better than PVA glue. But the key traditonal ingredient is waxy shellac for waterproofing.
I'm leaning toward the paste option with shellac coats every three or four layers followed by a finished overall coating of Maxithane which is a floorpolishing gloss. Basically the approach is the same as fibreglassing and I could use fibreglas mat if i thought it necesssary.
On mache generally -- in terms of waterproofing -- I always finish my work with floor polish as I use waxes a lot.
I recommend it for a great sheen that glistens and avoids the stark coloration pm gets when painted.
dave riley
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i've been making some half metre canoe models using various frames covered with paper. when they dry i'm planning of waterproofing them with Silasec -- a cement based waterproofing agent. this may sound absurd but cement and paper will get on as the cellulose will adhere with the cement enough for binding (see web search for papercrete or fibrous cement). since its a sort of paint solution it isn;t a major weight problem. but i will use wallpaper pastes for the layering and am considering also employing Shellac as well if the Silasec doesn;t work as well as I expected (I have used it on outdoor Styrofaom and "weT ' clay structures with fibre glas mesh to good effect. the probelm with shellac is the price.
However I have been pondering my mould problems. I thought I'd build a frame and layer it like the original Native American hide canoes. But it's not billowy enough like that and I can't get the curvature I want as paper across a bridege will sag. I could create a "plug" (male mould) out of styrofoam but carving styrofoam is VERY messy (I've done that) when it is a large structure. So I am going to create my mould out of sand, soil or adobe. the last seems the best option or I can simply make a mix of clay, clippings and soil and make the shape i want that way. if you check out sand sculpting the knack is to create a form and sculpt it down to the shape you want.
the other advantage of wet adobe or sand , etc is that when releassing the canoe from its mould you can simply pull the mould apart with you hands.
this means i'll have to work outside and on the ground but thats' ok. I can seal it and work it while it is still wet as I always cover my moulds with Cling wrap. and i always work them wet sop i have no undercut problems. so the paper will go over the cling wrap and the shaped canoe will dry faster than the mould (as the mould is moisture sealed by the wrap while the paper is open to air drying.)
once finished I'll use a good cement or marine paint to protect the final layer. but i want something that can be touched up and repainted once each year. (double pack resins won't do in that regard). the probelm with marine paints is their notorious lead content...
my one problem at the moment is to work out how I can make the canoe with paper and end it at the gunwale -- the top of the hull (or the bottom as I will be make the shape upside down) and get a straight line. I'm going to have to run the length over and later trim it to size. (I'm planning also of reinforcing the hull rim/gunwale with a support ...and I'll run a "stringer" the length of the canoe along the keel. the material I was planning to use for this is domestic irrigation tubing stuffed with bamboo skewers, bent into shape and fixed with papier mache overlay and maybe some chicken wire mesh. i may do the beams to the outrigger (it's to be an outrigger sailing canoe) and mast the same way as I use both materials a lot -- the tubing and the bamboo skewes and have a lot of respect for their attributes. and it's cheap building. i shoduld be able to make my canoe for less that $AUD100.
if this works then a lot of possibles presnt themslves such as community boat building or any number of sahpes, designs made from paier mache but constructed over adobe, sand etc moulds...
any way thats' the ballgame so far...
dave riley
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i'm sorry for being back and forth but i am using the forum as a note-taker...
i've been thinking about the practical problems of making a big male mould for a canoe Isee above). i had planned on using sand and other granular stuff but after walking through that attack in my head I realized that i'd have problems with sustaining the integrity of the mould. so now i'm planning on using the sand bag approach: i'd bag dirt or sand or other substance in supermarket shopping bags and garbags and build my form like that using a series of slim markers to set the height. I'd have the shape sketched out on some plastic sheeting on the flat floor below the bags. I use any number of bags layed next to adn on top of one another -- just like sandbags against a flood. so i build it up as far as i can and bash it into shape.(indeed i could use another object, like a lump of wood under the bags for fill to save me on filling and using so many. sand or clay under plastic can be beaten into shape if it is moist. (so i have to make sure the soil is wet or i wet it as part of the process)you can also do the same thing with wet paper. it's like bodywork massage -- fingers, palms, and thumbs working the bags like muscle groups to get the shape you're after.
THEN, you overlay that to finish the contouring with cheap clay -- like terracotta. it's a caly coating. so you complete the lines and fill out the shape with a layer of clay slapped onto the sandbags. it may be necessary to dab a little petroleum jelly on the bags here and there to get the clay to hold on but that may not be necessary.
as soon as you shape a section you cover it with cling wrap as the whole thing must stay moist. once covered allover with cling wrap you can continue to shape by grabbing or pinching , slapping and pulling, the clay through the cling wrap -- just like massaging over skin and muscle. (i'm an occasional massage therapist so this is where the take comes from).
this way you have a lot of freedom right to the end of the process to control your design.
i started thinking this issue out given my on hand materials and with an eye to costs(i didn't want to pay for a shipment of sand!) since the garden soil i wanted to use would have been rough and stoney, shaping it was out of the question. also by bagging the soil i can move the whole project inside such that when i'm finished i simply take the bags outdoors and empty them. What could be better? -- recycled soil!
Voila!
dave riley
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Hello Dave,
I've been veryinterested in your posts about creating positive forms. I'm wondering though if you have any problems with the paperclay going to mold under the clingwrap?
- Ken -
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