The purpose of this area is not to have an exhaustive look at all woods but rather to have a look at some of the most common woods thought to be associated with model ship building so that you have a general understanding of their make-up and uses. As we will see, some woods are naturally suited to model ship building, while others are not.
The information expressed here are the collective opinions of various model builders that I have been in correspondence with both personally and across this great resource called the internet. It is also based on wolfram Zu Mondfel's book "Historic Ship Models" (ISBN 1-4027-2186-2).
We also welcome any comments or suggestions that you think might help other modelers in understanding the various woods and their uses.
Balsa
Balsa wood has it's place in model building but it is not all that useful in period model ships. It is very soft, whitish in colour, porous and just a very fragile wood. It also does not hold nails very well.
While it is easy to work it does not really lend itself well to model ships. If used at all you should probably only use it for fill-in pieces at the bow and stern and only then when other more suitable material isn't at hand.
Basswood
An excellent all-around wood, readily available in hobby shops. White and very fine-grained. Easy to work with and bends freely, but too soft to turn.
Beech Wood
Beech is a medium-hard long fibered wood. Typically it is light reddish brown to brown in colour and has a very plain grain.
Because it is a tough wood and long grained some of it's uses could include masts and yards as well as frames.
Boxwood
Boxwood is a hard wood, yellowish in colour. It is close grained with a plain grained pattern and is very strong.
Even though it is very hard, it is a nice wood to work and carve. It is ideal for all small parts, especially for carvings, blocks, deadeyes, as well as visible frames, planking and similar parts. It does however tend to splinter when nailed so one should always consider drilling pilot holes.
It is one of the timbers that are ideal for model ship building.
Douglas Fir
British Columbia Douglas Fir is a soft wood with an extremely fine and straigt grain pattern. Retains its shape and size without shrinking, swelling, cupping, warping, bowing or twisting.
Lime
Soft, white, tough, long-fibred, plain grain pattern.
Lime is easy to work and does not splinter. Highly suitable for planking, deck strakes, wales, decorative strips, etc. Somewhat overrated for carving, as lime does not work very cleanly across the grain, and breaks easily along the grain when used for very small parts. Quite unsuitable for parts which have to withstand any strain, such as blocks and deadeyes.
Mahogny
Mahogany is a hard, red to brown, long-fibred wood with a plain grain pattern. While it is used heavily for full-size ship building it not really all that suitable for period ship model building because of it's coarse structure.
Oak
Oak is a hard, light to medium gray-brown, tough, short fibred wood with a distincitive grain structure. Like mahogany, because of it's coarse grain stucture is it not really all that suitable for model building unless you are building at large scales (1:24 and larger). While it was perhaps the most widely used timber for full-size ship building, because it is very difficutl to work with most modelers avoid its use.
Obechi
Obechi is a tough, but soft yellowish open-grained wood. It is extremely easy to work and holds nails well when compared to Balsa. It is also a more preferable wood in all respects when compared to Balsa by most modelers. It is ideal for the keelson and the in-fill pieces of fully planked hulls and is commonly used as base planking on double planked hulls because it is tough and does not splinter easily.
Olive
Used primarily in Southern Europe (having similar properties to boxwood), Olive wood is yellowish to whie, short-fibred with a plain grain pattern. It is also very strong.
Though I have not worked with Olive, I am told that as young wood it is soft and easy to work, but after seasoning olive wood becomes very hard and almost impossible to work. Thus the modeler is recommended to use young wood make the required parts but let them season for at least one year before putting them on the model.
Pear
Pear is one of the ideal woods to work with in model ship building and is used for virtually everything on the ship from visible frames, to planking, deck strakes, deck funiture and fittings. It is excellent to carve as it hardly splinters at all. It is a medium hard, light to medium brown in colour with short fibres and a plain grain pattern.
Pine
Pine is medium hard, whitish to yellowish in colour, long-figred, tough with a plain grain pattern. It is suitable for masts, yards and planking.
Sitka-Spruce
Sitka-spruce is a soft wood with an extremely fine and straight grained pattern. Suitable for masts and yards. For optimal visual effects when using sitka-spruce for deck planking it should be quarter sawn.
Walnut
Walnut is another of the ideal woods that is widely used in model ship building. It is a hard wood that comes in a wide variety of colours from light brown to dark brown. It is short-fibred, tough and has a plain grain pattern. Because of its relative ease to work with it can be used for virtually everything, and despite its hardness it can even be used for carvings.
