It looks like a great project, I wish you well and I hope you enjoy it, don't forget to post some photos. 👍
Cheers Colin.

hi to get back into boat building build the cargo barge to relearn you skills

Hello Colin,

the bow and stern are each made up from 7x 19mm thick balsa sections sandwiched together, glued and dowelled to the main hull, which is made up from 3x 3/8 sheets. The sanding is going well however i just want to make the finish a little better. Not looking for a 'as new' overall finish as it was a working barge so i guess that it was knocked around a bit in its time!
regards
chris

Hi Chris,
Sorry for the delay in responding, sounds like your well on the way to a great model.
As most of my models are vintage they are made in a similar way.
Firstly with the balsa I cover with 2 coats of sanding sealer, once sanded to nearly there I use another coat of sanding sealer.
When I am happy with the look and feel of the Hull I coat with ezekote and 0.03mm glass cloth. Allow to dry for 24 hours then another coat of ezekote. This is then rubbed down with 1200 grit wet and dry (used dry).
Next I will spray with Halford filler primer, rubbed down and followed by a couple of coats of normal spray primer, then up to 3 coats of top coat.
And finally 2 coats of lacquer of your choice. Not forgetting to rub down between each coat.
Once you start on the actual paint I use 2000 grit wet and dry used wet with a drip of fairy liquid in the water.
I hope this is helpful, if you have blemishes to fill after priming I use holts knifing putty as it's in a tube and easy to use and sand back.
Don't take my methods as gospel, there are many ways in modelling, this is just my humble opinion.
Cheers Colin.