I just read through all the steps about the narrow boat model. Very interesting and I will pass the information along to a member of the pop-pop-steamboats group who lives in a narrowboat made of steel.

Best wishes, Frank

Hi Seeria,

It wasn't an entire map, just a small piece that had been cut from what appeared to be a topographic map with elevation lines. I should have mentioned that the treated piece of map paper wasn't sopping wet, like the way a piece of untreated map was. It felt damp and was bone dry within a few hours. The printing looked the same as before, and there weren't any wrinkles, as there probably would be on untreated paper that was dried out.
If any members of Papier Mache Forums would like to use paper mache to reinforce a paper model, they might go to <http://www.papershipwright.co.uk/index.html> to visit David Hathaway's website. David is located in the UK and has several free models that can be downloaded as PDF files. We have one member who designs and sells kits for paper models. Go to <http://www.micromodelsusa.com/> for Matthew Sparks's website. Another member might use his kit for a model of Fulton's steamboat "Clermont" as the basis for developing a pop-pop Clermont that could be used later this year at a bicentennial celebration of the Clermont's first trip up the Hudson River in August, 1807. The Clermont wasn't the first steamboat in the US, but it was the first one that actually turned a profit by hauling passengers between New York City and Albany, New York at a breakneck speed of from 5 to 8 miles an hour, depending on whether it was up or down river, and which way the wind was blowing.
I don't know if there are distributors for Aquaseal products in the UK, but anyone who is interested could find out by going to <http://www.aquaseal.com/map-seal.html> for their email address. Ask for Dan, the super customer service guy who sent me a sample that I hadn't actually requested.
In closing, I would like to invite everyone to visit the pop-pop-steamboats group at <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pop-pop-steamboats/> where they can read messages without joining. Joining is subject to approval by a moderator and requires a few words of explanation about why people want to join. If any forum members decide they want to join, the word paper, papier, or mache, would be enough to obtain approval.

Best wishes, Frank (frankmcneilll)

Hi Seeria,

If you do snag some of the stuff, do a mini-test to see if it might be used as an alternative to Elmer's PVA stuff for sticking pieces of newsprint together. Otherwise, I might actually have to snag some for myself!

Best wishes, frankmcneilll

Hi Sue,

I didn't receive a sample of Map Seal, just a small piece of a map that had been treated with it. The treated sample was slightly stiffer and more springy than paper from an old road map I used for comparision and remained that way after being immersed in water overnight.
The company's literature states that it is a water-based product, nothing more. I suspect that what it does is act as a surrogate for the lignin that keeps trees and other plants from flopping over like rag dolls. The lignin is removed as part of the process for turning wood into paper, and I think that Map seal probably replaces the lignin with something that acts in a similar way to hold cellulosic fibers in place when the paper is wet. The advertising also claims that Map Seal makes maps more resistant to folding and unfolding by acting like an extra hinge.

Frank