Modelling

…Vecom was the panacea on board the ships.
You could almost say, without that remedy no boat would sail anymore at Wijsmuller.

What I did repair with that stuff: coolers, pumps, filter covers and sealing edges for the liners.

Seawater is very aggressive to metal, the iron was eroded, not the carbon.
What remained was, as we said: carbonised.
Everything was painted neatly, so people often didn’t see that it was weakened underneath.
One tap on it and the whole thing pulverised.
Sometimes these parts had to be handled very carefully.
Especially seawater filters, and the lids, needed the attention.
If only to keep the ship dry!

You had to make a malleable mixture and with plastic mats the disappeared part was rebuilt, a matter of modelling, kneading, grinding and sanding.

I have paid close attention at the nursery school.