There have been a number of trainer dinghies for the Finn, the two I have seen the most of were the Solo and the OK. Both were originally nice marine ply boats built with, probably, cascamite. I liked the Solo best, having owned two at various times.

Nerys

Re- Don't know the Aerodux glue, but it sounds good.
Hi Nerys, I used Aerolite in the 60s on some of my first sailing dinghy mods, and an 8ft 10hp powered skimmer. From memory it was the clear one. My 12 ft 'Cherokee' racing dinghy was built in the 70s (designed by john Chapple - NZ-in 1959) and appears to have been glued with Aerolite (clear,- you could also buy Aerodux back then ) Just did a rebuild and complete f/glass and found the boat was holding together very well, despite being made of 1/8 ply with very light construction, (I could lift the boat by myself).
I have recently been sent the original plans in PDF form, and If you are interested for another project I would be happy to send them through. These were designed as a trainer for the OK and Finn Olympic class dinghys.
JB

What I do is epoxy resin the interior and exterior using an EPOXY resin mix by weight as it is quantity sensitive. When doing the outside I epoxy with fiberglass mat that gives big Hulls 💪 Remember Cyano can also go brittle. Sika have some very good glues but you to find a glue that is not only waterproof but 'can be immersed' in water! Can't get Titebond in South Africa

If I remember correctly Nerys - Aerolite was actually developed for aircraft use - specifically the Mosquito - a friends father as a youngster was working for DH laminating mossy body panels etc - using Aerolite. Said it was hard work.
Strange to think that the DH Vampires were also made of moulded plywood.......... Does not seem to fit with Jet engines somehow.

Dad and I used both Aerolite and Cascamite on our dinghys (not both at the same time) - years later thought to give Cascamite a bash on an enlarged version of the Grey Goose SGB hull (6')- turned out to be big mistake - old Stuart Sun type steam engine with large original boiler not very responsive so rammed into the bank going fairly fast - joints in the stem shattered on impact - glue had turned brittle. Had to re glue and use fibreglass & poly resin covering as a lot of planking sprung too. Shame as it looked great in its varnished state.
Locally Balcotan (polyurethane?) is used for boat building - but a friend advised it has the same problem as Cascamite as it also shatters on impact . Not tried it myself as its smelly and messy and difficult to clean up.

Don't know the Aerodux glue, but it sounds good. Wonder if it is something like the Aerolite that was popular in the great days of building plywood dinghies in the fifties and sixties. There was genuine development of boats in those days, it wasn't difficult to build one offs and I think the gluing of ply led to a myriad of new racing dinghies, some of which are still around in plastic form today. A simple idea, sketched on a beer mat could be a fully fledged racing dinghy within a couple of weeks. We had a lot of fun!

Cheers, Nerys

Cascamite still as good !! Doesn't go off so quickly mix what you want. OLD FASHIONED STUFF STILL WORKS😀😀

Re. I think it must be. In any case, it's good
Sounds like Aerodux 185 a Resorcinol (Pheno Formaldehyde) resin It's a redish brown resin and white powder which is mixed together. Best wood glue out and smells nice as well. There was a clear one as well but can't remember the name, might have been Aerolite 306. Built my 15ft delta with 185 and it never let go. 185 and 306 are used for aircraft as well.
In the UK there is a supplier -Swindon aircraft plywood and timber co. probably others as well. It's a lot more expensive than epoxies. Was the other way round when I built my boat in the 70s!
JB

I think it must be. In any case, it's good. I used to use cascamite years ago in building real boats. It was a powder mixed in water, but it stuck like the proverbial to a blanket. Some boat builders used to paint the inside of a boat with cascamite. I've seen cascamite in bulk in Axminster and imagine it's as it used to be.

Nerys

Hi Ken,

I've been using Titebond 111 since I started making model boats, decided that it was probably the best. Last time I was in Axminster tools buying Titebond I also bought some Cascarez which bonds wood in ten minutes, bit dearer but it seems to do as it says.

Cheers, Nerys

Thank you all for your advice, I have been very reluctant to buy any, always thought the advertising was overdone, but decided to ask you for advice as I knew that would give me the right answers.

Nerys

Yes I agree with jbkiwi, its good for big structural jobs where apprearence is secondary to strenght, but not a pretty sight

Greetings from South Africa. Tried Gorilla Glue Once remember to wear rubber gloves and keep acetone handy. I tried it once never again! I went to be old fashioned and asked a local owned hardware for Cascamite he had to order it. Much easier to work with and cleaner. Longer working time built a Sea Queen with it problem👍👍

Hi Nerys, I tried Gorilla glue ONCE. It's ok for gap filling if joints are a bit loose and you are not worried about appearances, but no good for fine gluing, as it expands when drying. It's activated by moisture in the air and on dry days can take a while to set. I found it to be a messy glue and 80% set in the bottle before I got a chance to use it.

It is a polyurethane glue so is waterproof but for the price I don't think it's worth it. I think you are better off using epoxies for the high strength areas and cynos, (thin, medium and gel - Loctite Gel is excellent for quick tacking and gluing) balsa glue, exterior PVAs etc for other bits. I use epoxies for strength and cyno (gel and thin) to stick other bits initially and then run a bead of balsa glue or UHU round all the seams, ( I do that with planes as well) Even PVA sealed with dope in cabins/non wet areas works well, (I even use PVA in planes, never had a failure)

The only way to find if it's suitable for the jobs you're doing is to try it, but buy the smallest amount you can first and test it on some scrap. All I can say is it is not like other glue, (some people love it but not me)
JB