[Gordon Steadman]

Gordon.

Here's another suggestion to balsa. The shape of the body lends itself to being thermoformed. Since you are already a carving expert. Make one carving out of hardwood. Seal the pores. Then make hundreds of copies until the cows come home.

You can make your own thermoforming machine at home with a shop-vac. Don't forget to tell your wife that you'll need the kitchen-oven for about an hour. Youtube how to make one. It's easier than you think for a person mechanically inclined.

Start selling the bodies to your friends. 

Nah! Not interested. I do this for fun, it's therapy of a sort that keeps my mind and fingers nimble.

If I started doing it for money, I would lose all interest and it would become a chore. At 73 years old, I've had enough of that stuff. Even when I was working I objected to having to do things for money. I hated selling my guitars for instance. They're mine....mine I tell you.  Typical artiste type  

Seriously, money just means a roof over my head, food in the stomach and enough for the occasional slot car. We haven't had a holiday since we moved here in 2007. Living here and being retired is holiday enough and I am not about to take on anything that smacks of pressure now.