Wood deck planking?

[Dino Carancini]

I'm a bit confused about deck planking in 1/350. My trouble is : wich material must I use for it and how many must I buy ?

I visited a few sites about wood ties, but, maybe for the language difficulties, maybe for the imperial measurement system used for those items, I was not able to select the kind of material and the quantity I must buy for a battleship in 1/350.

I'm looking for someone that could show me the right way to begin my next project !

Thank you in advance for your help!

Dino

[MartinJQuinn]

Dino,

Here is a short article, written by Dan Van Gartzen on the old ModelFleet website, on planking decks:

Applying wood deck planking Planking 1/350 wooden decks is fairly easy and straight forward. The materials are basic. I use the following; basswood strips in HO scale 1x3's in 22" lengths (purchased in bundles from Northeastern Scale Lumber). I use Duro's white tube superglue for securing applied with a thin wire.

First, determine which small deck "gack" bits need to be removed, generally I remove all round small bits, square parts are not a problem because the planks can fit squarely around them. To remove these bits, I use a exacto chisel blade which cleanly cuts them off leaving little to no clean-up. After removing the parts (good idea to make a parts map or diogram of their locations to reattach later), using a sanding stick, clean off the raised plank lines. It doesn't have to be really smooth, some bite works best for gluing.

Next, mark a center line down the length of the deck section you are working. Again, for 1/350 scale, I use HO scale 1 x 3's cut to a length of 1cm. This is slightly over-scale, but when sanded, stained and weathered, the deck looks very realistic and the scaling is not noticed. From the center line, place your first plank on either side of it and make sure it is running square to the line. Cut the next plank just alittle short and secure it on the other side of the line square to the first plank.

Now continue placing planks butting them together and running the length and width of the deck section. When you come to gun shields, tubs, waterbreaks and superstructure, cut the end that is to butt up against it to shape, place there and cut the other end to match up with the last plank in that line. Presto, the planks form fit to everything. Most important: TAKE YOUR TIME. This technique takes awhile to do, but will definitely add museum quality to your models. It may seem to be going so slow at times, but before you know it, your done with a whole section of deck. The more planks you apply, the faster and more proficent you will get.

A time saver is to take 4 or more full lengths of basswood strip with a metal ruler and cut the planks 1cm. In a 22" strip you get about 55 planks. I ordered 150 lengths and I am still using the first 50 bundle. By the way, this technique can be used on 1/700 scale also. Just drop down to HO scae 1 x 2's and shorten the plank length.

I plan to plank the deck of my 1/350 Tamiya Bismark using this method. I have everything I need to get ready - except time! Click here to go to the Northeaster Scale Lumber website.

[Dino Carancini]

Martin! Thank you for your quick reply!