The Ship Model Forum

Gentlemen,

I've been surfing the site for months now and have finally joined.

I'm building my first model, a large scale carrier and planking with strips 3mm ply, 15mm wide. At this stage I've only planked an inch or so either side of the keel and questions about the whole concept of planking have come up that I need clarification on.

1. I know I'm not supposed to force the strips to fit, but does this rule apply to the bow section too? The front portion gets very wide very fast and while the planks I'm using are going in, I do need to apply some pressure to get them to fit.

2. My strips didn't come out perfectly straight when I ripped them, so when I lay two strips side by side there are small gaps between the two strips. These gaps cover less than 5% of the length of the strip. Is that the normal experience of the group or have I done a really bad job in ripping my strips? I test fit and sand the problem away as far as possible and run a bead of glue along the length of the joint of the two strips to fill the holes and to make the bond stronger. Is that the common practice?

3. Should I plank from the bow to the center of the hull or from the center to the bow (ie wide to narrow or vice versa)?

Ta,

Shiprat

Welcome to the forum Shiprat.

You should start your planking in the centre and work towards the bow and stern. One plank on the port side, one on the starboard, and repeat, and repeat....

Where the fit of the planks gets tight you ought to taper them. Find the point at which they begin to get tight and mark it on the plank. Then find where the far end wants to go naturally and mark it on the plank. I then lay a steel edge along this line and cut the plank with a sharp knife. You need to do something similar, but you have 3mm planks to deal with.

If the run of the planks gets wide and leaves a gap, then fit it in its natural run. The cut a short tapered plank to fit the gap.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Shiprat,

I have planked quite a few hulls, and have come to the conclusion that there is no "right" way.

However, you should start amidships and work toward the ends.

At first I tried to make everything neat and symmetric at the bow and stern where the surface curves significantly. I carefully trimmed and tapered each plank - throwing away a lot of peices that weren't just right. Even so, the results were sometimes disappointing. It took forever, and I lost interest several times with resulting long delays before it was finished.

Then I planked another hull for speed, slapping the things on as fast as I could. Later I went back and cut slivers to patch the gaps. Again, ugly.

My latest (and best) is a combination of both techniques. Most planks are tapered at bow and stern, but there are places that had to be patched where planks curved away from each other.

The only time neatness matters is if you do not intend to paint or coat the hull. One sailing ship hull was so neat above the waterline that I just varnished the wood so the pattern could be seen. Of course it isn't hard to be neat un the upper sides of the hull. The bottom was a mess and it is painted.

If you intend to coat the hull with fiberglass or some other coating, it really doesn't matter how neat you are.

Whatever you do, coat the INSIDE of the hull with epoxy, polyester or some other strong glue. This will prevent the planks from separating as the hull ages.