Here I am about to plank up a 26 inch powerboat model representing a 26 footer (1 inch to the foot) and I somehow stumble upon this!! The planking is basically the same!! And the clip thing is ingenious! I will however continue to use superglue gel as the previous model worked just fine. (I cheat later on by brushing thick epoxy onto the inside of the hull for stiffening and waterproofing -these models float)
When using the clips to hold the planks in place, wouldn't that mean you can basically only do one plank every 4-6 hours while waiting for the glue to dry? Or two planks if you include the other side of the ship?
Not at all. I wet, bend, and pin the planks, without glueing. See Part 3. All the wet planks are left to dry overnight. The next day I simply glue the bent planks in place and add wood spikes to secure. There is no need to wait for one rung to cure, as long as the glue is tacky and the plank pinned in place, I can move on to the next one. Once a section is glued and spiked, I leave it overnight to dry. I explain in earlier videos how I divide the hull into 3 sections. So a whole ship can be planked in a week.
One thing I am woundering about, it took me hours to bend the front planks into place. (The thick ones) your cutting your planks at the second bulk head. Forgive me on the terms. At the front of the ship. How do you make those match up ? By the way, your way better then me lol ! Hell of a lot sanding and replanting here lol
This is the first layer. So I avoid the difficult bending of thick planks at the bow and stern. I just fill and shape those with balsa at the same thickness the planks would have been. When I do the second layer I use 0.5mm thin planks, which are so much easier to bend. These thinner planks go the full length over my balsa and over the thick planks in the middle. Go back and watch Marina Balcony 2. I show all the steps in photographs from doing the starboard side.
Hi Harry: Been trying to send you a message, love you videos ! I’m building the bigger bounty and waiting for u to catch up with me. I would love to talk to you. But I don’t know if you would want that. How do you make your masts straight? I’ve almost got all the deck detail done but I want to wait until u get there so I don’t screw it up ! I hope u get this
My Bounty build will pause once I have the portside planking done. I had promised Dave I would start on his Perseverance Brig next, so the Bounty will go into dry dock while I do that build. However the principles and techniques will be the same.
Hi. Enjoying your videos. I am going to start on my first model soon. Where do you purchase the planking strips of wood? Do most people make the hull/frame of the boat that you fix the planks to, from plywood? Appreciate your advice and help. I'm in Melbourne.
Try “Float a Boat” in Melbourne. They have a good range and will give great advice. Most new kits for wood ships use MDF for the frame now. It doesn’t splinter and is easier to sand when you fare the hull shape.
While this ship is outside of the timeframe I model, I have been fascinated by this series and have watched the episodes more than once. The craftsmanship used to put this model together is amazing and inspiring. Even tho the ships I model are general from the 1930s thru today, your tutorial has really helped me see how I could potentially scratch build my own ships, something I've always avoided because hulls perplexed me. I always feared having to build a hull with the complex curves, like on HMAS HOBART where the hull and superstructure meet or on Chinese Type 055 destroyers where the hull bends inwards part way the sides of the hull. I think, however, if I apply the techniques you are teaching like tapering, transitioning from 3 planks to 2, etc, I can almost visualize how I could pull it off. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I am only a few episodes away from taking the plunge!
can I use balsa wood in-between on all the frames....will this make it easier to plank...starting on shipways blue nose after I build the shipways longboat for practice
You usually only balsa wood fill the tight curves between frames at the bow and the stern to help place the planks. The other frames amidships don’t need any other support because the curves are very minimal.
I'm building my first ship now and am absolutely dreading the planking, that and the rigging, oh and the masts and those fiddly little doors and things
All AtSea hey man, my advise to u is take your time ! Don’t force your planks ! Again above all don’t force it ! You’ll have to let some of the planks go where they want too. I tried to force some and ummmmm had to remove them lol.
That is why working out the middle turn of the hull curve, as I showed in this video, gives you the natural curve to taper up and down to. That way your planks won’t be forced more than they can easily bend. I will show this very clearly in the next video.
