

I went over the entire Ship with 120 Grit. Now, I’m going through with my 220 Grit and just using Sandpaper without a Block.







I went over the entire Ship with 120 Grit. Now, I’m going through with my 220 Grit and just using Sandpaper without a Block.
I’ve started fairing the Stern portion of the Hull… Especially under the Transom.
I’m using a File to file down the Bulkheads so that the Planks will lie flat across them.
You file down 2 Bulkheads at a time until the file lies flat across them.
I also use Sandpaper on a Holder…
I’m using 120 Grit Sandpaper paper. It cuts just enough but to too hard.
After painting the Hull, I used some Blue Masking tape to go ahead and protect it from scuffs… Since I’ll be handling it a lot and White picks up anything.
I’ve been sanding the Hull so that the Gun Ports are flush with the Hull sides.
The line of the Hull above the Wales have a concave nature to it, so I’ve been trying to get it even…
But to my constirnation, I made another error when I was a bit too enthusiastic with the sanding and I over sanded the Bollard on the Port Side of the Forecastle… Ugh… I hate when that happens! I should have known better. At least I stopped soon enough so I have something to work with when I do my secondary Planking.
I put Putty on all the parts that had flaws or holes in it…
The over-sanded Bollard is completely saveable. Because there still requires a Caprail and Handrail at this part.
Just applied some Putty on the flaws around the Hull… Especially the forward part where it bends around the Bow.
I’m using some Elmer’s ProBind Professional Strength Wood Filler.
I’ve never used this particular brand before now. Guess I’ll see how good it is. Is was recommended in one of my Ship Building books though.
I tried this other stuff called Plastic Wood before. I wasn’t really that much of a fan because it seemed to come off in chunks which was a bit annoying.
In my efforts to learn about planking, I ended up learning about three or four methods and here’s what I found out.
I think that’s the worst thing that you could do is to go by planking your boat haphazardly. You really need to make a plan and think about what you’re doing before you begin the project.
The first method that I learned was from the book Ship Modeling Simplified.
To be honest, I really wasn’t a big fan of this method because what they require you to do was to bend your plank around the Hull and at the point where the plank above it was your point x and for you to taper the playing from that point on to the Bow at the point where that plank met it.
The next method is the one that I’m using now. This method requires you to use a batten that divides the Hull of the ship into two bands. The upper band and a lower band.
Then what you have to do is to calculate out how much taper you’re going to need by mathematically finding out how small the Plank needs to be in order for it to squeeze into a certain space.
First you have to find out how many planks are going to be all the biggest part of the bulkhead, then you determine how you’re going to be able to squeeze that many planks into a limited space like the first bulkhead.
Another method is by using proportional dividers. I kind of have a hard time with this one because the proportional divider didn’t go small enough for the scale the ship that I was using but I’ll save that for later scale model which is bigger.
Like I said, there are as many methods as there are Model Makers. But this is my method. I’m not into it for speed production. Slow and Steady…
“Steady as she goes…” 🤣🤭😲
I’ve been fairing the Hull for probably about a day or so now. Taking my time with it because I keep noticing spots that need adjusting and filing.
One problem that I encountered was that my File kept splinting bits of wood off the Bulkheads as I filed. Not that it makes much difference anyway since it’s all about in the area that isn’t visible.
I realize that I’ve skipped over a lot of the Construction. It is turning out great so I figure I’ll go ahead and Post where I am right now.
I completed the Planking and I painted the Hull and added the Wales.
The wood for the Wales I left bare by using some thin Masking Tape.
It worked really well I must say.
I’m going to begin Sanding down the Hull… This is the before picture.
I was just taking note of how many spare Planks this kit provided for.
So far, on the inside Hull Planks, I’m left with 9 extra Planks. These are the 1.5mm x 5mm x 55cm ones.
On the Deck Planks .6mm x 3mm x 40cm ones, I’m left with 5 spares. So plenty there.