Tag Archives: Planking

3rd Strake up from Keel

Starting this one with some Superglue interspersed with Titebond II with the pressure off…

I decided to leave the Wedge for between 1 & 2 for a cleaner look and double up on 2 & 3.

Garboard Plank

It is true what they say about Garboard planks. That it’s the toughest Plank to be able install. It does go through some rather radical twisting… Around 90° worth from Bow to Stern.

Here I’m gluing the forward part in before I do the rest of the twisting.

One of the main things about Garboard Planks is that you don’t want to let it come up the Bow. This is so you don’t get Plank crowding as you progress up the Bow with the rest of the Planks on the lower band.

I had to use Superglue in order to hold it down

Next leg glued, before it takes the 90° bend at the Stern Deadwood

The lip of the Plank comes over the Kelson, where the Keel will be glued.

The Keel acts like a Rabbet groove. If it wasn’t like this or had a false Keel, I would have carved some Rabbet grooved along it but it wasn’t necessary with this ship.

Also I’m keeping the overhang on the front of the Garboard Plank… just to have someplace to be able to clamp on to.

This is the reason I left the excess on… So that I have someplace to Clamp

Looking at the forward part of it… I’m kind of cursing myself right now for now thinning it out a bit, and to have cut a Rabbet into it. Oh well… I’ll remember to do it next time. It’s too late. The clue on Starboard side is already set and it would be a big messy pain in the ass to take it apart and redo it.

Roland’s Rules for Planking

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Planks should never be tapered to more than ½ of width of the Plank. If the Plank is 5mm Wide, then the narrowest you can taper it down to is 2.5mm.
Batten goes from where Transom meets the Deadwood and runs along the turn of the bilge to the Bow where the wood naturally wants to fall.
Divide Hull into 2 Bands. The Upper Band and the Lower Band… from the turn of the Bilge to the Keel.
Calculate the required number of Planks from the Sheer Plank to the Batten at the Widest Bulkhead. Then calculate how small to taper it at the smallest Bulkhead at the Bow and the Transom for the Upper Band. You calculate it by dividing the distance of the Bulkhead from the Sheer Plank to the Batten, then divide it by the number of Planks that fit into that space.
Begin Taper from the point of the Widest Bulkhead onwards to the Smallest Bulkhead. For example, if you have a 17 Bulkhead Ship and your widest Bulkheads are 6 thru 11… then begin tapering from 6 to 1 and 11 to Transom. The lower band usually never requires tapering because they’ll end up fanning out and you will need Stealers.
Never bring a Plank to a Point going towards the Bow. This was done because a pointed piece of Lumber is very difficult to secure to the Bow. This is with exception of Bluff Bow Ships, i.e. HMS Victory.
First Plank around the Deck is called the Sheer Plank. This is the most important Plank to get right. Because every other Plank will be in relation to where this one is placed.
The Plank that goes against the Keel is called the Garboard Plank. The first 3 Planks coming up from the Garboard Plank (including Garboard) are not Tapered. Garboard Plank Stock can also be a little wider than the rest of the Planks. Like around 7mm
Leave enough room between Planks in the Deadwood for Stealers that are the same width as the Planks. In the case of 5mm Planks, it would be 5mm.
Deadwood – Make sure and take down the thickness of the Deadwood by around ½. This is because the thickness of the Planks and the Veneer is going to make it too thick and it won’t match the thickness of the Rudder. Once the Planks are on, take that down another ½ before applying Veneer.
Tapered Edge always points down towards Keel.
Use ½ Cup Ammonia for approximately 1 cup of boiling hot water for soaking the Planks for bending.
Work down from the Sheer Plank. Work up from the Keel. Meet at the turn of the Bilge. Tapered Edge always points down.

#12 Strake, Last on Upper Band

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Here I’m bending 2 #12 Strakes on the Plank Bender so that I can get more of a gradual bend.

Also, I didn’t bother to taper the after party. I’m leaving that until the end to be able to adjust the ticknesses of the final upper band Planks.

Bending 1 Each Port and Starboard #12 Planks

On the Strakes… As they come to the back, under the Transom. Well, I found out the hard way to not cut the excess off until the glue sets. The reason being, the excess gives your Clamp something to grab on to.

Well, the bow section of #12 Starboard side went in… But only just. The limit on the pressure was definitely there.

I had to use some Superglue interspersed with the Titebond for this one. They kind of got mixed together and it became a bit gooey.

I’m pretty happy with how all the Strakes ended up at just about where the Batten was. I almost hit it right on the nose! 🤭🤣

Pencil marks were where we’re supposed to end up… Close enough!

#11 Strake

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As I bend this #11 Strake around, I realize that I’m almost getting to the limit of bendability with these Planks around the Bow bend.

The Stern portion looks like it’s coming along great and that the numbers worked out perfectly at 12 Planks to the Transom.

While I’m at it, I might as well make a mention of bending the Planks across the Jig.

This one is the last #11 Strake. I’ve been slowly making the Strakes as I go to allow me to adjust the thicknesses as I progress. This last #11 Strake is for the Port side and will match the one on the Starboard side that I made on this Jig.

Anyway, I soak the wood in the Wood Soaker for about 1 hour. I use 1/2 Cup / 118ml of Ammonia per 1 Cup / 235ml of Water.

Then when I bend it on the Jig, bend it nice and slow so as not to allow the splinters to come up.

I learned the lesson for slow bending after making a few Planks that raises Splinters as I mentioned before in a previous post.

#10 Strake

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Going in to #10 Strake, which is a little bit under 1/2 of the way done, I just realized something which I want to write down before I forget about it.

I’ve read a few different sources and watched a few different videos about Planking… And really, the only real constant is the fact there are as many different ways to do this Planking as there are Model Makers out there.

You can’t really throw a criticism out there at somebody’s work and judge the work as being right or wrong. Well, you can, but most people are going to judge your work simply from the perspective of the finished product and they really can’t appreciate the work that you spent in making the Model because they’ve never actually done it.

So, as I make this turn into #10, I realize now that it’s always right around at this point where I get into a lot of self doubt about whether I’m doing it right or wrong.

I’ve been doing a lot of measuring and calculating and it landed right at around 11.6 Planks… So I’m at 10 right now so I figure that I’ll round up, although the Planks are beginning to become a bit tight and I realize that I can only bend them just so far.

Something interesting I just noticed.

Well… I put the 2 Planks in the Jig last night and went to sleep. When I woke up, they were completely dried and took to the form pretty hard.

I noticed that it has this springy quality, that it actually helps in the gluing process. Because it has a self-clamping quality about it.

I guess you guys have already figured out that i don’t like the Plank Bender process. I just think that it’s too much of a short cut. I mean, I have one, but I’ll only use it in the most desperate situations.

Just thinking to myself that I think I’m going to hit it perfectly at 12 Strakes for the upper band. Hmmm… 🤔🙄

#10 Strake Port side went in beautifully

#9 Strake

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The Strakes are curving around nicely around the Bow.

I was afraid that I was going to run out of space but I think it’s all going to fit together nicely. I may need a Stealer but I’m not sure yet.

Just doing the Starboard side of #9 and I was thinking to myself that the Batten was right at around 11 – 12 Plank’s worth of Planks on the biggest Bulkhead which was the #9 Bulkhead. It actually landed on 11.6 Plank Widths… So figured I would round up for comfort’s sake.

To be honest, this whole time I was planking, I thought that I was going to run out of space.

The cardinal rule in Planking is to apparently not cut your Plank to any smaller than 1/2 if your original Plank. What is frowned on is for a Plank to come up to the Bow in a Point. The reason being, there was no way to secure a pointed piece of Timber.

I probably should do a Post on some rules on Planking.

#8 Strake

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It appears that #8 on the Starboard side is also giving me problems. Hmmm

It developed this crack right at the #3 bulkhead. Guess I’ll be using a bit more Putty in the Starboard side.

I was a bit worried about #8 Strake, but I think the whole thing is coming along pretty good.

#7 Strake

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This Strake seems to be needing some bending. What I ended up doing was to go ahead and glue the forward part and to let it set. Then, I’ll go ahead and twist it on around to the Stern.

I imagine that if I was doing shorter Plank sections and doing Butt Joints instead of a continuous Strake, things would go differently.

#7 Strake Starboard side gluing forward part

I kind of goofed on the Starboard side. I ended up clamping it too hard and it caved in the bottom part of #7. I’m not worried about it… I’ll just fix it with some Putty.