17
Referring to Plan Sheet 2, lay a tick strip
along each bulkhead and mark the two
belt seams below the wale. Transfer these
points in pencil to the model. Now tem-
porarily tack two 1/16" x 3/32" basswood
battens along the port and starboard belt
lines. Battens assure an accurate run of
planks by correcting errors in drafting, tick
strip marking, or transferring. You don’t
need a batten at the top of Belt A, because
the wale is already in place.
Once the two battens are in place, check
their flow. Look at the model from the
side and from the bow and stern. Do the
battens have a pleasing, smooth curve?
Are they symmetrical? If necessary, adjust
the lower battens, referring to the plank-
ing profile on Plan Sheet 2. When every-
thing is fair, make sure the belt seams are
clearly visible. Remark those that aren’t.
Now, either remove the battens or leave
them in place until they interfere with
installing a plank.
Tapering plank edges:
As planking pro-
ceeds, the edges of a particular plank may
require tapering to butt flush against its
neighbor. Properly machined planks have
square edges. Butting them together on a
hull may produce small gaps. Most are
sealed with glue or wood filler, or caulked
on a real ship. Plank edges are often delib-
erately tapered, to ensure they butt
against each other while providing a suffi-
cient gap for caulking. To create a perfect-
ly smooth hull without gaps, trim each
plank edge as it is fit. The decision to
taper or rely on filler is yours.
Laying the planks in Belts A and B:
Each
belt is done separately, so planking can start
with any one. Many planks will require
spiling. You will know as soon as you try to
fit a plank and can’t edge bend it in place.
Belts A and B each include six equal
width planks amidships which are about
3/16" wide or a little less and taper to
3/32" – 1/8" at the stem. Lift the plank
widths from the hull planking layout (fore
and aft view) with a tick strip. Mark these
lines on the bulkheads in pencil. Mark
any stealers as shown on the plans. Belts
A and B are now completely marked.
The next step is to cut planks to fit
between the marks. First, decide where
you want plank butts to go. You may have
two or three planks for each strake. Mark
the butt locations on the bulkheads and
don’t forget to stagger the butts per the
rules. Next, lay a piece of planking stock
over the bulkheads and determine if it
needs to be spiled. If so, spile the plank
edge to fit the previous plank. Next, in
pencil, mark the overall length and cut the
plank to its final length. Then, mark the
position of each bulkhead (important for
measuring the plank width and to know
the location of bulkheads for treenailing).
Using a set of dividers or tick strip, lift the
plank widths from the marks on the bulk-
heads and transfer to the stock. Draw a
line through the points and cut the plank.
Trace this tapered plank to obtain another
for the other side of the hull (
Figure 2-10
).
Continue until this run is finished, then
complete the others in Belts A and B. The
planks going over Bulkheads Q and R
and butting into the lower counter plank
take a severe bend. So, steam bend the
planks where they curve sharply at the
counter. This is primarily for Belt A. Belt
B planks start going into the sternpost
rabbet (
Figure 2-11
). Steam bending may
also be required at the bow for the upper
planks. Test each plank to see how easily
it bends. If it appears the plank may break
or be difficult to fasten, then steam bend.
Laying the Planking in Belt C:
This belt
consists of the garboard strake a little
wider than 3/16" and two broad strakes
about 3/16" wide amidships. Mark the
butts as you did on the other belts. Use
the planking profile on Plan Sheet 2 to
determine the plank widths in Belt C aft.
The fore and aft planking view can’t show
all the planks aft, so this view is necessary.
Make sure the garboard fits nicely into
the rabbet along the keel. The garboard
will be a most difficult strake to fit, so
take your time.
8. Completing the Double Planked Hull
Outer hull planking:
If all went well above,
you should have a completed first layer of
planks of 3/64" thick basswood. Sand the
entire hull until smooth. Now is the time
to add the outer layers of walnut for the
basic plank, wale, black strake, and sheer
strake. If you followed all the rules and laid
out the inner layer properly, the walnut
can be laid directly over the basswood,
using the basswood seams as a guide for
the walnut seams. If your under-layer
below the wale was installed without
regard for proper widths and tapered
planks, then you must go back and follow
the layout rules addressed in paragraph 6,
following the belt approach.
Gunport lining:
Within each gunport
there will be some basswood showing —
namely bulkhead extensions, sill, header,
and black strake inner layer. To cover the
basswood, line the entire gunport open-
ing with 0.020" walnut. If the model is to
be painted, this step could be ignored.
9. Installing Bulwark Ceiling Planks
The waterways were already installed on
the sub-deck in Stage 1. The ceiling for
the bulwark inboard is 3/64" thick walnut
except for a 1/16" thick walnut spirketing
plank at the waterway. This thick plank
holds the fittings for cannon rigging.
Before installing this plank, cut the scup-
per holes in the lower edge in line with
the holes in the black strake outboard.
Use one plank above the gunports, one
for the spickering plank, and three equal
width planks in way of the gunports
(
Figure 2-12
).
FIG. 2-12 INSTALLING BULWARK CEILING PLANKS
CEILING
3/64‘ WALNUT
1/16" WALNUT
SPIRKETING
PLANK
SWEEP
PORT
CUT SCUPPERS IN LINE WITH
SCUPPERS IN BLACK STRAKE
FIG. 2-13 MAIN DECK PLANKING
WATERWAY
NIBBING STRAKE
VIEW OF DECK FORWARD
ONLY 3 NIBBED PLANKS FORWARD
NO NIBS FORWARD OF THESE
SUB DECK
UNDER
WATERWAY
GUN
PORT
