usedtosail

Tim - your Pinky Schooner is really coming out nicely, so your Constitution should be great too when you can start on it in your new house. Richard - not sure design is the right word, but it is my own doing. As spreadsheets go, it is really very simple. I would be happy to make it available to anyone that wanted it, though. It would need some modification for each kit, though, based on number of bulkheads and planking bands, but that is simple cut and paste stuff.

Thanks Tim and Richard, and all the likers. Richard, the spreadsheet looks like this. This is the start of one row representing the planking band between the top and bottom of the wales, so all the wale planks, and columns for the first three bulkheads. There are other rows for the other bands and other columns for the rest of bulkheads. I first establish each planking band, using a batten to check the run of the planks at the top and bottom of the band. I then mark the locations of the top and bottom of the band off the battens, and measure the gap between them at each bulkhead, which goes in the first row labeled "Gap". I then measure the width of the planks I want to use across that gap, and the number of planks to fill that gap, which go in the next two rows. The bottom row is calculated from the above information, which is the width of each of the planks to fill that gap using that number of planks. I can play with different starting widths and different # of planks to make sure I get all positive numbers in the bottom row and that I am not taking too much off each plank near the ends, which would call for stealers or dropped planks. It doesn't do all the work for me, but helps me visualize what the planking will look like before I start adding planks.

There she blows - the waling (whaling, wailing) continues... Here are some shots after a few of the wale planks were added to the port side. I started from the stern and worked my way forward. These first few planks were not too difficult, with just some tapering to do near the ends. At the bow, I just had to soak and bend the planks to the hull. Here are two planks being bent at the same time. I found that if I bent these just to the bulkheads, I was getting a flat spot right after the bow filler piece, so I wrapped these around the wale above to get continuous support along the length of the plank. Now things are getting more wonky. The rest of the stern wale planks bend up under the counter. I trimmed the ends of the stern planks so I could see what I was doing, then bent the next one under. I am going to need some filler here, don't you think. I have no idea how you guys that single plank and leave your wood natural do it. Someday, someday... And here are some of the center planks being glued in. I used the larger clamps to butt the new planks up against the previous planks. These wale planks are pretty thick, so I also beveled the back edges to get a better fit along the front edges. In that last picture you can see the Excel spreadsheet I made up to calculate and keep track of the plank widths at each bulkhead for each belt. I also made this jig to hep hold the planks while tapering them, out of some aluminum angle: I should be able to finish this side in a few days and give it an initial sanding. I'll have more pictures then.

Yes, I sanded with the frames for the final fairing, testing with a batten as I went.

Those frames look fantastic. Nice job.

To make Hans' (rottger) point, check out this video, especially right at the end...

Thanks for the plan, Bill. I might try building one for my Connie.

Oh thanks for showing those, Steve. Another product to avoid.

Captain Steve, I am not sure what the MS planking clamps are, but I have a bunch of stuff that I bought that is pretty useless to me too. Live and learn, I guess, but it is pretty amazing how many times the answer is simpler than we think. I will try to not steer you down the wrong path for your build, but at least it should be pretty obvious if it happens.

Geoff, you are so right I had forgotten the rubber bands that I also use. I have a few surgical clamps that I use for rigging, but hadn't thought to use them when planking. But, your post got me thinking about surgical tubing as a clamp, which would be sort of an open ended rubber band. I may have to experiment with it and see if it might work for wrapping around the whole hull, instead of trying to thread a rubber band around the hull. Hmm.

Thanks Pete, Geoff and Ulli ,and the likes. I was thinking about clamps last night and decided to take a picture of all the different types of clamps that I use, especially for planking: I think all of these clamps came off build logs on this site and they all have their uses. The office clip clamps I made in two sizes, with the small ones used when the gap between planks gets too small for the bigger ones. The hair clips came from Danny's build log and come in very handy when there is a long span to clamp over. The flipped clothes pins are great for planking the bulwarks, as you can see from my previous posts. The regular clothes pins have been sanded down to more of a point at the tips and are good for putting pressure on a specific point, but they are pretty shallow. The screw in clamps and push pins are good when there is absolutely no room between planks to get a clamp in, although just using a little CA on the planks works too. The others have been useful around the stem and transom. I also have bigger clamps that can clamp across both sides of the hull, but I use these very rarely. As they say, you can't have enough clamps and I say you can't have enough kinds of clamps.

I am going to enjoy following this build too. Plus, I love those racing photos you include in your posts.

Just for completeness, after checking last night, the Constitution plans show the wales tapering in width at the stern only, not the bow.

Ah yes, I was thinking thickness too. The Constitution plans also show the wales tapering in width at the bow and stern, but again if this is how they were done at the actual construction, I don't know.

The MS Constitution plans have the wales tapering into the bow and stern rabbets. Whether this was done on the original building of the ship, I don't know.

You are doing a great job. I am curious to see the differences between the way the practicum has you build and the MS instructions. Either way this will turn out to be a very nice model.

I made some more progress this week on the planking. In preparation for adding the thicker wale planks, I measured the locations of the top and bottom of the wales at each bulkhead off the plans and used a tick strip to transfer that measurement to the bulkheads. I used the plank under the gun ports as the reference, since I could lay the tick strip up against it on the hull. I then placed a batten on these lines and made sure it ran true, and extended the lines to the stem and transom. After I marked the wale locations, I added the remaining two thin planks that go under the gun ports above the wales. Since the wale planks will be thicker than the planks I already have done, I wanted to get the existing planks sanded pretty well so I don't mess up the wale planks later. I gave them an initial sanding then used some wood filler to fill gaps and low areas. I am using a Latex wood filler that is very creamy and sands very well. Here I am about half way through sanding the filler off. I just keep sanding until I can see the plank edges and there are no edges of filler present. I do put the filler on pretty thick at first, but it sands off easily. I used a fairly course sand paper to remove most of the filler, than a finer piece to get pretty close to the finish I want. In this picture, most looks good but I did put more filler on the bottom planks towards the stern. While waiting for the filler to dry in the bow area, I started cutting and shaping the first row of wale planks at the stern. I created a spreadsheet which uses the width of the wales divided by the number of planks to give me the dimensions of each wale plank at each bulkhead. I use these measurements to trim the planks in width. At the bow and stern, the wale planks taper down to the same thickness as the planks already installed (1/16"), so for that I used a sanding block. Here is the first wale plank at the stern, which is tapered in two dimensions - width and thickness And here it is installed with the plank in front of it. This picture also gives a good indication of the sanded upper planks at this point. I will give everything a finer sanding before I paint the hull, too. Of course, this is just on the port side, and all has to be repeated on the starboard side, which I will do after completing the wales on this side.

Nice looking bulwarks Mundie. This method has you cutting the gun ports into the bulwarks at some point, probably after the outer planking is done? Would you then add filler pieces in the gaps between the inner and outer planking along the edges of the gun ports? As far as the poly, some folks here wipe everything down with a coat of wipe on poly, even if they are going to paint those areas. My guess is it helps fill in the surface making it smoother, but I just prime and paint and only use poly on the parts I leave natural or stained. Either way you should be fine.

That's what I did - cut a new one from basswood sheet. Whatever way works for you. I will enjoy following along with your build.

Nice job on the waterways.

Nice looking deck you got there.

Thanks Pete.

That is a beautiful area. I hope the new house has a nice workshop, or at least a room that you can use as a workshop. I am anticipating seeing your take on this ship.

Thanks guys. Tim - good luck with your move. I love the Finger Lakes area. Which lake are you going to? Geoff - you got that right. I need small victories to keep me motivated. Wayne - welcome back to the hobby. I hope this build helps others as I have been helped by those that have built or are still building the Constitution.

Sal, nice touch with the ship's name. You are doing a fantastic job on this build.