Chuck Seiler

Dennis, What model?

I think alot of it depends on where you are as a modeler and the quality of work you want to achieve. For many years my main tools were a Dremel and Exacto. I did fine. Seven years ago I was agonizing over the same issues that you are. I am REAL big on getting stuff and then having them sit and collect dust. That is alot of $$$ for a dust collector. I finally decided to gt one, bought one at the 2007 NRG Conference here in San Diego and never looked back. I have done things with it I had never done before...it has made me a better modeler, but in the same way a set of magnifiers can make you better. It has extended my range. I use it all the time. Could you do it with something other than a Byrnes? Sure, maybe. If I had an older Preac I may feel the same way about it, but I don't. If I had it to do over again and had the opportunity to buy a saw that is 90% as good at half the price would I buy it instead? No. It is all about what you are comfortable with and what you want to do.

Some times I am tempted to wipe the glue off when it oozes out of the seam. More and more I resist that temptation, leaving the glob on there until it is semi firm. I tehn remove it with a razor/exacto/scalpel. I am told it is cleaner that way...whereas the wiped off glue residue seeps into more of the wood. The planking so far is pretty straight forward. Down to the wale and all interior does not need spiling. Once you get below the wale, the planks will need to be spiled/shaped. It is not all that severe, so it will be fairly easy, but you still need to know what to do. Many people just want to edge bend th eplank, but that causes buckling. I need to check the instructions to see what it says about it. There are several good tutorials/build logs that explain spiling. Yeah, this planking is much easier than a frigate. Rigging is alot easier as well.

Yeah, I like those, but yo uneed to make sure you get the kind with enough spring to hold down what you need held down. The metal clamps with red, green or grey tips have different levels of spring. Some I cannot use on soft wood because it leaves a dent. On the other hand those are the ones I need to use if I need ALOT of pressure on a particular point. The plastic ones are good for side planking or planking at the bow stern which have been soacked and pre-bent really well.

Which clamps. I think I have 3 or 4 different types.

Steve, I suspect smooth sanding the strakes above the wale before the wale is installed is a good way to do it. I do it a bit differently. My wale strake is initially the same thickness as the rest of the hull planks. Once I get everything smooth finished, I add a second layer to the wale.

It will probably mar the softer basswood if there is direct contact. It will be fine if you use a thin pad off wood between the model surface and the clamp.

Don't come cryin' to me when you are looking for clamp #66 and it isn't there. I warned ya. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I need to back track a little. I think I mentioned this at the beginning. I am a little unhappy with the organization of the hull planking section. While going into detail on the process of lining off, etc, it then charges into the planking itself and seems (to me at least) to jumble it all together. As written, it should be three distinct sections: 1. Outer planking from the sheer strake down to the wale. It strengthens the hull, protects the frames and (as Kurt indicated) provides places to insert support blocks that are used for the interior planking. I think the designer stopped at the wales because those planks do not need to be spiled. It is a natural break point. 2. Interior planking. Again, for the most part, no spiling required. 3. Exterior planking below the wale. Spiling required. Now that I am done with the exterior planking down to the wales, I have a couple decisions to make; (1) Continue on with some or all of the external planking and (2) Since I added a small thickness of planking to the bottom, should I re-line off the hull. I was tempted to go one more strake before proceeding inboard, but I decided to stick with the plans (Gee, why start now!!!). For # 2 I decided not to line off anew. I will do strakes W+1 and W+2 (first and second strakes elow the wale) at that point I may make W+3 a wee bit wider and see where that gets us with W+4. This will give me a feel for how the spiling is working out before I wander off the reservation.

I think I will post a few pics while the glue dries. Cockpit work is complete and hull planking begins. Here, sheer strake has been installed n the starboard side and I am now installing the wale. (Note: I went with the Smithsonian plans of having 1 strake above the wale.) A slight bevel on the upper edge of the wale and it fits snug with no gaps. You can never have too many clamps. One thing I like to do when I am working with planking is to mark the plank on the inside as to where it goes. Sometimes (well, 95% is some) when working with more than 1 plank I get confused. preparing a plank for one spot and putting it in another is a waste of time. Here, the shipyard has a double shift on duty so I can get the starboard aft wale installed while also getting the port forward sheer strake installed. Team Home Depot versus Team Office Depot. Did I mention you cannot ever have too many clamps? Team Office Depot clamp brings pressure from the bottom and the side, helping scootch the plank into place. Sometimes Team Home Depot needs to pitch in when the thingamabob on top doesn't apply enough pressure for the foreman's wishes. Dang!!! A gob of glue I missed!!! This rig was featured in a build log somewhere else on MSW.

Bob, Very nice rope. Did that come with the kit or is it Chuck-rope?

29, 29A, 6A, 5a.....Dang!!! Don't I feel stooopid. I would have figured it out sooner or later.

I believe that is where I got mine. I also got wipe on, but I like the spray on better. Only trick is to apply it like spray paint. Avoid windy areas (and dust). Ensure good ventilation. Several light coats using a sweeping action 6 to 10 inches from the work piece. I wait until I am just about done.

Instructions? What are they? :-( I do not recall 29 and 29A....I guess I blew right past that one. I'll check it out when I get home. I use DEFT Satin Spray Finish.

I was unable to access Keith's/Bear's pictures. Has anyone had success?

Mark, I would not recommend workin gon th einner planking first. The plans are a bit jumbled, but it sets the planking in to three sections; Top three strakes of the outer planking, inner planking, remainder of the outer planking. The instructions don't explain why it is this way, but I ended up doing it that way when I scratch built with out the benefits of instructions, so there must be a reason. For me, I found that laying the first three outer planks helps make th emodel more stable and less prone to snapping things off, while shifting to inner gave me access to the inner planks from both sides. I don't remember why that was important. Kurt Van Dahm says to add a block up in the bow to help support the inner planking. Otherwise it has a very small point of attachment to the stem and may break off. That block is attached to the outer planking.

Bart, I would have to double check my plans at home, but I believe the pieces you are talking about (29 and 29A) are the square pieces that run from the keelson out to the edges. They are there to support the inside floor planking not the inside bulkhead planking. Check out my post 116. It shows those pieces exposed. Is that what you were looking at?

I agree with John. I do both. I try and go with a standard length plank and cut the sheet accordingly. However, life is not perfect and I often have to trim here and cut some that are longer there. The other thing I find is that the narrower the sheet becomes, the harder it is to cut the loooong strip. Another issue is that if you are spiling correctly, some of your planks are not going to be straight. You will have to use a 1/4" wide piece (for instance) to get a curved 1/8" wide plank. The next one, because of the curve, might need to be 3/8" wide to start. I have not done alot of this yet, but I find I will cut out just enough (and a scosh more) than I need. It makes for a real patchwork of the sheet.

I'll be using the Golden Pecan for interior and Pecan for exterior.

Good point. For what it's worth, if I remember it correctly, the rule of thimb is that you don't want to put a joint on an adjacent plank/strake within 3 frames of the previous joint. (Remember, in the kit, each kit frame is about 2 actual frames apart.) Do not put a butt joint on the SAME frame within 3 strakes of one where ther is a joint. Hopefully somebody can word that better so it makes sense.

Doc, What you are talking about is the international call sign. For US Navy ships, you can find their hoist at a site called NAVSOURCE. He is the site for one of my old ships. http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/941.htm I am not sure where you would find this for civilian craft, but harbor masters at any local port could probably tell you.

Mark, Good question. Part of planning any project is ensuring you have enough raw material/resources for the job...and/or efficient use of existing resources to ensure they don't run out before the job does. In this case I would LIKE to say it shouldn't be a proble. ME usually provides plenty of material, particularly for the beginner and intermediate kits where they know the modeler may not be planning down to a gnat's ***. Having said that, it doesn't hurt to do some estimating. The interior hull planking will all be the same width, so I would set those all aside and make sure you don't use it for anything else. If I recall, the plans do not specify plank lengths or locations of butt joints, so you should be able to come up with a plan to efficiently use them. My plan is to make my interior plank lengths 6 frames long. By staggering them, you will end up with either the bow or stern (or both) plank less than 6 frames long, but that is fine. Are you familiar with the protocols for butt edge spacing? The exterior planking will be a little more challenging. The bow and stern planks of each strake will have to be spiled/shaped, so you will need to use a wider piece of wood than you need for width of plank. If I recall, the spile is not very severe. On the plus side, the top 3 strakes do NOT need to be spiled, there are only 4 strakes below the wale, the hull is pretty much lined off already and the butt joints are clearaly marked in the plans. I suspect there will be alot of discussion about planking as we get into it. I am right behind you and Steve is about where you are. I'm not sure how far along bart is.

Yeah, but now you are spending a fortune for coffee.

Thanks Pat. I'll look into it.

I have my cockpits pretty much planked and am doing some last minute sanding before planking. I have inserted some 'treenails' at some strategic points to keep the structure sturdy. I am a firm believer in supplementing glue joints with pegs. Bailing well cover in place. I will eventually drill a hole in each corner adjacent to the keelson and insert grab ropes to assist in lifting the cover off the well. Holy cow!!!! I need to do a better job at sanding that cockpit floor. (Yeah, I know in real ships it is called a deck. This is an army ship. Bratten calls it a floor...placed upon floor timbers.) Bailing well cover removed. shazaam!!! I am thinking of staining the cockpits before planking. Whadya think?

Mark, How long to soak? For a basswood plank that thick I would go 10 to 15 minutes. If you go to fit it and it doesn't bend easily, go a little longer. Avoid getting it waterlogged. How long to dry in place? Until it is dry. It's not meant to be a smart-@$$ answer....well maybe...but it will vary with conditions, such as temperature, humidity, how long you soaked it, etc. I usually let it dry overnight. That may sound excessive, but you haven't glued a plank in place when you thought it was dry and it turned out to be NOT dry (shrinkage). "Nice gap buddy." Some people use a hand held hair dryer. Others use an iron set at low. These have the advantage of heating the plank, drying it and helping to bend it.