GuntherMT

I’ve added the filler strips without any trouble.

Interesting discussion! The term "kit bashing" seems to have evolved over time to convey the meanings others have noted. I'm not sure when it first came into common usage, but the first time I heard it used was in the second half of the seventies. I was living in Marin County at the time and had for many years. We had something of an "influx" of folks moving into my neighborhood who had been recruited by George Lucas, who was setting up his operations there, primarily, at first, Industrial Light and Magic ("ILM") and later Lucasfilm. I remember meeting one guy who moved in a couple of houses down from us telling me when I asked what he did for a living, "I'm a model maker." Of course, my immediate response was, "You mean people can make a living at it?"   After that, we were "off to the races." He was the first guy who told me about what they called "kit bashing." My understanding was that the term was commonly used by movie industry model makers to mean using off-the-shelf plastic model kit parts to build entirely different models from what the kits' original subjects represented. The technique was originated by model makers working on the movie 2001 - A Space Odyssey. They built a lot of models from scratch, but when they needed bits and pieces, they'd take them from plastic kits which had nothing to do with the model they were making. They'd often buy large numbers of the same kit just to obtain a sufficient number of a particular part they wanted that was in each kit. These kit parts which the modelers used frequently and in large numbers they called "greeblies," which I think was just a made-up word. It was all quite fascinating and at the time something of a "trade secret." (Lucas even kept the name and address of ILM secret for a long time. It was just a nondescript warehouse in an industrial district on Kerner Street in San Rafael, CA with a sign on the front that simply said "The Kerner Company.")
 
I found this photo online showing ILM's "kit bashing" shop in action building the original Millenium Falcon, Han Solo's space ship in the Star Wars movies.  Note the boxes of kits on the shelves in the background. Note the three rectangular parts with the black holes in their centers in the foreground laying on top of the front of the model. These appear to be tank body decks, the holes being where the turrets would be placed on the tank model. The second picture shows them in the finished model where they became exhaust ports or something like that.
 

 
 

 
Below is a yet-to-be weathered section of an ILM spaceship. Some may be able to recognize parts from specific model kits. I'm guessing there are some aircraft carrier parts in there somewhere!
 

 
 
Below is the original "droid strip," the top of the "X-wing fighter" right behind the pilot's seat, flown by Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie with the original model kits from which the parts identified were sourced:
 

 
Close inspection of later Star Wars kits marketed to the public show some differences in the details. I wonder if some details weren't changed in the later model kits to avoid violating the original kit manufacturer's copyrights. I'd certainly hate to think Lucasfilm was authorizing the production of "pirated" kits!   Just kidding. I knew the lady who worked for Lucas writing "cease and desist" letters to anybody who so much as thought of violating a Lucasfilm copyright. They were very scrupulous about that.
 
So, I'd say that to be really accurate in the use of the term "kit bashing," it should only apply to building something entirely different from what the kit the parts came from was. Using tank kit parts to depict something different from what they were on the tank kit to portray a part on a ship model is "kit bashing." Using an anchor winch casting from one ship model kit to portray an anchor winch on another ship model isn't "kit bashing." That's just "parts swapping." But, it's really not all that important in the grand scheme of things, is it? 
 
 

Hitting a really poor kit, with a hammer, into splinters to remove it from the world?😄

Excellent! Thank you 😄

That looks like the instructions you find in the Model Shipways kits like this one.
 
Armed Virginia sloop
 
A lot of those Model Shipways kits have downloadable instructions.
 
The instructions by Chuck for Syren and Confederacy are like tutorials for model ship building..
 

Yes!!

As Moltinmark says, it's not really defined other than by people deciding to use that term.  If I build a 'Cheerful' as designed by Chuck, but decide to use all his mini-kits, is it a kit build, or semi-scratch?  It depends on who you ask.  If you look in the build logs you'll find those builds in both the kit section and the scratch section.

My personal opinion is that using much beyond a false keel and bulkheads moves it out of scratch, but some people would argue that even using those pieces makes it a 'kit' or at the very least not scratch.
 
Of course in the end, it doesn't really matter unless you are entering it into a competition that has actual rules about that sort of thing.  If you think that doing 90% of the work from scratch is scratch, then it's a scratch build for you.

IPMS (International Plastic Modelers Society) has very strict definitions for "out of box" and "scratch".  Pretty much anything that doesn't meet those two categories is considered a "kit bash" or simply "not out of box".  I use IPMS in this conversation because as far as I know they are one of the largest modeling organizations around the world, and wooden ships have been allowed in all of their official competitions for many years now.
 
For a wooden ship model, you could replace rigging line and a couple other very minor bits and still meet the definition of "out of box", but if you've replaced crappy kit wood with anything other than identical type (like to replace a warped piece), for example replacing the kit basswood deck with Holly or Boxwood, you have entered the "not out of box" realm, which is pretty much what I consider to be a kit-bash.

My build of the "Carmen" qualified as out of box by the IPMS judges (but just barely - the replacement blocks were debated as to whether they were part of the rigging or not), while my AVS was clearly in the kit-bash (not out of box) category because I replaced so much of the kit wood and parts.
 
However a 'bash' can go far beyond that.  I could start with the kit for the Pride of Baltimore for example, but modify it in such a way to create a model of the "Californian" and that would not be a scratch model since I used the kit as my basis, it would be a kit-bash.

Where the line is crossed from kit-bash to full scratch has been an item of much debate over the years, so I won't even go into that. 
 

As Moltinmark says, it's not really defined other than by people deciding to use that term.  If I build a 'Cheerful' as designed by Chuck, but decide to use all his mini-kits, is it a kit build, or semi-scratch?  It depends on who you ask.  If you look in the build logs you'll find those builds in both the kit section and the scratch section.

My personal opinion is that using much beyond a false keel and bulkheads moves it out of scratch, but some people would argue that even using those pieces makes it a 'kit' or at the very least not scratch.
 
Of course in the end, it doesn't really matter unless you are entering it into a competition that has actual rules about that sort of thing.  If you think that doing 90% of the work from scratch is scratch, then it's a scratch build for you.

IPMS (International Plastic Modelers Society) has very strict definitions for "out of box" and "scratch".  Pretty much anything that doesn't meet those two categories is considered a "kit bash" or simply "not out of box".  I use IPMS in this conversation because as far as I know they are one of the largest modeling organizations around the world, and wooden ships have been allowed in all of their official competitions for many years now.
 
For a wooden ship model, you could replace rigging line and a couple other very minor bits and still meet the definition of "out of box", but if you've replaced crappy kit wood with anything other than identical type (like to replace a warped piece), for example replacing the kit basswood deck with Holly or Boxwood, you have entered the "not out of box" realm, which is pretty much what I consider to be a kit-bash.

My build of the "Carmen" qualified as out of box by the IPMS judges (but just barely - the replacement blocks were debated as to whether they were part of the rigging or not), while my AVS was clearly in the kit-bash (not out of box) category because I replaced so much of the kit wood and parts.
 
However a 'bash' can go far beyond that.  I could start with the kit for the Pride of Baltimore for example, but modify it in such a way to create a model of the "Californian" and that would not be a scratch model since I used the kit as my basis, it would be a kit-bash.

Where the line is crossed from kit-bash to full scratch has been an item of much debate over the years, so I won't even go into that. 
 

Hi Rachel,
 
Last piece of information from me on this topic. Here are two illustrations that do a good job at showing the cut for a rabbet. @GuntherMT illustration is a really good way to imagine the bearding line of the entire hull and giving you an idea of what to cut. Hopefully this gives a clear picture of the cut. 

I understand exactly what you're describing. I'm going to have to up my skills with this kit. I'm disappointed the instructions aren't more clear.😕

I'm sure everyone has different techniques, I was just winging it.  It was easier on my model because the keel wood is much harder than the false keel, so I didn't need to worry much about going past it.
 
For you, since you will be cutting into the same piece, you first want to make what is called a 'stop cut', which is simply a vertical cut into the wood, along the line of the edge of the keel.  Then you will use a very sharp chisel or hobby knife and take off very thin slices of wood working into the stop-cut (which functions to 'stop your cut').

Don't try to make the stop-cut full depth the first time, work in small increments.

I used a combination of a chisel (or chisels) a small X-acto knife (used the curved blades for this) and sandpaper.  
 
If you have a good small V chisel or gouge you might start by cutting the rabbet along the bottom where you don't need to worry about making the shallow angle, and then work on the ends.
 
Edit: Use scrap wood from the parts sheet the keel or bulkheads came out of to practice!

I'm sure everyone has different techniques, I was just winging it.  It was easier on my model because the keel wood is much harder than the false keel, so I didn't need to worry much about going past it.
 
For you, since you will be cutting into the same piece, you first want to make what is called a 'stop cut', which is simply a vertical cut into the wood, along the line of the edge of the keel.  Then you will use a very sharp chisel or hobby knife and take off very thin slices of wood working into the stop-cut (which functions to 'stop your cut').

Don't try to make the stop-cut full depth the first time, work in small increments.

I used a combination of a chisel (or chisels) a small X-acto knife (used the curved blades for this) and sandpaper.  
 
If you have a good small V chisel or gouge you might start by cutting the rabbet along the bottom where you don't need to worry about making the shallow angle, and then work on the ends.
 
Edit: Use scrap wood from the parts sheet the keel or bulkheads came out of to practice!

It's really hard to show rabbet work in photo's, but hopefully this will better show what I'm talking about.
 

 
In the above photo, my model has a different wood for a keel, but the rest is the same.  The bearding line is the pencil line you see which pretty much follows the bottom of the bulkheads.  You will have to define the actual line of the keel for your model based upon the plan drawings (I would transfer that line to the false keel to work from).
 
In the photo, the rabbet is at the depth of both layers of planking combined where it touches the keel, but makes a shallow transition up to the bearding line at the bottom of the bulkheads so that when the planks are placed there is no hard transition, they just bend smoothly along the angle until the butt-ends hit the keel (or the edge of the planks for the bottom strake).

It's really hard to show rabbet work in photo's, but hopefully this will better show what I'm talking about.
 

 
In the above photo, my model has a different wood for a keel, but the rest is the same.  The bearding line is the pencil line you see which pretty much follows the bottom of the bulkheads.  You will have to define the actual line of the keel for your model based upon the plan drawings (I would transfer that line to the false keel to work from).
 
In the photo, the rabbet is at the depth of both layers of planking combined where it touches the keel, but makes a shallow transition up to the bearding line at the bottom of the bulkheads so that when the planks are placed there is no hard transition, they just bend smoothly along the angle until the butt-ends hit the keel (or the edge of the planks for the bottom strake).

It  makes sense.  I would like to see a video of someone chiseling away at it (I've not tried this) to get a sense of the technique. 
 
And your horrible drawing is just fine haha, it shows what it needs to show👍 Thank you for taking the time.

Thanks for the compliments.
 
Here are some pictures of progress with the second planking.
 

 

 

 

 
Overall, I am happy with the results. It doesn't show well in the picture, but the bow area is a bit more ragged than I would like and there a few seams that are not quite as tight as I would like.
 
It took me a while to find an approach that worked for me. I started out using medium CA, but found that it made a huge mess. The wood for the planking (I am guessing it's actually sapele rather than mahogany) is extremely porous and the CA would bleed through and get all over the place. I thought about contact cement, but was concerned that there is absolutely no margin for error when positioning the plank.
 
I read something about a ship modeling tool that used heat to quickly dry traditional wood glue. I gave it try using the trim iron I use to apply heat shrink covering material on RC airplanes. This worked perfectly!!! I use a small brush to apply a bit of wood glue then used the iron to get the glue to quickly set up and grab (about 10 - 15 seconds). The heat quickly dries the water out of the glue and the combination of heat, moisture, and pressure from the iron helps to perfectly shape the plank to the surface. The trick is to work slowly, adhering down about an inch at a time.
 
I also have started getting more comfortable spilling the planks to get them lay tightly, and I have been learning about techniques like "stealers" and "drop planks" to get a clean fit.
 

Hello,
This is my first model ship build and my first post here on Model Ship World. I built a lot of plastic models as a kid, but got away from the modeling hobby by the time I got to college (more years ago than I would like to admit 😀). I do a bit of woodworking, and got back into building RC planes about 10 years ago, so thought I would try my hand at a model ship.
 
I started the project several years ago. I got to the point of adding the second layer planking and then got distracted by some other projects (including building a rocking horse and other toys for my new grandson). Last week, I picked the project up again. I thought I would post my progress here, and hopefully pick up few tips from others who are much more experienced than I.
 
Here are pictures of my progress.
 

 
Planking under way.
 

 
I was a bit apprehensive, but the first layer planking in went reasonably well.
 

 

 
First lay planking complete. Not perfect, but overall, I was satisfied with the results (for my first attempt).
 
Note: Sorry for the aspect ratio. Is there a way to rotate images in a post (I could not find one).
 

 
Deck planking came out much better than I expected.
 

 
This is more or less where I left off. I have been working on the second layer planking for the last couple of weekends, and will post my progress there a little later.

Rachel, based on those pictures, they are leaving it pretty much up to you to figure it out, but it looks like the curved line at the bottom of the bulkheads is where you should start the rabbet, and it should end (be at full depth) where the line is shown in that last picture, which is defining the 'keel'.  
 
I am horrible at drawing, but I made a horrible drawing to try to show this.
 

In the above drawing the green line is the bearding line, where the rabbet starts, and the red line is the edge of the keel, as shown in the final picture in your post above.  The rabbet would be at full plank thickness where it hits the edge of the keel (red line) and smoothly flow up to the edges of the bulkheads at the green line (my green line doesn't touch my bulkheads because I'm terrible at drawing).  
 
So along the bottom where the bulkheads angle steeply or at nearly a 90 degree angle into the false keel, the rabbet will simply be a squared off "U" or modified "V" shape, while at the bow and stern you would can cut the full depth rabbet at the red line and then remove wood at a shallow angle up to the green line so that the line of planks smoothly crosses that area.
 
I hope that makes sense?

Rachel, based on those pictures, they are leaving it pretty much up to you to figure it out, but it looks like the curved line at the bottom of the bulkheads is where you should start the rabbet, and it should end (be at full depth) where the line is shown in that last picture, which is defining the 'keel'.  
 
I am horrible at drawing, but I made a horrible drawing to try to show this.
 

In the above drawing the green line is the bearding line, where the rabbet starts, and the red line is the edge of the keel, as shown in the final picture in your post above.  The rabbet would be at full plank thickness where it hits the edge of the keel (red line) and smoothly flow up to the edges of the bulkheads at the green line (my green line doesn't touch my bulkheads because I'm terrible at drawing).  
 
So along the bottom where the bulkheads angle steeply or at nearly a 90 degree angle into the false keel, the rabbet will simply be a squared off "U" or modified "V" shape, while at the bow and stern you would can cut the full depth rabbet at the red line and then remove wood at a shallow angle up to the green line so that the line of planks smoothly crosses that area.
 
I hope that makes sense?

I've been a member here for several years but never posted.  Finally getting around to finishing a small schooner I started 25 years ago - been sitting on a shelf with no rigging for a looooong time!  It was one of the last kits I bought when I worked for a hobby store through college, just a little solid hull thing that Midwest or some similar outfit put out.
 
I've been a modeler and woodworker since childhood, so wood ship models always seemed like a natural fit.  Too many hobbies over the years though, just never seemed to get around to such involved projects.  Last summer I was doing some fiber optic work at my job and realized that I could still do the fussy, tiny work for model building, which made me think I ought to finish rigging the schooner
 
Though I've since separated from that job, I'm not retired yet (and may still do some contract work for their fiber needs).... probably one more stint of day jobs before I truly retire.  Got a line on one that would lend itself well to model making in the slack time, we'll see if that pans out!

On that type of design, the best way to do it (too late now unfortunately) is to trace  the bearding line from the full-sized plan sheet onto a piece of tracing paper, and use that to transfer the bearding line directly onto both sides of the false keel.  You can then cut a full depth rabbet running along that line prior to attaching the bulkheads, and then after the bulkheads are placed you can make the cut from the full depth rabbet up to the bottom edges of the bulkheads.

Since you are past the point to do it that way it will be a bit more difficult, but you can still follow the same process, you'll just have to do it with the bulkheads kind of making it more difficult.  Certainly still doable with some good sharp tools and patience.  Don't try to get it all in one pass, just take a little bit off at a time and check the depth between each pass.

Yes that makes perfect sense, and it looks like the false keel is the keel. 

I found a PDF version of the Albatross instruction manual and it's honestly not much help... haha.. 

Do the plans show a 'bearding line' - often a dotted line that is below the ends of the bulkheads but above the bottom of the false keel?  If so, that is your guideline for the bottom edge of the rabbet.  The depth of the rabbet would be the thickness of the planking (if double-planked then both layers combined).  The rabbet would be cut with a chisel or hobby knife or even sanded (slow), but would start at the bearding line at the full plank depth and then lessen in depth smoothly as it reaches the bottom of the bulkheads.  This means that in some areas like the bottom/stern the rabbet is a very long shallow angle while where the bulkheads are very close to the bearding line it's much more of a steep cut.