mrshanks

I agree with Brian. Sand the first layer of planking smooth. Use filler for obvious low points or wide gaps. All you want is a nice smooth base for the second layer of planking!

Thank you dear friends for the "Likes". I am very pleased that you take the time to read and to express your approval .  .  .  .
 
Doc & Mark,
 
And, thank you for your input. By the way, remember when we all learned grammar (is it still taught?) starting a sentence with "and" was prohibited - I see it in literature and the press all the time now .  .  .  .
 
When  I originally placed the strake above the garboard it was a natural fair run and ended up as you advocate. Doc, it was long, like yours. With this hull geometry, I was afraid it would cause the planks above to climb the stem in an unacceptable way and so, cut it back. In retrospect my failure was the artificial "line out" marks I drew on the frames and nose area balsa with the attempt to treat the lowest zone credibly - it wasn't. That band was unrealistic.
 
Anyway, it is a good thing I experimented with this because I would not have wanted the finish planking to have ended up as haphazard as this one did. Early on I could see I was headed in an uncontrolled direction and yet pressed on. Shame on me . .  .  .
 
So, the bow is essentially complete and the significant vertical to round spot on the stern is also planked now. A plank or so on the two open areas with a shutter will complete the first stage planking. It didn't end up nearly as organized as I intended but seriously puts me on notice to do better. At this stage I have good coverage with tight fits. When it is sanded I'll have a good foundation for the finish planking.
 
The BIG question now .  .  .  .
 
When I finish sanding, should I still go ahead with a filler? I have no spaces, etc. between the planks - a tight fit with all strakes edge glued - so what does plastering it with filler accomplish?  Other than something wet, like Bondo, I'd end up sanding it all off! What do you use for a filler that gets into the fine cracks yet is easy to sand? Exact specifics, please. I have experience with Bondo and like its characteristics - but - I never see any of you using it. Is there a negative for what we do?
 
I have sanding sealer that I intend to use at the end. Is that correct?
 
I understand these steps are so mundane that none of you ever report them. Please understand that while I spend hours and days reading your excellent build logs, this is my first time through and I am trying to report minor steps in hopes that you'll arrest any lethal steps I am taking.
 

 

 
Respectfully,
John Maguire
Seattle
 
 

John:
 
Here's a shot of the garboard strake on "Independence.  I realize the hull shapes are different, but you can see that the garboard ends in a point at the bow.  This is the exception that proves the rule:   "no plank should end in a sharp point"!

John:  I think your doing a fine job with the first planking.  I do agree with Mark about the plank next to the garboard strake.  That curve at the forward end needs to be shaved down.  It's creating a "bottleneck" effect that will interfere with the remaining strakes to be fitted

John,
 
That way is reasonable.  About every 5 strake, I stopped and rechecked for tolerance build up and adjusted accordingly.  

Mark & Doc,
 
Thank you for your time.
 
I initially laid out the garboard on this hull exactly as you just described Mark but after glueing it in position it was so far forward that I was afraid the ensuing bow planks would rise too much as you discuss. Accordingly, I cut it back shorter.
 
My stated goal was to try to learn how to plank so that I would have done it once before using the good wood for a finished surface.
 
This means I should be looking at how the finish planking is positioned relative to the cannon ports, which is clear in the instructions, then starting from that line, begin planking downwards.  I would be using my present planks, not the finish layer wood.
 
Pursuant to that, suppose I laid it out by putting vertical runs of tape on each frame, mark them for each plank the way you have marked on your frames and working from top to bottom see where I end up? As I approach the garboard I would begin to see the solution for spiling as well as the shutter. 
 
I 'll have to figure out a different way to line out. The way I did it the first time got me in this trouble. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?
 
Respectfully,
John

John,
 
The front ends (bow) actually taper on the garboard almost to a point.  
 
Here's mine.. I have a sharper bow than yours and mine also has some other differences...
 
 
 
I also think you may have went a bit too far forward with the garboard.  What was suggested to me is run the garboard from aft forward.  When you get to the point where the plank it out over the stem, put a another plank next to it and keeping it in a straight line, trim the garboard into the stem...  
 

 
It looks like yours is bit too wide.. maybe too long... as it shouldn't curve up.
 

 
What Doc said... don't lose any sleep over it.  
 

Nice job on the planking Don......  no sweat on the drop planks , you really need them on that bow. looks great!!
 
Frank

I agree with the consensus Don, once the hull is sanded and sealed I don't think you will need a paint pot.
 
B.E.

Thanks guys, it always helps being here on MSW and getting comments like this. I will work towards the natural wood look, after all it is wood and can be manipulated  
 
Take Care and Thanks Again

Don I can tell that's going to be a beautiful hull. A few nicely planned stealers adds interest as Dave says. Gee you sure know how to motor along.
 
Ian

I think dropped planks and stealers actually add interest to a planked hull...especially if well done, as yours look to be, Don.  I agree.  No paint!

Skip: I use Zap-A-Gap in the green bottle.

Looks really great Don.  That lady has a lot of curves!  Love the unique subjects that MarisStella is offering.

That never happens, does it?   You gotta love this hobby.....

I agree with everyone above.  Don, that planking looks fantastic - get a nice finish on it and it will be gorgeous.  Put the paint brush down and slowly walk away

No worries on the drop planks and stealers, Don.   Normal SOP for these beasts.      If you have gaps, save the sawdust and use it with either bit of watered down glue (PVA) or the finish material and make a slurry.  Fill the gaps and sand well.   That usually does the trick.  
 
And that is a lovely planking job you have going on there.

I agree Mike the wood is beautiful and I am no fan of painting. I am just a little worried abut the funky little planks at the bow and stern I had to install, however, we are our own worst critics and maybe it won't be as bad as I think. Thanks for stopping by

That is some beautiful wood Don. It would be a shame if you weren't able to show it. Some very interesting hull lines as well.
 
Where do you see things going south?

This is a very small update just to let you all know I am still working on her. The planking is still going on. I have, as usual, created problems for myself that I am paying for with each strake. The problem being that I am too smart to line off or measure, something like that road map in the glove box we never used (remember them?). Anyways after realising my error I am now paying for it and have since started to measure and line off. I am confidant that things will be alright only thing is leaving it natural is probably not going to happen.
 In the pictures she only has the first sanding and scraping done and she has some minor gaps to deal with. 
 

 
 Nest up is a couple garboard strakes.
 
Have a Good One

Nice job on the planking, Brian.  I love the pear!

Finished the stern deck planking.  Sanded and cleaned up:

 
Added coat of wipe on poly:

 
Pretty happy with how the decking is coming out.  Have a couple of benches and the bulkheads left to do before I can finally start assembling stuff.

On another forum that I post this on (not a modeling forum, just a modeling thread) I was asked about fitting the ends of the planks on my bow decking to the margin plank, so I made a mini-tutorial on how I do that, so sharing it here as well in case someone might learn something from it (or tell me I'm making it way too hard on myself, who knows!).
 
-----------------
 
Here is that step-by-step thing on plank fitting that I promised last week and then didn't actually get to do until this morning.  The plank in question isn't a very good example since it's a very slight angle/curve at this location, the the process doesn't change at all, just the angle and length of the joint.   Step 1 - Place a piece of planking so that the end against the existing plank is right at the point it needs to be, and mark the opposite edge where it crosses over the margin plank.  At this point I also mark the other end of the plank for length, leaving about 1/8" or so (better too much than too little) extra to allow for the shortening of this plank as I work the end.     Step 2 - Using a small mitre-box I trim the piece to length.  I sort of failed on the camera angle here, but you can get the idea.     Step 3 - Also a failed camera angle.  Using a steel straight edge, I use a #11 blade to trim the end of the plank based on the mark I made on the edge to the point that was against the existing plank.  This leaves me with a slightly long plank with an angled end.     Step 4 - Place this cut piece into position and look at how it fits.  As can be seen here, I made the angle a bit too sharp, so the plank it tight where it's against the existing plank (where the blade is pointing) but leaves a gap as you get to the opposite edge.  This tells me that I am going to sand down the point of the angle, trying to curve it slightly to the opposite end where no sanding will be done.     Step 5 - Sanding.  I just do this by hand, using a 220 grit sandpaper, and kind of wing it based on how the fit was.     Step 6 - Dry fit again, and see what corrections need to be made. In this case you can see that I over-sanded the 'point', but there is still a gap at the opposite edge (red arrows) so now it needs to be sanded in the center where it's now tightly fitting (black arrow).  I just repeat this process until the fitment is good enough to make me happy.     Step 7 - Final dry fit.  To my eyes this looked really good.  The camera close up reveals that I could have done a bit more sanding as there is still a slight oversanding at the 'point' of the angle, but it's not really something that will be visible to the eye, especially after final finishing.     Step 8'ish - Not pictured - the center plank that was previously placed already has been coated with lead from a #4B artists pencil to simulate caulking in the finished deck.  The new plank now gets the same treatment, but only on the end where it meets the margin plank, and the outside where the next plank will be laid.  Coating both sides of a joint makes it too heavy for my taste.  Before adding the lead, the entire side of the plank gets a very slight bevel sanded into it with 220 grit sandpaper so that the deck surface of the planks mate very closely together.  The end where it will join with the margin plank was sanded with a bevel when I was shaping it.   Step 9 - Plank is glued in place and clamped.  Glue (yellow wood glue) is placed on the plank itself in a very thin layer using a flat end of a plank to smooth is and remove all excess.  The same thing is done on the deck surface where it will be glued.     Step 10 - Remove clamps and see how it came out.     The darkness of the joint along the margin plank will be reduced to something similar to what you see on the margin plank joints after sanding, and then hopefully be about the same as the bow planking came out once it's finished and wipe on poly is added.

Great progress, you say you can live with it, personally i would be extremely proud of such a great result :)
 
 
This is an excellent idea and i for one will be using it

Mini-update with almost no progress!
 
My margin plank on the stern decking failed miserably.  I made a paper pattern by tracing the outside of the deck, and then using a compass to run the inside edge and determine the centerline and split.  The two outside edge pieces came out great, but somehow the curve on the center piece is wrong.  My guess is that the paper didn't get laid down onto the wood properly when it was glued, since it's just notebook paper.  So now I'm going to re-do it using card-stock and see if that works better since it is much stiffer obviously, and should be much more resistant to being changed when glued to the wood.
 

 
Stern margin planking, round 2!
 
Made new patterns, this time out of card stock (manila folder) so that it would not deform when gluing it to the wood.
 

 
After cutting the wood out, test fit with the patterns still on the wood, and it's much better, the curve is pretty spot on, just need to make the joints fit tight.
 
 

 
I glued the center curve into place, and then adjusted the joints on the side pieces to fit well, and then glued them in place and clamped.
 
 

 
 
I can live with this.
 
 

 
Now I can add the planks.
 
I've found that all of the decks that I planked have developed a massive amount of warp, I'm guessing due to the stress as the glue dried between the layers, so now all of the completed pieces are beneath a big stack of heavy wood and steel weights to hopefully straighten them out.