Zarkon

Thunder, You are exactly right! The bulkheads are few and far between. It did make it difficult to plank. There were MANY more bulkheads with the longboat I made which made it easier to plank. Also, I did NOT make a rabbet. That would have made it much easier to plank. I recently just read some of Chuck's posts, and he mentioned that kits like this are near impossible to plank unless you make your own rabbet. With my redo, I will be making a rabbet. I need help to decide either to make one on the false keel itself, or glue on a rabbet strip to the false keel like on other model shipways kits. If I do the latter, I will have to make a new stem or modify it to fit. I haven't decided which I will do yet. I agree with you that if it were double planked, I could just finish what I had, sand it down, then plank a nice finishing layer. But, this isnt the case. I am honestly not beating myself up about my first attempt. I am just learning from it and doing it again, but better! I decided I don't want to paint it, and instead use natural wood. So, I will be replacing the basswood hull planks with boxwood, and maybe walnut. If you guys have some good ideas on what wood would be great for hull planking, let me know! Thanks! Jeff

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers about my son's condition. It truly warms my heart to know that everyone on this forum has been so generous and kind. My son is doing a LOT better, but is still on steroids so we have a VERY active 4 year old! Haha! Within the last month, I have completed a much smaller ship. The Model Shipways 18th Century Longboat. Very small kit! I enjoyed the build and the instructions, but I wasn't to much of a fan for painting. I painted it, but it made me realize I like natural wood color more than painting. Now I comeback to Hermione. I took a few days to see where I left off. 1) The aftercastle (part 34) was chipped and slightly broken. That is fixable. 2) The second deck planks were over sanded and some deep scratches on it from me using too low of grit of sandpaper. That came with inexperience. Also, there were a few places on the deck planks themselves that didn't fully cover the deck. 3) The hull planking. I feel I did a pretty good job starting the planking. But as I went up from the keel of the ship ... a) I noticed that I rushed it. Planks aren't sitting straight on the hull. b) The planks that meet the stem do not sit properly against it. To truly fix it, would require removing the planks and trying again. c) There are some planks that didn't bend all the way, so they stick up off the ship, the ends not glued to anything. Again, would have to remove these planks too. d) My wife came by while I was writing this, and said, "Can I be honest? This isn't your best wood working you have done". And I had to be honest with myself and I did agree with her. e) I also, somehow overused the wood planks that came with the kit and I don't have enough to finish the hull planking. So no matter what I decide to do, I will have to order more wood. What Bob Ross the painter used to say is true, "You do not make mistakes, you make happy accidents." And we learn from our accidents. In this case, it's true. After reviewing the current state of the build, it made me realize where I didn't bevel the planks enough, where I over beveled, and how I didn't follow the curvature of the hull very well. How I didn't take enough time bending and fitting the planks. etc etc etc. I think this is a great example of a beginner's oopies to which to learn from. Am I giving up? NO WAY! If anything, it makes me want to do it better. The only way to do that, is to scrap the planking and start over. I would like to re-do the deck planking too because the strips are thin (no issue with that), BUT I sanded them WAY too much. Getting the scratches out might thin the deck planks too much, so I would have to replace those deck planks. I wouldn't be happy with myself if I felt I didn't do the best job I could on the ship. I realized that yes, this ship is painted, but I would actually like to do a non-painted version.. I really like the natural wood look over the painted. I know this is super subjective, but if the finished ship is going up in my house, I would like it to look the way I want. I had some discussions with my wife about this ship and how I want to proceed (removing the planking and starting over, etc). After some talking to her about what I want to do with the ship, she and I agreed that it would be of my best interest to start over. But this time, slower and more carefully. This isn't a decision that I take lightly. I feel that I really goofed up, but in a good way. I am keeping what I already have done to compare it to what I want it to be. I see this as more of a good opportunity to help me understand how to properly plank a hull on a bigger ship model. I will be posting updated pics as I begin. Again, I am excited to buckle down and do the best I can on this ship!!! Thanks for everyone's support! Jeff

Thank you all for your support! Russ, your ship looks great to me!! You use styraphome to hold the ship up while you work? Neat idea! You are right. It's easy to buy kitsch more than build them. This is why I asked you guys for your opinion. Tha is for your input and I am excited to continue the build again. I will be updating my build log soon with my assessment. Thank you for your input Mark. It just solidifies that I need to continue on with the Hermione. Thanks! Jeff

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! The Medway longboat is really a great looking kit, and I will consider it for my next build! After some thought, I think you guys are right. I will continue with the Hermione kit next. It will be a challenge because I did make a few snafus on the hull planking. I will bring it out and make a fair assessment of what needs to be done to continue with the build. Thanks for all your help!! Jeff

Very much appreciated Harley! It is much better than even a few months ago. He used to have to get blood draws every week. Now its every month. Also, he has been on steroids since August too. The side effects of that are very hard to manage in a 3 year old. But the good news is, he is on a much lower dosage now. Thanks for the kind words! Jeff

Hey all, I have had a very tough year since August. My son was diagnosed with chronic Auto Immune Hepititus. He spent 5 days at the hospital with acute liver failure. My wife and I were terrified, and we still are trying to keep up with our new "Normal". He was 3.5 when admitted. Of course, my ship projects halted. I put them away because there wasn't anytime to work on them. After months of taking care of him all the time, he is getting better! I then started a smaller ship, the Model Shipways 26ft Longboat. I am almost done with it, and so I am now looking for my next ship model. I have enjoyed the kit and i really like how well the instructions are written! I need some help to choose the next kit. I need something bigger because, for me, the longboat was a little too small. The metal bits were giving me trouble! Haha! And something that isnt very difficult. I was thinking of a 1 or 2 mast ship. Since I don't have too much time because I am busy with my son, something on the easier side that helps build modeling skills would be best! The ships I already have are too big and complex for me right now. I need a smaller project. Any suggestions would be wonderful!! Thanks!!! Jeff

Hi all, I have some bad news. The reason I have not been able to work on the ship is because my son got worse and was admitted to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a rare chronic disease and the drs were worried he might have needed a liver transplant. This is a parent's worst nightmare. I have a new found respect for all those pediatric nurses and drs. They were all SUPERIOR. He just came home this week and we feel super lucky that he getting better. He did not need to get a liver transplant. I hope to get going soon on the ship. Jeff

Looks excellent!! Keep up the wonderful work!! Jeff

Thank you both for the advice and kind words. I will continue forward and finish this hull and sand and use filler. Since its just basswood, my local arts supply store carries bassword wood strips at the correct dimenions. I will get some this weekend. Unfortunetly, I have had to stay home from work this week because my 3 year old son got strep. Poor guy. He is just starting to feel better thank goodness. Thanks again!! Jeff

I have been following the guides on this site on how to plank a hull, and I have to say, they are very good guides, but I am not happy at all with MY skills at planking: I am getting fruatrated because I also do not have enough planks to finish it. I feel I need more practice with it. I haven't really broken any planks bending them. It feels like AL just gave me enough to plank the way they want you to. I know it will be painted, but I would know how badly planked it was. SO I need some advice. I see where my errors are, but would require ripping up most, if not all the planks. Should I just "get on with it" and get more wood and finish it, Or Should I rip it up, order more wood, and pay more attention and do it again (learning more in the process) Thanks! Jeff

Wow! Perfect! I am in awe everytime I look at your log. You are an inspiration to all of us!! Question though, and my appologies if you have posted this earlier, how do you cut out the joints and other pieces? Do you use specific tools or hand tools? Thanks!!!! Jeff

I'm a little late to the party, but I will grab a seat and follow along! Your planking is coming along very well! Looks great! How do you like using those plank clamps? It looks like, through your pictures, that they work well. Your deck planking looks great too! Dan gave me the same advice about using the pen, and after varnishing, the pen lines lool great! Keep up the great work! Jeff

Thank you! I have been sick as of late, and my wife's family is staying for the week so not much progress this past week. But I will have much more time starting on Monday when everyone leaves our house. I'm looking forward to new updates from your build! Jeff

Wow! Your Hermione looks great! Very impressive! I really like how you have painted it. Jeff

Thank you Dilbert! I will do just that! What happened was that I accidentally sanded the wrond edge of that plank so it was a lot thinner than it should be. I learned my lesson there. Christos, Thank you for the advice. Since starting the planking at the keel, I have stopped sanding, and I won't sand anymore until the hull is fully planked. Haha I learned my lesson there too! Thanks you guys for all your help! Jeff

Thank you Messis! I will have to pick up some and try it out! For this build, I need some help. I sanded too much off a plank from the stern plank strip as shown below: I am trying to plank the next row but there is no way to make the curve. Any suggestions? Or will I have to take it off and make the plank again? Thanks! Jeff

I was able to get a small sanding attachment for my dermal tool. It worked very well! Now after the glue dries, I will need to sand it and fill in the cracks with some sawdust. Thanks again for the advice!! It was very helpful! Onto my build, I am still planking away and as soon as I have more completed, I will give another update. Thanks!! Jeff

Graham and Christos, Thank you very much for your replies! I will look at some drum sander kits and other rotating sanding tools. As both of you say, this too is very important; so I will be buying one soon and will let you know how it turns out! Its actually fun, looking at tools haha!! Its been hard, hand sanding those edges to the stem, so this should help IMMENSELY!!! Thanks again!! Jeff

Hey all, I do have a question. I took another shot at creating the stem on my hms victory. This is more of a general thing than model specific. All I have are small hand tools and a scroll saw. I'm trying to make the last piece but not sure the best way to take off the material. I have quite a bit to take off for this piece to fit. But I don't want to hand saw/sand all that wood away. (I also need to fill in the small cracks since I hand made all the pieces). What would be good way to remove a lot of material from this last piece? Or would investing in a sanding power tool be the best option to build these pieces better? Thanks for any advice!! Jeff

Thank you for the like and comment! Yes! I have been trying to make it a point to plank at lease one piece per day. Each row requires 2 pieces per side. Plus, Ive gotten a little quicker bending and beveling the strips. Jeff

Hey all, Here is an update. I am just continuing to plank the hull and I am on a good pace. I am glad that I will be using wood filler and painting it because it sure will need the. Filler after I'm done planking!! I have started to plank from the keel up and Its going pretty well. Im just a little worried about if the curves are correct when the last set of planks are laid. So after this section, I will remeasure the plank widths. Thanks for reading and the likes and comments!! Jeff

Dilbert, Yes. I have decided to paint the hull and the model like the kit says to for a few reasons: 1 ) The quality of the basswood provided isnt high enough to display. A.L did not provide a second hull planking and assumes the builder will paint it. I think thats why they didnt include a nice hull finishing planking. (Plus lower cost for them) 2) Since this is my first forray into trying to plank the right way with no planks ending in a point, etc, I know I will have mistakes and will learn from it. So being able to fill with filler and paint will go a long way in hiding those mistakes. 3) I like the paint scheme and I want to try my hand at painting anyway. Reasons 1 and 2 are the main ones of why I will paint it. If I wasn't going to paint, I would HIGHLY recommend either replacing the supplied basswod strips with higher quality wood (the type would be up to you) or buy a thin second planking wood strips and make sure to sand the frames/keel appropriately so to make room for the second planks. On that note, they want you to paint the inside hull planking where the guns will be. I have quite a bit of glue on the inside of the planks and its not even: So, I am going to cover both inside planks with a thin, 0.5mm planks, then sand and paint it to make it more even. Jeff

Thanks everyone for the likes! I finally finished my first section of planking! I have learned quite a bit doing this section, so the next sections of planks should turn out even better. I have now started to plank the section closest to the keel. After reading a lot of guides, I realized that the garbord plank needs to be wider than the rest because of the curvature it needs to be at the stern of the ship. Since the kit didn't come with any wider planks, I had to go to the local hobby shop and get some basswood sheets. I measured the width I needed and was able to cut it straight and correct with nothing more than a straight edge and a knife! That felt good to know I was able to make a straight plank by hand! So I cut 2 out and started to plank the second section. I have not been following the kit instructions about planking. As of right now, doing this planking makes me want to plank my HMS Victory model right afterwards just for the experience! Haha! Thanks! Jeff

Hi all! Just a small update of my hull planking. Its taking a while because of life stuff, but its coming along. Im realizing what I should have done on the upper planking which would have helped curve the lower planking more correctly. Also, I am using Chuck's technique of putting clear tape over the plank of the previous row and using a pencile to draw the correct line to then transfer to the next plank. I'm slowly getting better at it. I can already tell that my next hull planking will be much better than this. The pic above shows the curving of the planks. This was really tough to get the right curve but very rewarding. Thanks!! Jeff