EYWKPS83

7 hours ago, Dziadeczek said:

This is a brand new deck (replacement) on the "Star of India" in San Diego. You can barely see treenails there, but they can be seen, nevertheless, if you look carefully.

7 hours ago, hollowneck said:

Here is another set of visual references to consider. These photos are of the 2014 recreation of the French frigate Hermione, available on the the ship's website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Hermione_(2014)

 

With the first two photos, the holes for fastening the hull planking are quite evident at this stage of the ship's construction. The second of these two photos shows some of the holes filled with what are presumably lag bolts (some with washers). I'm surmising that these very visible holes were finally "capped" with wooden plugs and as such, the execution is a thoroughly modern invention/solution; in the earlier Age of Sail, these fastening holes would be filled with treenails (and plugs) made from wood - regardless of the ship's country of origin (as mentioned earlier in this thread). 

 

The second set of photos of the completed ship show nearly the entire vessel painted and thus, no immediately visible indications of how any of the superstructure was held together.

I have not been on deck of this ship so I don't know how the deck fastening was handled; presumably, it was done with "treenailing" but not necessarily with the same methods employed in the 17th century.

 

Indicating this level of detail with one's model is a matter of choice first, and second  - if even depicted - should be reasonably scale-accurate. I've seen some models of the era where the hulls appear to have the "measles"- clearly an unnecessary visual distraction (too much of a contrast in wood coloration); the same holds for deck planking. At smaller scales for most ship modelers (@ 1/72 or smaller), I would not recommend trying to simulate these details, whether hull or deck. Attempting to create realistic fidelity can result in wholly unnecessary distraction. In 1:48 and larger scales, it's a whole different ballgame.

 

My personal preference (at 1:64 scale) is to subtly indicate both these fastening conventions on the hull and deck when and where bare wood is exposed (sans paint).

 

My take-aways from these images: 

1. If the build is supposed to represent an older ship that's been in service, showing trenails might be appropriate. Otherwise, for a build representing a ship out of the shipyard, you wouldn't see them at most scales.

2. I'd be curious as to the wood used for the re-planking of the Star of India's deck. Some kind of cedar, redwood, or cypress, perhaps? The color of each plank varies across the plank. I suspect if you're mimicking other woods, the whole plank would be the same color, though it might vary from plank to plank. A "good to know" for my next (first) build (which will be Bluejacket's We're Here--as a lifelong fan of Captains Courageous...).