Basic

Thanks for all the info! I've been working on her a little bit today, started sectioning out the hull for the second planking. I think I'm going to go with a 20ft plank length, which is just over 6m on the real ship. It seems somewhat reasonable. That would make the individual planks on the model to be 98mm (scale 1:62), which I think it reasonable. Any thoughts before I take the plunge?

Hi guys, I've been MIA for awhile now, work keeps piling up and has to be dealt with, so I have little time for making progress! To date, the first layer of planking has been completed and the filling/sanding work is almost done. I'm currently trying to reason out the correct (accurate) plank lengths for the outer planking layer. The kit is 1/62 scale, however I have been unable to find the actual plans for the Lynx to figure out her plank lengths. Does anyone have any ideas where I might be able to find this info? Thanks!

Thanks for the advice Floyd! I think that this will be a much better method, I will definitely give it a shot! I`m just worried that any existing deformations in the hull will result in a finished product that is distorted.. But I guess at this point it is a "do the best you can, with what you have" situation. As for the pins, I will not use them on the outer planking layer, for those exact reasons. I find them pretty useful for the inner hull planking though!

Afternoon Ladies and Gents, After a long shore leave, I've been putting in a little more work on the Lynx. It can be difficult to find time to work on it for long periods, with university and all, but nevertheless, I have made a bit of progress! As you can see in the attached pictures, I've managed to complete the first layer of planking on one side of the hull, as well as made some progress on the other. I've taken the advice you guys have offered me and used the drywall filler to level off the imperfections that I was talking about in a previous post. As you can see, I have applied the filler and sanded it in layers, and I still have some more filling/sanding to complete before the contours of the hull are perfectly smooth. I'm aiming to get them as smooth as possible, in order to provide the best possible bonding surface for the outer planking. On a somewhat related topic, I've been reading up on planking tutorials and it seems that my method for planking is not ideal for the outer layer of planking. To date, I have been soaking the planks and bending them to the contour of the hull and using the brass pins to hold them in place while drying to the desired shape. Based on the planking tutorials I've been watching/reading, it seems like the best way to do the outer planking is to use string as a guide and sketch out the planks onto the inner hull, as a sort of diagram to follow while planking. Then, using the correct ratio to ensure that the plank sections are to-scale, to use the electric plank bender to perfectly contour the outer hull planks and just fit them in place, gluing with carpenter's glue. I'm just worried that the orientation of the planks will not look "real" once the final planking is complete. I don't know where the tapered planks should go, if I should start from the top and work my way down, or alternate between the top and bottom as I go. I'm just worried that I'll end up having the tapered planks in the wrong location and the final product won't "look right". Any ideas/tips? To answer your question, my Panart Lynx kit did not come with any dye powder, however it did come with two different types of wood for the two hull plankings; lime tree for the under layer and walnut for the outer layer. EDIT: If you look at the second attached picture of the unfinished side of the hull, near the bow, you can see another example of the planks not adjoining properly due to the excess sanding that I was talking about in my previous post. The amount of filling for this side will be roughly the same as for the other side of the ship, and I think that the drywall filler did a pretty decent job of correcting for those imperfections.

How well will the PVA glue adhere to the wood filler? I'm just worried that it won't create a strong bond, although I'm pretty sure you can glue it without any problems.

Ah perfect, I think I might even have a tube of wood filler in the garage. I still have to finish my first planking though; with classes starting up again, the work has started to slow down

Juhu: I too would like to see this material that you are referencing! It can never hurt to have more historical and background reference material!! All: What type of filler would you recommend? A wood filler I assume, but just checking to make sure. Thanks!

Thanks for the tips Floyd and Augie! Floyd: I agree with your point about the 1st layer of planking is a good practice for planking the outer hull, believe me, I have learned A LOT just from what I have done so far. I think I will start the bottom planking from the keel up and meet in the middle like you suggested, I have a feeling this will save me a lot of headaches in the near future! As for the nails, I use them mainly as pins to prevent the planks from moving, in conjunction with the clamps wherever possible. I take the nails out as I go (as you can see in the upper layers of planking in the above pics) and sand the planks smooth afterwards. The nails that you see in the picture are there because I had just finished planking those sections and the glue was not completely set at that point. Augie: I think that the filler will end up being my saving grace. I've been mulling the issue over in my head recently, and the only other solution I can think of would be to remove all the planking and restart from scratch, but I would like to avoid this as much as possible. I think that with sufficient filling and sanding I can make the profile of the hull more or less uniform, as the shims were added on both sides (although the gaps are slightly larger on the port side, if I must be honest).

On the third picture, you can see what I was talking about earlier with the distorted planking. I'm working on figuring out a solution to this, but so far the only thing I think might work is to just sand the crap out of it and try to smooth the surface enough that this mistake won't show with the outer hull planking...

Here are a few quick photos to show the progress over the last month or so on the Lynx. The planking isn't the prettiest, but its definitely taught me a lot of lessons about what to do and what not to do! Haha

Hey everyone, its been awhile! Yes, I am still out here, and I have made a bit of progress on the build. The last few weeks have been quite hectic with finals and the holidays! I have made some progress since my last posting, mainly just continuing the planking of the hull. I have ran into a few issues along the way and I'm working through them as I go. The first one was an issue with oversanding one of the bulkhead sections. The instructions were somewhat unclear concerning the sanding of the front three bulkheads, and due to my lack of experience, I made the mistake of oversanding them by a significant amount :S. To solve the issue, I ended up gluing on a few "shims", small pieces of wood to fill the void between the inner hull and the bulkhead frame. Unfortunately, through attempting to fix this problem, I inadvertantly introduced another problem, where I didnt sand the shims enough, and didnt realize this until halfway through planking the port side. This led to a distorted front hull section, which I an still trying to figure out how to fix. Unfortunately I am posting this from my mobile, so I don't have the pictures with me to show you exactly what i'm talking about, but i'll post them later on when I get home. Hopefully with a view of the issue, you guys might be able to give me a few pointers on how to fix this!! To respond to your comments (sorry, on my phone I can't see/link your username!), I find that I use the plank bender less and less every time I sit down to plank the Lynx. At first I tried to use it exclusively, but I found it just got tiresome and I ended up just reverting to soaking the planks and being patient, with the exception of a few cases where I needed dramatic reshaping of the planks. Its not that it doesnt work well, it really does, I just find that sometimes its easier to just use the soak method instead of guessing the amount that I need to bend the planks with the electric plank bender and checking against the frame of the ship. In terms of my location, I have found a few really good suppliers in my area, that sell pretty much anything that I would need for this hobby, at really good prices. Out of curiosity, do you know the usernames of the talented ship builders in Montreal that you were referring to? Might be useful to have some local modellers to ask questions in the future! Thanks guys! I will update with new pictures soon!

Hmm Yeah, that may be my best bet. I think I'll try it one more time (this time with an extinguisher handy!) and if it does the same thing, I'll call Model Expo. Thanks!!

Hey ladies and gents, I have a quick question about my electric plank bender, made by Model Expo. I bought it new from a local hobby store, everything looks in great condition, no wear and tear, etc. The first time I plugged it in, however, there was a pretty strong odor of burning plastic, as well as some smoke being emitted from where the base of the metal rod meets the plastic guard on the handle. I unplugged it immediately, for fear that it would catch fire. My question: Is it normal that on the first use of an electric plank bender there is an odor of burning plastic and smoke being emitted? If so, does this usually go away after the first few uses, or do you think the plank bender is defective? I asked in another thread but haven't gotten any concrete answers. Thanks! John - Attached is a picture containing the plank bender, just in case!

Hmm... Well Quebec and the US use the same voltage, so that can't be it... Maybe I should just leave it on an monitor it with an extinguisher nearby, just in case it flares up.

Was going to post a question about this plank bender but a quick search of the forums led me here, so instead of starting a new thread, I'll just ask it here. Essentially, I purchased an electric plank bender from Model Expo (same one seen in the pics on this thread) and I noticed that the first time I plugged it in to use it, it started smoking from where the metal rod meets the plastic handle. I'm just wondering, did this happen to you guys when you first plugged yours in? I'm a little concerned that if I let it heat up fully it will set itself on fire. Thanks, John