Bob Cleek

I looked at Sauers catalog for veneers. You may have either Zebrawood,my first choice,or Macassar ebony. Pretty stuff.

Soft, "fuzzy" wood species can generally be sanded perfectly smooth if, prior to the final finish sanding, they are sealed with shellac (2 pound cut as sold commercially, e.g. Zinsser "Bullseye" brand.) The shellac soaks into the wood and hardens it so it can be sanded without raising the "fuzz." 

Based on the picture alone, my wild guess would be spalted satin walnut.  https://www.wood-database.com/sweetgum/
 
Satin walnut is not a walnut at all, but liquidambar, or "sweetgum" in the US. (No relation to Australian "gums.") The spalting (a fungus) causes the black figuring. It's used in fine custom furniture and is an excellent modeling wood, though spalted stock is usually reserved for its appearance. The liquidambar or sweetgum tree is widely distributed in the US and often planted as an ornamental, although it has a nasty habit of horizontal root growth that destroys sidewalks. It's not commercially milled much, so you usually have to cut your own and mill it. It's often found in municipal woodpiles and tree services will sometimes have logs available.
 
https://www.wood-database.com/sweetgum/
 

Edge bending is trying to take wood into a shape that is against its nature.  Some species take to this better than others.  A lot of the species supplied in kits - look to be brittle - as well as having out of scale pores.  One of the better species for serious bending is Holly and stock that has been infected with Blue Mold will work just as well .   I suspect that infected Holly is not available commercially.  Accepting it makes self harvesting an easier proposition than insisting on snow white stock which requires cold season harvest and immediate placement into a kiln.  Commercial white Holly is becoming very expensive and the color matches nothing that was used on an actual ship.   I have seen Basswood or Lime taking a serious bend.  The grain, color and pore structure are spot on.  Those species are too soft, fuzzy, and friable for me, though.
 
Looking at the build in your link,  the wale does not seem to edge bend all that much.  The run of the planking appears to follow that of the wale, and not the rail.  The stern is planked with short runs of planking with little edge bending.  A ship that got into wave action requiring serious strength at that upper stern location would be in more trouble than strength there would help.

This should answer your question: 
 

Based on the picture alone, my wild guess would be spalted satin walnut.  https://www.wood-database.com/sweetgum/
 
Satin walnut is not a walnut at all, but liquidambar, or "sweetgum" in the US. (No relation to Australian "gums.") The spalting (a fungus) causes the black figuring. It's used in fine custom furniture and is an excellent modeling wood, though spalted stock is usually reserved for its appearance. The liquidambar or sweetgum tree is widely distributed in the US and often planted as an ornamental, although it has a nasty habit of horizontal root growth that destroys sidewalks. It's not commercially milled much, so you usually have to cut your own and mill it. It's often found in municipal woodpiles and tree services will sometimes have logs available.
 
https://www.wood-database.com/sweetgum/
 

I like wire for active looking rigging like this pennant.

Wire in all sizes can be used very convincingly in rigging and as rigging.  In many cases it is preferred because it can be formed to act as natural line would....were thread curls and bows according to its weaved construction.
 
I use wire for eye bolts in many sizes and as the relaxed lifts when yards are raised and for the hanks on jib and stay sails .
 
Rob

A square is a very handy tool to have. Micro-Mark has a "thin-beam square" that I've found very handy for marking thin stock. The beam is thin, so it can be used on thin stock without having to put something beneath the stock to raise it enough that the arm lays flat on the stock. I don't know anybody who has this square but Micro-Mark, which isn't always the highest quality or the lowest priced stuff, but I have been very happy with this item.  It's twenty bucks, but it's one of those "loss leaders" they are always discounting if you sign up for their email advertisements. https://www.micromark.com/Thin-Beam-Square  Micro-Mark's set of 3", 4", and 5" small standard beam squares is a handy thing to have as well. These are also often discounted quite deeply on a regular basis. https://www.micromark.com/Steel-Machinists-Squares-Set-of-3
 
The two pictures at the bottom below show the thin-beam square on the left and a standard beam square on the right.
 

 
Planing a 90 degree edge is easily done if you lay the plane on its side on a flat surface. If need be, put something beneath the workpiece to raise it so the plane iron cuts the edge completely. Make sure your plane iron is set square to the plane's sole, of course. Use a square like those above for that as well. 
 

I think you'll have to determine the type of king plank, if any, was used on the prototype. "Sprung" deck planking may be let into a stepped-sided king plank, or to each other, port and starboard, in a herringbone pattern, or, less commonly, butted to a straight-sided king plank as shown in the photo. this is not "best practice," however, because the planks come to a "feather edge" (points) which are difficult to caulk and tend to leak. That said, in modern construction where plywood decks are often covered with uncaulked teak sheathing to create the appearance of a true laid teak and stopping is merely placed in groves between the faux planks, flat-sided king planks are seen more often than in traditional construction.
 
Stepped king plank:
 

 

 
 

 
You will have to make a drawn template to determine the layout of your covering boards, deck planks, and king plank. Planking should be bent using heat (a steam iron or hair dryer) as per Chuck Passaro's instructional videos and posts here on this forum. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chuck+passaro
 
 
 

I build POF and am a bit biased on terminology.
As a side note,  what you ( and most everybody) call bulkheads are actually molds.  Subs have bulkheads,  some steel ships have bulkheads, Chinese wooden ships have bulkheads.  Western wooden ships did not have bulkheads.  They certainly are not frames.   What you (and everyone else) call the keel is actually a central support spine.
I have never built POB, so this is theory.  How I would try to rectify this:
1.  This curve is the natural shape that your piece of plywood seeks.  Anything that you do only to it  (bend it back with steam or heat) is likely to be a temporary fix. It will still "want" to bend.  You can clamp it to a baseboard and use the planking applied while clamped to hold the shape.  But when removed an twist force will be on the glue joints of the molds and inside planking - forever.  It may or may not hold. 
2.  If the molds have not been glued,  there is a stronger fix.  Scab a long streamer on each side of the central spine.
Remove the black area on each mold.  Get a couple of long sticks of straight hardwood ( 1/4" x 1/4"  or 1/4" x 1/2" or substantial size ).   Drill holes thru the sticks and central spine all along the length.  Use threaded bolts, washers and nuts to fix the sticks and central spine together.  Make sure this assembly is dead straight.  Remove the assembly.  Glue the molds to the central spine.  Slide the sticks thru the holes along the length and glue the sticks to the spine.  Check to make sure it is still dead straight.  The bolts can be removed and bamboo skewers glued thru the holes.  You just need a drill bit that is the diameter of the skewers.
 
3.  The holes in the molds remove some of the bonding surface between them and the spine.  Short pieces of SQUARE wood can be used to reinforce the bond.  Eight pieces per molds.  Just do not block the path of the straightener sticks.
 
4.  Rather than Balsa, consider using Pine to fill the outer planking edge between the molds.   Assuming that you do not have power tools,  a hand fret saw. planes, knives and sanding block will do.  Select Pine in 1" thickness is easily found. There may also be thinner stock of solid Pine.   Cut out the shapes, glue up the layers to fit between the molds, and do as much shaping as you can before fixing them between the molds.  You are unlikely to be lucky enough that a sum one 1" layers will be a tight fit between the molds.  The outer surface does not need to be continuous.  Cardboard or what ever is to hand can be fitted between a layer to make up the difference.  It does not need to reach the outer shaped surface.  You just want the unit to be a push fit between the molds.

That is a very common problem.  It is to be expected.  You cant blame mfgs for this as a long piece of wood with slots cut tends to want to bend.  The easiest way is to create a slot for the keel as mentioned.   But in addition, use brackets as a way to clamp the whole thing in position.  Once straightened by these and you have planked the wales and above, you can remove the brackets and it will remain straight as an arrow.  All POB models should be built this way regardless.  Three or four should do the trick.
 

Here is another tool I find handy.
 
https://bridgecitytools.com/products/mini-miter-square?_pos=1&_sid=0f002990b&_ss=r
 
The edge plate is held on with magnets and can be raised, lowered or removed.
 
Dave

In light of the current situation I am cancelling the 'free stuff'. I will repost once parcels and packages become safe again.
Take care,
Bruce 

Yes, it refers to the diameter of the wheels.  The actual distance from the blade to the saw's frame is less.  On my ancient 1940s Milwaukee-Delta it's about 12", but with forethought that's not usually a problem.  A standard 14" saw has ~6 inches depth of cut, but with an optional riser block it will cut 12" thick.  The motor's power is not as important as some believe - It's a equally a matter of proper saw adjustment,  a suitable blade style,  and feed rate.

A square is a very handy tool to have. Micro-Mark has a "thin-beam square" that I've found very handy for marking thin stock. The beam is thin, so it can be used on thin stock without having to put something beneath the stock to raise it enough that the arm lays flat on the stock. I don't know anybody who has this square but Micro-Mark, which isn't always the highest quality or the lowest priced stuff, but I have been very happy with this item.  It's twenty bucks, but it's one of those "loss leaders" they are always discounting if you sign up for their email advertisements. https://www.micromark.com/Thin-Beam-Square  Micro-Mark's set of 3", 4", and 5" small standard beam squares is a handy thing to have as well. These are also often discounted quite deeply on a regular basis. https://www.micromark.com/Steel-Machinists-Squares-Set-of-3
 
The two pictures at the bottom below show the thin-beam square on the left and a standard beam square on the right.
 

 
Planing a 90 degree edge is easily done if you lay the plane on its side on a flat surface. If need be, put something beneath the workpiece to raise it so the plane iron cuts the edge completely. Make sure your plane iron is set square to the plane's sole, of course. Use a square like those above for that as well. 
 

I'd be happy to have Planking the Built Up Ship Model by Model Shipways. My zip is 94952. I'll send the address in a PM.
 
Thanks for your generosity!

The only tools you really need are saw of suitable size, a square, a knife and a shooting board (which you can also make). Use the knife and square to mark your cut line on all four sides. Then saw just on the waste side of your cut line. Use a shooting board to clean up back to your knife line. You can use either a plane (best) or a sanding block on your shooting board to trim back to the knife line. 
 
You could also make your own mitre box by simply making an accurate cut with your saw part way through one piece of wood and then gluing/taping/screwing a second piece of wood to this as the platform/bed. Hold this in your vice and you have a mitre box with no play.
 
There are a number of videos on YouTube about these ideas. My favourites are those by Paul Sellers. Matt Estlea is also very good. Paul Sellers demonstrates making both a mitre box and a shooting board, as well as using and cutting to a knife line.
 

It also depends on what size of parts you are talking about ...
 
I have a mitre-saw like the one in your link and it works very well. For finer cuts I use a blade for metal. There is clearance in the middle to allow the blade to cut through, but this leads to the tendency of the blade breaking through at the last 0.5 mm or so. You can avoid this by placing a triangular piece of wood into the clearance. Also, clamp your stock to the saw.
 
Cleaning up will be required in any case. If you don't have a disk sander, you can make a sort of vertical hand sander from scrap wood. I think there are some examples here on the forum. Here is a picture of my micro-version to give you the idea:
 

 

MicroMark has a large selection of Perma-Grit tools in their latest catalog. A bit pricey, but certainly a savings over ordinary abrasives. One important thing to note is that the grit numbers of this British (I think) product are different from the grit numbers used in the US. According to the MicroMark catalog, they are offered in two grits, coarse and fine. For American minds, the coarse grit is equivalent to our 80 grit and the fine is equivalent to 120 grit. As said, they have their uses, but in modeling work, I expect most would be looking for our 220 grit as the coarsest they'd be wanting and 300 or 400 for "fine."

Not likely that you'd be able to source anything that would be satisfactory given your restrictions. (I feel your pain. At least we are still able to order stuff on line here!)
 
You may consider that it's been reported by some very good modelers that liver of sulphur (the gel is best... it has more shelf-life) can be applied to clean parts after they have been installed on a model by simply painting it on. It does not discolor adjacent wood. They do this because the blackening will sometimes rub off a bit when handled. Blackening the part in place reduces that problem. So, you might be able to continue working and defer the blackening until you can source your liver of sulphur. 

I just purchased from EBay a Norris drafting set, just because. I love stuff like this. What’s the best thing to clean them up with. Isopropyl and a q-tip.? I had a nice set back high school, but that was before dirt came into existence. All we had were rocks then. It’s actually in great shape, just the nooks and crannies need cleaning.
Kurt
 
 
 

I'm posting and pinning this topic as much of the info discussed about blades, etc. is contained in this.   This if from a former supplier of wood for ship models and he used the Byrne's Saw (aka the Jim Saw) for his products.  Much of the info in here (such as blade tooth count, etc.) is also valid for other desktop hobby saws.
 
He mentions in his text using Thurston blades but they quit the business and so this is recommendation for blades:   https://www.malcosaw.com/
 
I hope it's helpful....
Byrnes Saw Operation.pdf

Soldered a ladder in a jig that came out remarkably accurate.