barkeater

I have used ebony for wales. Very hard to bend requiring multiple soak and heat cycles. I have a few pieces left saved for future builds and accents such as anchors. The only pieces I have seen in the last few years are single rough boards at extreme prices. There are a lot of really nice types of wood you can use instead.

I have used Modelers Central several times and have been happy with their service. Shipping time is surprisingly good considering I'm half a world away. I like that their wood strips are longer than anybody else I have used.

It's pretty easy to make your own and with the number of hooks needed for a build it is aslo more economical. I use silver wire for added strength as compared to craft wire and solder the eye.

Both look good to me.

Sorry, I have no great suggestions on keel tapering other than sanding. On tarred joints I lightly run a black indelible marker along edges. You may want to try that on scrap. It is quick and I like the look. You do not have to cover the surfaces completelly if you do both of the two adjacent planks.

Multi-piece keel looks much better.

Try some of the sponsors such as Model Expo. Also Historic Ships although check their shipping costs and Modelers Central which is in Australia but they ship worldwide and have good quality material and good service. This should get you started.

Nice solution on bow and bulwarks. Looks good.

Paint job came out nice.

Mark, Thanks for the info. I can rip .5 although I wish I had a Byrnes.

I'm a bit confused which is not unusual for me. I have a micro table saw which works well for mm size ripping. With .5mm I have to go slow so as not to split or break the plank. My saw will not cut 1 inch thickness satisfactorally. Do you havea standard table saw in which case .5 mm I think would be really tough? With my micro saw I would cut to the larger thickness 4 or 5 mm and then do the .5 off of this. A better idea would be to buy 1/8 or 1/4 inch planks and rip them which would give you 3 1/2mm and 6mm planks roughly. If you want to be more exact plane them but with the naked eye I don't think anybody would notice. Rich

One of the varieties of the linden tree is basswood so as Jan noted above you are probably looking for basswood which is really common and can be found at multiple on line sellers to model boat, plane or even railroad enthusiasts and in multiple thicknesses.

I have used Testors Dulcoat. As the name implies it does not give a shiny surface. Some people don't use any coating but I do feel it helps maintain the blackenig.

Looking good. The Badger is an interesting vessel both historically and physically. I like your choice of 1/48 as it lets you add detail. Good luck with your build and I look forward to following your bujild.

I like your revision of the fife rail. Much more workable.

Nicely done.

To bad the bulkheads have been glued otherwise you could cut another frame by tracing the existing onto plywood or wood. I would use the scrap filler to fully correct the bowing. Your fairing will be more difficult but you can shim were needed. Is it a double plank model? If so you have two layers to play with which would help. If you are going to use treenails and correct spacing for plank butts a single plank model might be a problem as your butts would be asymmetric however with a double plank this would not be a problem as you are gluing to the first planking and not the bulkheads. I do two plank bulkhead construction but add false frames for my second planking and just glue to the first plank.

Jamie, that is a puzzler. I don't see why or how you would fair bulkheads unless they were glued in place since they need to be faired in relationship to one another. Blocking you can either install before fairing or after fairing and the fair them in. I prefer putting the blocking in first and just fair once.

Good move to correct something you are not happy with early rather than waiting. Issues only compound themselves if left unresolved.

Looking good. Very inventive on your clamping.

Using wood strips for flats and hollows works well. If you have a smaller irregularity you want to correct, use wood putty and then sand with a fine grit. You do want to have as much wood to wood contact for gluing when you lay down your second planking as possible so don't go to overboard with filler. For wood to wood gluing use wood glue pva. Only use ca when you are bonding metal to wood and be careful as it stains the wood and is tough to sand out.

Looks good. I use bourbon however.

Pin vise works for me. I can get better looking holes than with a Dremel and I don't have a drill press. I would start small and work up which also prevents splitting and this also lets you adjust if your hole is slightly off kilter

If you are worried about sheen try Testors Dullcote on a piece of scrap wood. I find it does not give an appreciable sheen and can be used to dull down a sheen from a poly undercoat.

Getting back to your question on which edge to taper, I always taper that edge which will abut the existing plank. This way you know right away if the plank you tapered was done correctly and has a good angle to fit in smoothly with the existing plank and you always keep the opposite edge straight and true to lay your next plank against. Also concerning the placement of bands. Here, I am bit of a nonconformist. In the first planking I measure in millimeters the entire length of the run up the bulkheads where I need to plank instead of breaking this up into multiple bands. Then I divide this by the width of the planks I'm using. This lets me know how many runs of planking I need to do at each bulkhead and how much taper I need at each bulkhead over the entire hull. I can then start to do slight tapers before I need them rather than possiblly more severe taper at some areas which I would need to do using bands. As an example I can start to do a 1mm. taper on a plank before I need it rather than a more severe 2 or 3 mm taper if I wait. I do a few runs of planks and then remeasure all the bulkheads and readjust. This way I can do a hull without dropping a plank or adding a plank. I plank to scale on my second planking which for me at 1/48 is 5 inches in length. I draw on false bulkheads in between my existing bulkheads on the second planking which allows me to follow rules on plank lengths and number of planks between butts.