Planking a solid hull steamboat?

[jarero]

I am hoping that someone can shed some light on my newest build. As I novice having only built one plank on frame ship this is a bit of a departure for me. I have an old, out of production Scientific Robert E. Lee steamboat kit. I am just starting and have finished shaping the hull. There is just one nagging question on my mind... Should I plank the hull? There is nothing in the instructions about planking at all and no material provided. Simple right? Well I don't know much about the hull construction of river steamboats such as this from the mid to late 1800's but I would guess that they would have been planked carvel style. Can someone confirm for me if it is correct to plank the hull and if it is clinker or carvel. Much appreciate any help!

 

Jared

[russ]

Yes, simple carvel style planking is correct. Those old Scientific kit hulls were meant to be shaped and painted with no planking. However, if you want to add planking, you can do it.

 

Russ

[RiverRat]

Hi Jared,

 

Yes, as Russ said, a steamboat would be carvel planked. But absatively, posilutely, don't bother trying to plank this one.

 

I have one of these waiting in the wings and dug it out to look at the scale. It's 1:139. If it had, say, 12" planks, that would be about 5/64" on the model. Just paint the dang thang.

 

Brian

[Jim Lad]

Hmmmm. I think I might disagree. 5/64 inch is almost 2mm - quite doable if you really want to.

 

John

[slagoon]

Jim, would that be the correct size for the wall siding as well? I suspect that will be his next question

[Jim Lad]

Sarah,

 

The answer to that one is easy - I haven't the foggiest idea!    American river steamers are hardy a speciallity of mine, but would suspect that they would have used whatever thay could get.

 

John

[jarero]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It seems that it would be "correct" to plank it but very challenging at this scale. I am going to go to my local hobby store this weekend and take a look at the supplies they have so I can get an idea of what I am in for when I can hold it in my hands. We will see what my confidence level is at that point. I really don't want to make a mess of it but I do like a challenge.

[jarero]

I went to the hobby shop this weekend and the closest thing they had was 3/32 x 1/16. My preference would be 3/32 x 1/32 which I have found online. As far as scale goes it would be tough but I think I could pull it off especially since I would be painting it. Then I saw that it would cost $20 to experiment with this and I got cheap and chickened out. Now two days later I am reconsidering. I never thought I would have to deliberate on decision like this. Should I buy a home or rent, have children or not, go to school or the military, or should I plank the hull or not?

[BareHook]

If you plan on painting over the planking, you should experiment with exaggerated plank spacing or chamfering. This is adding a gap or chamfer to the plank edges so they show up after painting, otherwise you will do all this planking work and have it dissapear when painted.

 

Ken

[jarero]

If you plan on painting over the planking, you should experiment with exaggerated plank spacing or chamfering. This is adding a gap or chamfer to the plank edges so they show up after painting, otherwise you will do all this planking work and have it dissapear when painted.

 

Ken

That's a brilliant idea! I was thinking my only option was to not sand after planking so that the irregularities show up so you can see that it was planked. I like the idea you have better as that will allow me to sand the hull smooth without loosing the look. Now if I could just find that picture again that showed how these things were planked....