Discussions about chapter two - External hull planking for Winchelsea

[Chuck]

This is where you can talk about planking the hull outboard as described in Chapter two of the monograph.

[scrubbyj427]

Hi Chuck,

Will you be adding the billets of cedar for planking to your store? I’d like to purchase everything including the wood needed for milling once you have the starter packs available again...ship it all at once.

Thanks,

JJ

[Chuck]

They are in stock already....everything is there.

 

https://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com/milled-lumber.php#!/Alaskan-Yellow-Cedar-PLANKING-SHEETS/c/36682020/offset=0&sort=normal

[scrubbyj427]

Ahh I see. ok. I was just looking under the Winnie project.

Thank you!

[Chuck]

I took a stab at making some videos that show how I plank the bow of any ship model.  Specifically how to taper and edge bend a strip so that it lays flat against the bulkheads.   This is basically how I plank every hull at the bow.  I shot these videos at 720 HD quality so rather than string together the four videos into one long 20 minute session, I kept them individual.   They take forever to upload to you tube when they are 20 minutes long.   Literally hours.  So these are four short 5 minute videos instead. A lot easier to upload and process.   I will edit this post and add the other 3 as I finish processing them for upload.  Basically each part is split into an intro.....then tapering.....then edge bending.....and test fitting on the hull.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.   Keep in mind its weird making these when I am alone in my shop and basically talking to myself.  I had to reach around the tripod i order to get to the model and I was hitting it and had to start over many times....not my cup of tea all this video stuff!!!!  😂  Let me know if you think its worth the time as it is a real pain in the biscuit .  But I will continue if you guys get anything out of it.  I also must have had the camera too close to teh hull so the first two videos are not as crisp as the others.   Live and learn.....next time it will be better  but I tried to get as close to the hull as possible so you could see everything.

 

Planking the bow of HMS Winchelsea....part one - Intro to tapering

 

 

PART TWO.....Tapering your plank...

 

 

PART THREE....Edge bending with heat

 

 

 

PART FOUR.....Testing the plank on the model

 

 

[NWSailor]

Chuck, this is a fantastic series. Being a visual person, these videos really help simplify the planking process. Thanks again. 

[Tim Murphy]

Thank You Chuck! This is the best thing that you could have done.

    I think that sight helps us better than words.

Tim

[mtbediz]

Thank you so much for great videos. I have a question Chuck. How do you taper the planks? Do you sand or cut them? Thanks.

Edited September 20, 2019 by mtbediz

[Chuck]

both.   I will use a metal straight edge and a sharp #11 blade to cut most of it off close to my line.  Do this with several passes of the blade. Dont try and cut th excess off in one pass.

 

Then I sand the remaining bit off to my line carefully with a sanding stick or emory board.  I use one of those wide nail files.  They are 180 grit on one side and 100 grit on the other.  

[mtbediz]

2 hours ago, Chuck said:

both.   I will use a metal straight edge and a sharp #11 blade to cut most of it off close to my line.  Do this with several passes of the blade. Dont try and cut th excess off in one pass.

 

Then I sand the remaining bit off to my line carefully with a sanding stick or emory board.  I use one of those wide nail files.  They are 180 grit on one side and 100 grit on the other.  

Thank you.

[ASAT]

Great tutorial Chuck, so you don’t glue the plank edge to the previous plank? Just put the glue on the bulkheads? Is that due to the increased number of bulkheads or would that also work on hulls with larger spacing between bulkheads? Thanks for taking the time to do these, I really appreciate and learn from them.....

[Chuck]

Nope.  I never do that.  i havent found a need to do that.

[jgodsey]

For me, these are amazingly well timed and helpful videos.  Thank you.  I'm right at the point of lining off my bulkheads and then continue with the tape method you describe in the articles database to measure and cut the planking strips.  The method shown on the video is so much easier.  My model is a Dragon sailboat and the hull shape is very different than the Winnie, but as you say, this method should work for just about any hull shape.  I post my results in the build log.

 

Thanks again,

Jim 

[JpR62]

Great videos. Thank you Chuck. It is always easy to understand by the image than by a text 😀

[gjdale]

Great videos Chuck! They may have been a pain to produce but they are absolute gold. Thank you for taking the time to do this for the community - I know that many, many people will benefit from this demonstration. If a picture tells a thousand words, then how much does a video tell? Well done, Sir!

[Chuck]

Thanks guys.  Its really weird to make these but if it is something that works for you guys I will try and do more when subjects lend themselves to video.  I just dont know which ones would.

[Dave B]

Thanks so much Chuck, I know it's not easy making videos like this. They turned out great, very easy to understand and see everything and you explain things very well!

[Jim Rogers]

Cutting strips video.

[Chuck]

I am not the best guy to do that.   i would give you guys all sorts of bad habits.   Dangerous habits.  LOL   Keep your fingers and maybe someone else can tackle that one.

[Edwardkenway]

Great videos Chuck. They'll be a big help when I get round to planking the Triton. 

Thankyou!

[ASAT]

Chuck, how about a video on bending hooks or making blocks? There must be some techniques that are better demonstrated than explained.... mine just don’t look right 😕

[Chuck]

i could try....but block making is a trade secret.   Dont want explain how I do that.  Its my bread and butter.

 

Chuck

[Edwardkenway]

We wouldn't tell anyone it would be just between you and us 👍😉

[Chuck]

When its time to retire......I will gladly show one and all how I do it.....with videos and everything....LOL  

[Kusawa2000]

Chuck: Have you downloaded a print version yet of chapter 2? I have checked out the build links on this forum and I can find chapter 1 but not chapter 2.... just want to keep up to speed on everything.

 

Mike Draper

[ASAT]

Hmmmm, I’ll probably be dead by then.... 😀

[Chuck]

I havent finished chapter two yet.....but soon.   Nobody is that far in the project yet anyway.   Remember that chapter two is planking the outboard hull.   I am not even finished doing that yet.  So for now,  folks will need to use my log which is very detailed.   It has all teh info needed which will basically be copied into the actual chapter.

 

Lou its OK......because you can still buy them from me until that times comes.  LOL...

 

Chuck

[ASAT]

Ok,ok.... hey I must have missed the reason but why did you stop making pear wood blocks? Any “special runs” or seconds (pear) available?

Edited September 21, 2019 by ASAT

[Chuck]

Lou....It was giving me a heart attack....literally, way too much stress and labor with zero benefit.   Only about a dozen or so people bought them.   You know, those few guys hung up on only building in 100% pear.  It wasnt worth it.  I couldnt justify buying so much pearwood to keep around the shop and have two kinds of blocks in stock.  It takes too long to make them.   24 sizes and configurations of pear blocks..(1000's of pear blocks takes time and then they just sit there)...those few people were really asking a lot when they wanted me to keep making them.   Some havent stopped holding a grudge about it either.  They didnt care that I had to spend $1000 to buy a slab of pearwood that half was bad and thrown away,   then I had to pay to have it milled,   then I had make 24 variations so a few people could buy $50 worth of blocks every two years.

 

As far as the special runs and custom jobs.... What I have learned over the last six years doing this is that those guys who ask for special orders and custom jobs with special wood.  The ones that want you spend hours and $$$$ doing something on the side....those guys dont buy much in the end, if much at all.  You know the guys.....everything asked for is preceded with "this shouldnt be too hard or take long for you to do".   They spend peanuts yet they do the most asking and the most moaning.   So for piece of mind and less stress I just stopped making the stuff and consolidated my inventory for the other 97%  of my customers.  Because they would literally spend $25 bucks a year and thought they were doing me the favor.   It was just getting ridiculous and I was close to having a heart attack.

 

Mix it up a bit and use the boxwood blocks.   They also stain beautifully so it really doesnt matter.   To really take your model to the next level....try dyeing them black or dark brown as David Antscherl does.  You should have a look at his rigging on Comet or Resolution.  Beautiful stuff.

 

Chuck

[ASAT]

I figured it was a supply/demand thing but I was not aware of the snobbish attitudes, I was thinking I could stain the Boxwood - I will give that a try.... ordering soon..... sorry for digging in old wounds and for side tracking this thread....