Exposing/Highlighting Joint Lines

[No Idea]

Hi Everyone 

 

Making joint lines stand out seems to be quite a personal thing the way that they are achieved. Some builders use card and some pencil to name only two methods. 
 

My question though is which joints should be highlighted. Should it be just the keel parts or is it again personal choice?  For example should the joints on the frames be highlighted or is this going to far?

 

Whats people’s thoughts on this as I’m just starting a new build and would like to know your thoughts 

 

Thanks Mark

Edited December 8, 2020 by No Idea

[allanyed]

Mark,

Darkened seams only go where there was caulking between the pieces to prevent water seeping through the joint and causing rot and/or leaks.   It is not so much a matter of personal choice, but what worked back in the day if you are trying to simulate actual practice.   

Allan

[No Idea]

Allan thanks very much for that information and it makes sense. I assumed that sometimes they were simply darkened to show the model makers attention to detail. I don’t know why I thought that I just simply did. 

[wefalck]

And, apart from deck-planking, this is only relevant, when you want to display your artisanal skills, rather than showing a 'real life' representation of the prototype. On a real ship, virtually all of that structure would disappear under thick coats of tar and paint ...

[No Idea]

4 minutes ago, wefalck said:

And, apart from deck-planking, this is only relevant, when you want to display your artisanal skills, rather than showing a 'real life' representation of the prototype. On a real ship, virtually all of that structure would disappear under thick coats of tar and paint ...

So all of the above is about right then? For realism only the necessary joints are caulked and if you highlight the lot your a bit of a show off 😉

[wefalck]

Anything below the waterline would be, depending on period and location, covered in tar, some white concoction or copper-sheathed. So none of the caulking, if there is any, would be visible at all.

 

One should perhaps also distinguish between caulking, a particular multi-step process using on planking, and covering the end-grain of wood in tar before assembling scarphs and the likes.

 

Caulking on hull-planking could be also visible, when certain strakes for esthetic reasons were scraped clean and then oiled with some light-coloured concoction, which was fashionable in some areas and at certain times.