Niagara by lb0190 - Model Shipways - 1/64

[lb0190]

I've finally felt well enough to do a little work in the shop. I cannot believe I have not posted any progress since August 19. Before I type anything else, a big THANK YOU to all who kept my spirits up and kept me informed on their build, as well as entertained while recuperating. I enjoy watching and learning from each of your builds as well as the banter that goes on. Well.., it's time to get back to model ship building:

 

I have a few rows of planking completed on the starboard side for band A. The as received planks for Band A are ~0.097” wide by 0.0625 thick. The variation in the width of the planks from the supplier was a bit of a surprise to me, but I can live with it so long as I measure and sand carefully. The min to max width needed for this band, from Stem to Stern ranges from 0.046” to .094”. I'm using a three-butt-shift (photo below on butt-shifts) which may not be very visable once I airbrush the hull. In the photo of the bow you will see where I indicated a dent in the wood, caused by a clamp and probably too much water soaking time. The dent looks deeper than what I can sand out, so I'll try to steam the dent out with a new planking tool I recently picked up.

 

I purchased an electric plank bender from Model Expo. I posted a few pictures and my initial thoughts on this tool under “Building, Framing, Planking and plating a ships hull and deck.”

 

It's not much progress, but it's in the right direction (three steps fwd)...

[mainstay]

Hi Larry,

 

Thanks for the plank bender log. I just learned what I wish I had learned before I did my hull planking.  Didn't know you could iron out the water and get them to hold that shape.

 

Next time.

 

Joe

 

PS- Really glad you are feeling better!

[popeye the sailor]

hey there!   good to see your back in the shop!   looking very nice.   I use a jig to do my bending......a lot of times I'll do them while they are still wet.   heat is the key though....glad your feeling better.  congrats on the promotion as well

[lb0190]

Starboard side, Band A is finally planked. I still need to sand and seal the backside with diluted PVA. There are a couple of spots, primarily near the stern where the planks start to twist that may or may not sand out to a decent shape. If they sand out to where I have a gap between the planks I'll add filler material. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that will not be needed.

 

As most of you know, the hull is single planked and will be painted. I'm taking the opportunity to try and plank this ship as if it would be stained to see the grain and plank sides/butts. I figure it's a good learning opportunity with an easy way put if it does not turn out very well.

 

Here are the steps and sequence I used

• Cut planks to length with maybe 1/32” extra length to trim in during final fitting.
• Pencil mark aft outside end of plank so I always know which side is which. It can be confusing later on in regard to which side is out and which end goes aft. Having a visual reference point helped.
• If one end of the plank needs a angled shape, file this end to shape first, trim in the other end during final fitting.
• File needed width of plank for the full length. I normally file each end, to the needed width first, then file between the ends to get the entire length to the needed profile.
• Chamfer the lower inside corner of the plank so it butts up better.
• Soak, bend and dry the plank to the needed contour.
• Verify the installed mating edge (upper plank) does not have any residual dried glue that would interfere with the new mating plank. File/clean up if needed.
• Apply glue to the edge of the above plank, all bulkheads for this plank and of course the mating ends. I use a dental probe to grab dabs of glue from where I placed a small amount on a piece of tape or paper.
• Clamp in place using modified wood clothes pins for the majority of clamping needs.

Tools/Items I Used

• PVA & CA Glue
• Tape to dab glue from, using dental probes. This keeps me from getting too much glue on the wood and everywhere else, including me.
• Dental tool to apply PVA glue
• Electric Plank Bender
• Small miter box & saw

Lessons Learned

• Make sure fairing is complete and right for the area I'm working in. A few spots needed additional sanding that was not realized until I tried mounting the plank.
• Make sure planks are 100% dry before gluing in place. I had one plank shrink on me that required some rework.
• Be aware when the planks need to twist and pre-bend the plank accordingly.-another oooops. 
• Once the temporary planking batten is in place, verify it matches the correct/same height location on the stern and bow for both sides, then pencil mark it's location on all bulkheads, then remove the batten. I tried keeping the batten in place earlier, but it got in the way and I kept knocking it off. Pencil marks work just as well.

Next planned steps:

• Coat inner side of installed planks with diluted PVA for extra strength.
• I may do a little preliminary sanding on the installed planks just to see if I have any issues to address.
• Look to see if there are any gaps or voids between the planks and bulkheads. If needed, I'll use a medium CA glue for filler.
• Start on port side Band A planks, using same process as starboard, but hopefully incorporate a few lessons learned.

 

[Rich_engr]

Larry- awesome job!  Sounds like you have it under control, and it looks good.  

 

You probably don't need to worry too much about adding glue/sanding on the inside for strength- once she's planked it's pretty solid.  One thing I did was to give each plank a quick sand immediately after I glued it in place- this helped to fill voids around that area using the sawdust + still-drying glue.  Then after the whole thing was planked, just grab a piece of paper and sand and sand away~~~  

 

Your bow definitely looks better than mine did while planking- despite steam bending, twisting, etc., I had to sand the heck out of it to remove the clanker look.  Yours looks really good!

 

And glad to see you back at it and you're feeling better!!

[Sjors]

Hi Larry,

 

Good to see you back in the workshop !

Thanks for the tutorial, that one goes also in the book….    

 

[patrickmil]

Hey Larry, band A's planking looks fantastic! I'm glad to see some pictures of progress and to hear you are feeling better. 

[patrickmil]

Larry, I am also guilty of regularly visiting the makeup aisle in CVS and Walgreens to get those wonderful sanding sticks. It's amazing that you can score those for so cheap but in a hobby store you usually find something of lesser quality for double or triple the price.

[mainstay]

Larry,

 

Thanks for the tip about the emory boards. I will buy some of those.

 

I made my own out of 1/4" wood strips 1" wide, using 3M 77 spray adhesive to attach sandpaper.  I made a set from 80 grit through 240, but mainly used 80 and 150.

 

Still looking for a good way to sand narrow bands of planking: the top to bottom of the gunports for instance with fine paper. Am just folding a loose piece of 240 right now.

 

Your band looks really good, btw. Your systematic approach worked very well.

 

Joe

[popeye the sailor]

I make my own as well........different widths of strip stock........white glued in place.   I don't know why I do.......I have sanding sticks {guess I'm just old fashioned}      nice job on the planking...looking real good !      go for it!!!! 

[lb0190]

Hi Joe,

 

Thank you for the compliment.

I buy my Emory boards at Walmart. The must be at least 25 in the package. They have a different grit on each side. I try to use my jewerler files or an Emory board cut to size for those tight places. Sometimes, like you, I find gluing a piece of sandpaper to a board fits the bill for some locations.

Take care.

[popeye the sailor]

I use files as well........I have two sets....not as much as the sticks though.   I do use the files to square up corners.

[augie]

Sandpaper is my best friend.

 

Yes, I use emery boards and files.  But my go to is sanding blocks.  I have many sizes and shapes cut from hardwood.  To make life a little easier, I use sticky backed sandpaper that I buy in rolls of 80, 150 and 220 grit.  Just lay your block on the sticky side of the paper and cut it out with an exacto knife.  I use this brand that I get from Tower Hobbies but I'm sure you can find it around locally.  Here's a link:

 

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK321&P=7

[Rich_engr]

Speaking of sanding, I generally use a small sanding stick (#80 thru 440 glued to a block or stick of wood) for sanding large areas (hull, deck).  For planing and lapping, I'll use a whole piece of sand paper taped to the bench- works well for planing parts down to a certain thickness and for ensuring parts are flat.  For smaller areas, even beveling & shaping planks, I have used my files and riflers.  Haven't tried the emory boards yet, but might once I begin work on masts and spars.

 

Sanding:  crushed rock + paper + wood = smoooooooth~~  ahhh~~~  

[ajromano]

Tower (great planes) also has great sanding bars. I make custom shapes out of scrap hardwood, square, rounds, whatever shape needed with 100 to 400 grit thin CA works great. I guess I joined the club this week. I started building Coral Greyhound, but after reading about how bad the plans and bulkheads are I ordered a book to get good drawings and put it back in the box. Started to work on Niagara, much better kit.

[lb0190]

Status update - (sorry Sjors no pictures

 

I finished five rows of planking on the port side, band A. When I started on the next row at the stern I realized how poorly I installed that aft plank on row five. This location was where the panks start taking that axial turn to lay flat horizontally. Somehow I missed twisting the plank, resulting in the plank not laying flat on bulkhead P. After considering several ways to fix this, I finally decided I simply need to remove the plank and replace it.

 

Progress will stop late next week for a week or so. We signed up for a last minute cruise that does a round trip through the Panama Canal. It's a repeat for us but well worth repeating.

[lb0190]

All right           planking band A is finished (minus sanding) on both sides. The pictures below show the port band and of course the close ups make the planking look worse than it appears in person. The bow looks like a few planks have sunken inward a great deal but they will require very little sanding to even them out. Sanding should easily smooth out the uneven planks and if anything left over gets a big gob of Balsa Lite Filler or maybe a glue and sawdust fix. I'll probably give it a light sanding before moving on to band B.

[Rich_engr]

Awesome!!!  Great work on the planks- it's cool watching her take shape, especially where the planks bend at the stern.  

 

Seems like you got the hang of it now!  

[augie]

Really shaping up.  

[realworkingsailor]

Not a bad go on the planking so far

 

Keep up the good work

 

 

Andy

[Sjors]

I agree…..

Nice planking !

 

[patrickmil]

Larry, that first band of planking looks great. You've done a marvelous job and I think minimum sanding should cure any woes with your planking. From the looks of it, filler shouldn't be necessary; it's all very nice and tight. 

[augie]

Just take it easy with the 'belt sander'  

[popeye the sailor]

I'm the same way Larry........I'll get so far with the planking.........and then the itch to sand it hit me!  I can't help it    you've done well on the planking......shouldn't take much to get her down to a smooth finish.   don't take her down too much though....you want your continued planking to match up.   doing a little here and there is good........cuts down on the amount you'll have to do later on.   just use a good aggressive grit in the beginning,  and then to a finer grit to finish it off............I'm sure your kidding about the belt sander  LOL.

 

if you haven't gone off on your trip yet.........have a good time!

[lb0190]

Thanks Augie and Popeye. I already gave up on holding off on sanding and used a small sanding block to knock off the high edges. I feel better already...   :D  The belt sander comments is my kidding around but I have entertained the thought of using my small palm sander. 

[lb0190]

I started looking at how Hull Planking Band B is laid out at each bulkhead. I thought I would simply take measurements off the prints for each bulkhead location, divide by the number of planks (8) to get my taper dimensions, transfer them to the bulkhead with pencil marks and verify with a temporary batten..... WRONG! Due to the curvature of the hull I cannot measure off the prints except for bulkhead H (given as 1") and measure locations at the bow and stern. My intent was to come up with a chart like the one in the photograph.

 

Question: Should I use the above info (three points) to lay a temp batten, verify if flows OK and measure the distance at each bulkhead from the batten to the above plank for my chart to get the taper dimensions or is there another approach or two to consider?

 

Am I making this more difficult than need be???

Edited October 16, 2013 by lb0190

[Rich_engr]

For the plank widths for belts B-D, use the side view (with stern on one side and bow on the other)- just follow along to the bulkheads there (the dashed vertical lines) and measure the distance between the planks.  Otherwise, if you use the full side view, what you're measuring is actually the arc-length of the plank, not its exact width.  

 

What I did was use the side views to get the full belt width, then divide by 8 (divide by 5 for belt D).  But before trimming planks down to your exact width, always leave a little extra to fine tune it once in place.

 

I'll check in with you later this evening- gotta do pee test and eQIP/paperwork stuff...  

[SkerryAmp]

The images that popped into my head of going at a wooden ship model with a belt sander were hilarious - thank you for that imagery and WHEW that you resisted!!

 

 

Nice work though so far - the planking looks good and am sure you will solve the puzzle of the remaining bands!

[lb0190]

Rich, your information was exactly what I needed. I measured belts B-D and the stack up was right on. Thanks again.

[Rich_engr]

Glad I could help!    Belt sander, disc sander, sand blaster- we use whatever is needed to get the job done, right?    (Heck, even my cat can help trim down those "unsightly" horn timbers.)