Deck plank size for Cala Esmeralda

[MariusMi]

Hi,

 

I'm trying to define deck plank sizes for my current build, Cala Esmeralda, from OcCre. This is 1:58 scale.

 

This schooner was built in Spain between 1916-1919. I'm trying to find information on what plank size would the spanish shipbuilders have used in that period.

 

The kit provides 5mm wood strips. For this scale, it would end at 290mm (11,4'') in full size. This is my first kit so I will not modify the provided width.

For the length, without any reference, I was thinking about 100mm. So: 5,8m (~19') in full size. I'm not looking for exact match with real sizes, but would this 100mmx5mm plank make sense on the model?

 

Also, were shipbuilders using the same plank dimensions for quarter deck and main deck? This is in general, I can imagine that they could adapt to available material, but were they starting to standardize sizes in that period? So if I keep the same plank size between the decks, will I get close to a good result or will it be a big mistake?

[Craigie65]

Probably not far off with 100mm, I am sure someone will chime in with a definitive answer.

Given the deck planking will have a shift pattern I find it easier to work with a length that easily divides by the number of shifts.  

[OllieS]

The Cala Esmaralda and its back story are almost certainly fictional. This model is actually based on the schooner Santa Eulalia: https://www.mmb.cat/en/schooner-santa-eulalia/

So maybe you could find the information directly (!)

There are also books available at the museum about the ship and its restorastion.

Also, in my opinion, in a model the width of the planking is a lot more noticeable than the plank lengths. 5mm is the stock item not the scaled choice.

[MariusMi]

9 hours ago, OllieS said:

The Cala Esmaralda and its back story are almost certainly fictional. This model is actually based on the schooner Santa Eulalia: https://www.mmb.cat/en/schooner-santa-eulalia/

So maybe you could find the information directly (!)

There are also books available at the museum about the ship and its restorastion.

Also, in my opinion, in a model the width of the planking is a lot more noticeable than the plank lengths. 5mm is the stock item not the scaled choice.

Finding no real ship reference on the internet for Cala Esmeralda, I was also thinking that it could be a finctional ship. But I wasn't able to find the Santa Eulalia with my search. So, thank you Ollie for leading me to this information! I will do my investigations starting from this real ship.

[MariusMi]

I've looked at photos of Santa Eulalia's deck and tried to estimate plank lengths.

- when put to scale, plank width seems to be close to the 5mm width of the strips provided in the kit

- plank length on the main deck photos was tricky to find. I found it difficult to identify full planks. I ended up with 5,4m (17,7') -> 93mm in scale. So I increased this to 100mm to make it more convenient.

- for the quarter deck planks seem smaller. I ended up with 4m (13,1') -> 69mm. I increased this to 80mm.

 

I sketched this in FreeCad to have an approximate view of how this would look like. I used the central axis of the deck to place first planks. For this, I started with a full plank from the intersection with the quarter deck and placed the rest until the bow. Then added the rest of the planks based on a pattern I found in the forum (set of 5 planks). Same procedure for the quarter deck with a modified pattern using only a set of 4 planks.

 

I didn't use symetry (left - right) from the central plank row placed on the central axis. I'm not sure if this is correct or should I make the deck symetrical in terms of plank pattern?