General Build - Keel/Stem Advice

[ElrondBurgundy]

Hello! New user here, and in need of some general help. I just started building wooden ships (came from the world of plastic ship models), and choose the Occre Polaris for my initial build. I'm learning quite a lot as I go, but unfortunately had some hiccups so far. When doing the first planking, I didn't quite line up the bow pieces, and it seems I messed them up quite a bit (I think I needed to bend them more, but definitely open to criticism). I tried to repair it by sanding down a "gulch" to place the stem, but it didn't quite fit. I tried repair again by adding a plank to fix the gulch, then create a smaller gulch, but alas it didn't quite work. I've attached a couple photos of the original planking job, plus the attempted repair. I'll also grab a picture of the stem gaps, but wanted to get some initial input to gauge where I'm at so far. I think there is enough contact area to be able to glue the stem/keel on, and then use the 2nd planking to cover up the inconsistencies, but I'm very new to this, and just learning how to correct these sorts of mistakes.

 

Thank you in advance! This site is incredible, and already provided a wealth of knowledge and information to get started with this wonderful hobby.

[mtaylor]

Unless there'another planking layer about all you can do from my view is fill in the gaps, sand, and paint. If another planking layer is being added, go to the top of the page, click on the "more" button and read and heed the planking tutorials.  You'll still need to fill and then sand and smooth out the hull before adding the second layer.   It's not a uncommon issue and almost all of us have been there in our early days of modeling.

[allanyed]

As most kits do not supply spiled planks, in addition to Mark's suggestion, the four videos by Chuck Passaro on planking will help you with the strip wood most kits provide . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCWooJ1o3cM is part one.  The end result should look something like the below.

Allan

 

 

 

[Jaager]

14 hours ago, ElrondBurgundy said:

I just started building wooden ships (came from the world of plastic ship models)

Along with my premise that plastic may be a hindrance  as an introduction to wooden ship model kits because of the difference in now the instructions relate (or how the older wooden kit instructions did).  Unrealistic expectations because of the many different skills beyond just assembly and and that most of them are common to just about every kit.  This gets repetitive and and excessive to do for every kit when there are "how to" books that do this.

 

Looking at the above, I have another premise.  A plastic kit is straight forward assembly.  Additional knowledge about the anatomy and physiology of the object being assembled is not necessary.   For a wooden ship model, it is important to have at least a basic knowledge of the individual parts and how they fit together.  Knowing the proper names allows for an easier look up or inquiry about what is going on. 

Knowing what a proper keel, keel rabbet, stem,  stem rabbet, hawse timbers (the first planking layer has to cover the purpose of the hawse timbers) the proper run of planking,

would help with this specific problem.  Faking it is not likely to yield a satisfactory product.

 

[ElrondBurgundy]

Appreciate the feedback! 

 

I started watching the Chuck Passaro videos, and am blown away by the level of detail and complexity that some of these ships have. Very excited to dig in and learn how to properly plank going forward.

 

And @Jaager, I would venture to say that your premises do indeed have merit. Plastic ship building is very straightforward, and very little additional knowledge required outside of learning the histories for the sake of history. The deeper knowledge needed for actual shipbuilding is something I didn't previously anticipate, but have since bought a couple books to help me along in both learning the proper terminology and build techniques. I've found that wood is somewhat more forgiving in that most mistakes can be fixed, but I've certainly learned that taking shortcuts in one step will certainly lead to failure in the next.