Deck planking

[tony1745]

Good Morning Folks,
Im looking for a little help on deck planking.

Im building the Amati Santa Maria, and am just starting to make the main deck. It comes in two thin ply halves that ive reshaped to fit. Once the deck is in place it will have a curve from stem to stern. Should i put in the deck then plank it in situ or do the two halves separately and introduce a curve as i leave it to dry then put the deck in place? if i do work on the halves separately should i start with a single long plank running the full length in the center as a base, then do short planks for the rest or just do short planks all over? what pattern should i use?

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks for any help.
Tony

[robert952]

My 2kb worth, I would put the halves in place and plank it in situ.  It would seem easier to shape the planks as you install them to fit the actual shape of the curves.  This image is from Planking Techniques for Model Ship Builders by Donald Dresser (pg. 106).

 

As you see it's not a smooth curve which you would be difficult to duplicate on the deck pieces and then fit them into place.  I am not sure if you need to allow for a waterway shown also above. 

 

Edit:  Forgot to mention that the lower right image shows cutting off the frame piece above the false deck before planking. 

 

 

I hope this helps. 

Edited June 5, 2024 by robert952

[Knocklouder]

Hi Tony, the Amati  Santa Maria was my first build, and had the time of my life building it.  I would cut the tops off the bulkheads, like @robert952showed ,the ones that need to be cut on the main deck, then fit the sub deck. Then plank it. I planked the upper  poop deck first the realized it didn't fit so  I had to do some fixing. So in  my opinion , I would glue  in the sub deck, cut up your planks to length , long one short ones and do a two butt pattern . Hope this helps   .

Bob M.

[Knocklouder]

DECK PLANKING (1).pdf

Tony, I found this useful, hope it is for you as well.

Bob M

 

[tony1745]

Thanks for all the help. Im sticking in the false deck and doing a four butt pattern.

[tartane]

 

If you are going to apply the planks, it is customary to apply the king planks first. These were thicker and wider planks than the rest of the deck to strengthen the ship's structure.

 On the deck the six king planks, with the planks in between. The planks don't bend with the shape of the hull, but I made different widths that sometimes interlock. On excavated wrecks you never see nice neat straight planks like we do today. It was not important when a plank tapered as also can be seen everywhere in floors of old buildings in those days, and then often very wide. The tree from which they sawed the planks had not the same thickness everywhere.

Constant