Lancha Chilota by JacquesCousteau – Scale 1:32 – Chilean Coasting Sloop

[Jim Lad]

A very nice start to the planking!

 

John

[wefalck]

Good job on what is usually the most difficult plank on a boat. Not sure, whether it is due to the perspective of the photograph or real, but there seems to be an upward curve between the last two bulkhead - I hope that doesn't cause you problems in the further planking, because I have the feeling that the next plank may end up having to have to be narrowed in that area ... or in other words the garboard plank should have gone higher up on the sternpost perhaps

[JacquesCousteau]

19 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Sweet work on the garboards, Jacques. 

 

18 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

A very nice start to the planking!

 

John

Thanks!

 

7 hours ago, wefalck said:

Good job on what is usually the most difficult plank on a boat. Not sure, whether it is due to the perspective of the photograph or real, but there seems to be an upward curve between the last two bulkhead - I hope that doesn't cause you problems in the further planking, because I have the feeling that the next plank may end up having to have to be narrowed in that area ... or in other words the garboard plank should have gone higher up on the sternpost perhaps

Thanks for the suggestion! After coming back to the model this morning I had the same thought about something being a little off in that area. From photos it seems like there were usually multiple planks ending against the sternpost, so I didn't want to widen the plank at the aftmost end, but I thought I might be able to narrow the plank in some parts and get rid of the odd flatness to the run of the garboard aft.

 

I considered trying to remove the plank with alcohol but was concerned that it would be difficult as this plank is the most solidly glued of all the hull planks (substantial surface area glued to the deadwood, sturdily set into the rabbet). Before taking it off, I decided to try reshaping the plank on the model--worst case scenario, I'd just have to redo it anyway. It was tricky as I don't have all my tools while traveling, and the files would have been really useful, but with a sanding stick and a craft knife I was able to give the plank a bit of a better run.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

[wefalck]

Yes, indeed, that looks like less trouble with the next planks 👍🏻

[Rick310]

Very nice!

Rick

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, all!

 

With the garboard squared away, I’ve been working out the planking belts. I actually started on this a bit earlier as a way of figuring out what width I should give the garboard. I don’t really have any information about what sizes of wood were available, but what I could do, in at least a few of the photos that I have, is to count the number of planks on the hull, and from there work out how many planks I wanted to have on this model and what their maximum width would be, from which I was able to choose a slightly wider dimension for the garboard.

 

Interestingly, many lanchas have planking of highly variable width where it intersects the stem. This is maybe clearest in this photo from 1935, which seems to have 14 planks below the sheer strake, some of them much wider than others.

Source: https://www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.gob.cl/bnd/629/w3-article-320806.html

 

Similarly, the vessel below (which seems to have 12 planks below the sheer strake) from 1963 also has planks of different widths.

Source: https://www.memoriasdelsigloxx.cl/601/w3-article-1805.html

 

I was unsure of how to best handle the uneven plank widths. I would like to make an accurate model, but this seems like something that could be easily overdone and look strange. It also would pose a challenge to lining out the hull. After some consideration, what I’m currently planning is to divide the hull into three equal bands of planking. However, while the upper and lower band will be made of 4 strakes each, the middle band will have 5 strakes. This way, the narrowest planking is around the turn of the bilge, which seems to be more or less what’s going on in the second photo above and which would make the most sense to me if there was any deliberate planning about where to use narrower planks (instead of the builders simply making do with what was available, which likely was at least a part of it). So, the middle band’s strakes will be about 20% narrower than the other strakes, which seems notable to anyone paying attention to the hull without going so far as to make the hull look weird.

 

I’ve therefore begun marking out the bands using chart tape. As on the half-hull build, after getting a good run I’ll be letting it sit overnight to approach it with fresh eyes tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone has any suggestions about the variable planking width and my plans to deal with it, I’m all ears!

Edited Thursday at 10:23 PM by JacquesCousteau

[Thukydides]

3 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

If anyone has any suggestions about the variable planking width and my plans to deal with it, I’m all ears!

This is one of those cases I think where you have to weigh the aesthetic considerations with historical accuracy. Too much randomness may potentially look a bit off. You might want to try gluing card paper planks on a section just to make sure you are happy with the look before committing to the wood. That being said I would say your plan sounds like a good one. If you want to make the variable widths more random you could split into more bands and/or potentially randomly adjust some of the widths so that they are say 75% of what you put on the ticks and then make another one in the band take up 25% more.

 

What I mean by this is lets say you have a band of 4 planks and at the point you are measuring they are each 8mm if equally divided. Then you could make the first one 6mm, the second 8mm, the third 10mm, the fourth 8mm. So essentially you are still equally dividing up the band, just in a much more random way. Now obviously this is much more complicated than just using a planking fan, but it will probably get a more random look if that is what you want to achieve.

Edited yesterday at 02:10 AM by Thukydides

[JacquesCousteau]

On 1/2/2025 at 8:10 PM, Thukydides said:

This is one of those cases I think where you have to weigh the aesthetic considerations with historical accuracy. Too much randomness may potentially look a bit off. You might want to try gluing card paper planks on a section just to make sure you are happy with the look before committing to the wood. That being said I would say your plan sounds like a good one. If you want to make the variable widths more random you could split into more bands and/or potentially randomly adjust some of the widths so that they are say 75% of what you put on the ticks and then make another one in the band take up 25% more.

 

What I mean by this is lets say you have a band of 4 planks and at the point you are measuring they are each 8mm if equally divided. Then you could make the first one 6mm, the second 8mm, the third 10mm, the fourth 8mm. So essentially you are still equally dividing up the band, just in a much more random way. Now obviously this is much more complicated than just using a planking fan, but it will probably get a more random look if that is what you want to achieve.

Thank you for your detailed comments on this. I'm definitely wary of having too much randomness and making it look weird/wrong rather than interesting/accurate. The idea to test it out with card first is a good one. I also agree that a more variable width between planks rather than between bands may end up looking more natural, but it will be tricky to balance this so it doesn't look off.

 

It's also worth noting that some lanchas had relatively even planking, as on the Marisol, below. Any unevenness there is pretty subtle--and somewhat obscured by the paint, as will be the case on my build:

Source: https://www.carlosvairo.com/galeria-puerto-montt-lanchas-chilotas

 

So, for now, I've decided to start the lower band of planking with equal-width planks marked out. After I get a couple strakes down, I may revisit whether I want to switch to some variable-width planks instead.

 

After getting the bands finally adjusted, I marked out the plank widths (which may be adjusted a bit later, as mentioned above).

 

I also worked out a 4-plank butt shift pattern. Based on photos like that of the Marisol, above, it seems like having 2-3 planks per strake should be reasonable.

 

I then began work on the first plank, using the same method I used on the NRG Half-Hull--that is, using tape to mark out the shape (the method is described in more detail in that build log). So far I'm finding that the planks are close enough in shape that, after shaping one, I can trace around it to make the plank for the other side, leaving it very slightly wide and carefully sanding for the final shaping.

 

 

 

I've added the fore and aft planks of the first strake above the garboard.

 

Despite the pronounced twist, they seem to have turned out all right. There's a slight gap at the aftmost end on the port side, which I couldn't see before due to the clamps, but it's small and a bit of filler can fix it.

[Jim Lad]

I've always found that 'slow and steady' is the way to go with planking! 🙂

 

That's a very interesting looking stealer down near the forefoot in your image of the 'Marisol'.

 

John