Shenandoah 1864 by SGraham - FINISHED - Corel - Scale 1:50 - American Civil War-era Cutter

[jct]

Hey Steve,

Nice job on the planking, I think you are good to go with just this one layer, looks fine in the pics.  Good progress.

J

[Bindy]

Congrats Steve!  That looks terrific!

[SGraham]

Well, I finished the first layer of planking tonight. I also filled the gaps and gave it a coat of sanding sealer. I think this will be the only layer of planks I'm going to hang. I've sort of sanded away some of the scarf joints, so I'm going to cut those back in before giving the hull a coat of primer. Also, I need to add the keel sole before priming.

 

This planking job came out way better than my Roger B Taney travesty back in the '80s. On that ship, the planks around the curve of the bow looked like shark gills. You could see right through them. I appreciate the help and encouragement from the MSW crew.

 

Steve

[jct]

Steve,

She looks really fine, your planking is top notch,that transition from horizontal to vertical at the stern must have been a bear.

J

[@macbride]

Steve,

Beautiful work!! I'm totally in awe of the beautiful lines & clean transitions from one side to the next.

You set the bar very high!

 

I've been reading up on the next steps (mast, etc.), and the instructions are vague at best... the

diagrams confusing (for me, at least). Any pics u take along the way will really help me, so I thank

you in advance!!

 

Andy

[dgbot]

Nice planking job Steve.  As you plank each hull you apply the experience from the last one.  Plus the hull of the Shenandoah is a nice hull to plank. 

David B

PS  I am going to the UOI for future treatments.  How far are you from there?

[src]

Steve,

That hull looks great! You really gonna cover it up with paint? Your build if course but it seems a shame to cover it up.

Sam

[dgbot]

If done with an airbrush he could enhance his planking.

David B

[SGraham]

Thanks Andy. I've got quite a bit to do on the hull before I get to the spars, so I'll be looking to you for inspiration.

 

Thanks J, The top of my bending iron is flat. I found that if I get it nice and hot, lay the plank on it and twist the ends in opposite directions, I get the transition from vertical to horizontal pretty quickly. Read wrong, that last sentence makes it sound like the bending iron causes me fall down and faint. The hard part for me was when I got down to my last few planks on each side, I ended up with a rather irregular space to fill. I ended up with one too-wide plank right at the turn of the bilge and an oddly shaped plank just below it.

 

Thanks Sam and David, I set some of the stealers in too deep below the run of the surrounding planking. That was where the end of the stealer didn't rest on a frame. I've got a couple of ugly patches of filler plugging those gaps. You can see them in the photos. That's partly why I want to paint. Also, there are a pair of oversized and a pair of oddly-shaped planks right at the turn of the bilge on either side of the hull. Paint would hide these nicely. I'd like to airbrush but don't own one. Also, I had to do some pretty aggressive sanding to get the planks to lie fair with each other. I've done sanded away all the lines between the planks. I guess I could score them back in... The instructions suggest dark gray for the sides above the WL. Is there any more pleasing color than that? I'm not going for the blockade runner look--just a trading schooner.

 

David, where is UOI? Is that Irvine? When are you coming out for treatment?

 

Steve

[dgbot]

My apologies Steve I was asking Andy. The University of Iowa is inIowa City. I will be going near the end of the month.

David B

[SGraham]

Got it. That seemed like an awful long way to go, although it is nice out here this time of year.

 

Steve

[Bindy]

That first layer of planking looks just about perfect Steve, I am not surprised you are thinking of not covering it

[SGraham]

Thanks so much, Bindy. I'm putting on the keel sole and deck planking while I think about whether or not to paint.

 

Steve

[dgbot]

Steve if you decide to paint try an airbrush. This will lay donw a very thin layer of paint so you do not hide your workmanship.

David B

[SGraham]

Thanks, David. My brother is very good with an airbrush. I may enlist his help. I'm also thinking of accentuating the lines between some of the planks a bit with a fine triangular file. Some of the planks have no discernable line between them while others do. It would be nice to be able to see them all uniformly.

 

I think I am going to paint. I was thinking of leaving the hull bright between the waterline and the wales, but the grain on those planks is really big and rough looking. At full scale, it would look like some ridiculous undiscovered species of wood with 12-foot-long grain lines. On my next build I want to have the paint/bright wood combination, so I'll make better decisions about what types of wood I'll use for my hull planking.

 

Steve

[SGraham]

Still inching along. Here's the sole of the keel made from an odd scrap of very dark mahogany. It's the color of black walnut but it's really soft. It still may need some thinning. I made a dulcimer from this stuff and wasn't impressed with how it sounded. Still, it's pretty--which is all moot anyway since it's going to get painted. But on my next build, I'd like to make a dark keel sole from this stuff and leave it unpainted.

 

Also, I've begun fitting the margin plank. Although the plans do not call for it, I'd like to try joggling the deck planking--if that's what it's called. I'm making the margin plank from maple. It'll add a subtle contrast with the plain vanilla deck planking. I'm using green card stock to make patterns for the curves.

[jct]

Nice, very nice...the deck should look really good when complete, I like the joggling effect but never done it, following with interest

J

[SGraham]

Thanks J. I've got the margin plank glued in place and am busy cutting 120mm planks. When I've got a pile I'll start joggling. Sounds odd, don't it?

 

Steve

[jct]

Ya...wish you luck keeping all the pieces in the air...sorry couldn't resist, are you going to pre-cut the tapers or cut to fit?

[SGraham]

I'll precut the tapers into the deck planks and then notch the margin plank to take them as I go. Doesn't sound too hard, but that's how it is with this hobby. You get pulled along by appearances. How many of us would have bought a kit that advertised, "For only $79.95 you can build this ship four times over and have thousands of hours of fun"?

 

Steve

[src]

I'll precut the tapers into the deck planks and then notch the margin plank to take them as I go. Doesn't sound too hard, but that's how it is with this hobby. You get pulled along by appearances. How many of us would have bought a kit that advertised, "For only $79.95 you can build this ship four times over and have thousands of hours of fun"?

 

Steve

and spend ten times the kit cost in tools materials and research material.

[jct]

I think most of us would still get in line... ...strong masochistic tendencies...these!!

[SGraham]

So, it's time to get joggling. I looked up a discussion on margin planks in the planking section and found some helpful tips. I first laid a center plank and then measuring from the bow end of this plank, marked off lines 24mm apart. These will be the stations where the planks will begin. They're 120mm long, by the way. I'm doing a 5-plank pattern. I have no idea why--it's the first time I've tried this and I've got to start somewhere.

 

Here's the sub deck marked and ready to go with a big fat margin plank to give me lots of room to joggle.

 

Steve

 

 

[SGraham]

Next, I added a plank on the starboard side of the center plank. It begins at the first station aft of the bow.

Then I did the same on the port side of the center plank. After that, I ran these two rows of planks all the way aft to the transom.

[SGraham]

Next, I addressed the joggled plank at the starboard side of the center. It's really short. I probably should have just made the plank behind it longer, but it is what it is.

 

I measured a piece of planking that would extend from the plank behind it to the middle or so of the margin plank at the inside edge. After a short perpendicular leg, the outside edge tapers down to meet the lower edge of the margin plank.

 

After cutting out the plank, I used it as a template to mark where to cut the margin plank. I made sure to cut inside the marks to make up for the thickness of the pencil lead.

[SGraham]

Then I repeated the process to the left of the center plank. And there's my first joggle. Other than the short planks, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I learned that it really helps to have a sharp pencil and sharp knife blades. Thanks for reading!

 

Steve

[src]

Steve,

Your off to a great start. Joggeling is something I want to try on my next build. Sometimes I find it helpful to do my layout with a sharp knife instead of a pencil.

Sam

[SGraham]

Thanks Sam. Using a knife instead of a pencil for layout is a great idea.

 

Steve

[dgbot]

Keep it up Steve. Remember just plan ahead and you will not have any problems.

David B

[Bindy]

That looks great Steve!

 

Your joins are just perfect and I think the final effect will be just right!