Rattlesnake by divarty - Model Shipways - 1:64

[divarty]

Slowly but surely progress occurs.  I have finished up the gun and oar port framing on both sides and sanded them down flush with the bulkheads

 

 

Looking at the directions it calls for the rails to be installed next but my thought (and it appears to be backed by all the other Ratt builds on the forums) was that it would be better to start and finish the planking prior to putting the rails on.  So going on that note I spent days pouring over the other builds, reading the instructions, rereading the instructions and then trying to jump in.  I started by installing the garboard strakes on both sides.

 

 

 

 

My one point of confusion over the drawings was that it declared above the whales you should use 1/32" planks while below the whales you should use 1/16th.  In looking at my stock of woods I made an assumption that the measurements were based on thickness not width?  I'm also basing this assumption on the fact that the width will vary.

 

Working on those assumptions I started to lay out the planking belts, I'm not sure the best way to go about this so for the moment I was just eyeballing it.

 

 

 

I measured the first bulkhead on either side then divided by three, that gave me an approximate point to put in my first pins then I strung the line and eyeballed the rest of the way.  Anyone have any thoughts on a better way to do this?  I plan on re-reading the planking tutorials to see if they give me any better ideas on how to set the belts.

[fish]

I am really enjoying all of the detail you are putting into this log, keep up the good work! As a future snake charmer, I will be checking this log frequently.

[Seventynet]

Ryan, I'm enjoying the detail as well. It looks like a fairly straightforward planking job with a little bit of tapering at the bow. I am sure everyone has their favorite approach but I found a small miniature plane to work well for me.

Best, Ian

[HIPEXEC]

DIVARTY? Is that for Division Artillery?

[divarty]

After a long hiatus I have started up work on the Ratt again.  Thanks everyone for the input ad kind words.

 

DIVARTY? Is that for Division Artillery?

 

Right in one!

 

I started laying the planking in belt C, after getting tick strips and measurements for each bulkhead I followed the recommendation in the instruction pamphlet of planking across 4 bulkheads at a time, and this is where I found what I believe to be my first mistake.

 

You can see in the picture, I put the garboard strake on and left it full width and full length.  That makes it approx 5mm wide.  When I measured the remaining space and put it on the fan grid to determine the width of the other 5 planks in the belt they are closer to 3mm at most locations.

 

 

I may remove the plank and the garboard strake, remeasure and get my new widths and do all 6 planks, including the garboard strake as sections.