Hi Fred, just watched the first of that series of videos. I can see how that will work, as the model in the video also has a deck line that’s curved. Thanks very much.

Ray, I suspected that I’d have to start from the deck, but this is where my problem lies: should the first plank follow the curvature of the deck (stem to stern), or should it lie straight? I think from watching Fred’s link, the plank should be allowed to lie naturally, without trying to force it to follow the curvature of the deck. I’ve planked one Billings boat in the past, the Dragen, but that deck lies flat, IIRC, so this problem didn’t come up, and, therefore, I had no problem planking it. I foolishly assumed that all hulls would be as easy to plank. Hey ho. Now I see why people write books on the subject.

Also, your comment about the topsides looking prettiest because they’re the visible part of the hull makes sense.

Thanks for your comments.

Thank you both.

John

This is how the Dragen came out. Not bad for a first attempt, I thought. And I didn’t do any of that tapering until it became necessary to close tapered gaps. Just kept planking until the planks didn’t want to curve anymore, then started up from the keel. I found it much easier than I’d anticipated.

So this is how I’ve decided to do my Colin Archer. The hull will be painted, so I don’t think it matters how I achieve the planking.

Thanks everybody for your comments and suggestions.

John

You’re very kind.

I used what was in the kit. I’ll have a dig around and see what i can find. The Dragen planks 1.8 x 7mm obechi. The Colin Archer planks are 2 x 10mm obechi.

I can’t in all honesty say I found the planking difficult; I sanded a slight angle on the edge that was going to butt up against previously fitted planks, and that was about it. If you look very carefully at the planking on the Dragen, you will see on one side that there’s a single plank to which I’ve added an extra plank along part of the inside. This was because I tried to curve a plank further than it was willing to go and it bulged out a bit after I’d fitted it, not much, but I was concerned that when I sanded the hull, that plank would be too thin, so I added an extra layer of plank inside the hull to give it a bit of support. Other than that, no problems. Left me wondering what all the fuss was about.

That last sentence could be construed as tempting fate, I realise and I may yet find out what all the fuss is about. 🙂 I don’t think the extra 0.2mm of thickness and 3mm of width are going to be a problem, except possibly around the stern of the Colin Archer as it’s quite blunt-ended. We shall see.

John

Hi George,

Ah yes, the “instructions”. Utterly useless. They might as well read,”Using the materials provided in the box, build the ship.”

Had the plastic hulled version still been available, I’d probably have bought it, but I think I’ll derive greater satisfaction from building the wooden hull. Assuming I manage to finish it, of course. Talking about inadequate instructions, I’ve just finished sorting out the sheets for the jib and foresail (not certain if those are the correct names: the sails ahead of the mainmast.) Wasn’t as difficult as I’d expected. I used the plastic tubing that normally used for elevator and rudder control in RC planes. If you imsert the inner (to keep the outer from collapsing), then heat the outer with boiling water, you can bend it to quite small radii (radiuses?), although there’s less friction if you keep the bends fairly open. The inner’s not much use for anything after you’ve used  it a few times, though. I do like having plenty of space in which to work.

The (jocular) comment I made regarding the cockpit (again, don’t know if that’s the right name; just seemed appropriate) is true: in the upper illustration of Fig. 5, it is clearly visible; in the lower left illustration, it’s equally clearly not there. This may give you some idea of how closely I’ve examined the illustrations in the absence of useful instructions.

I’ve made up my mind about how I’m going to plank the hull. Not 100% confident whether or not it’ll work, but I’ll be using water-resistant glue, so worst case scenario, I’ll be able to remove the planks if necessary.

Finally, just for your interest, a photo of how I used the plastic tubing to get the sheets from sail to servo with the minimum hassle. I used orange and yellow because that’s what I had, but for simplicity, the orange tubes go to one servo and yellow servos to the other. The bindings are just polyester thread soaked in CA (after binding).

Sorry if I’ve gone on a bit; it’s a failing of mine. BTW, if you’re wondering what the 10mm holes in the bulkheads are for, I used miniature G cramps to hold the deck down while gluing it and the holes are for somewhere to put the lower jaw.

Cheers,

John

I don’t know how confident I come across as (is that a sentence?), but re. the planking, definitely not. It’s just going to be a case of “Start at the beginning, then carry on till I get to the end, then stop.” No technique to speak of, just the application of common sense (he said hopefully).

Won’t be starting that for a few days, but. Because there’s quite a lot of hull that I won’t be able to reach after planking it, I’m going to paint everything (except where the glue’s going, hopefully) with a very thin epoxy intended for soaking into wood. This will leave part of the inner surface of the planking uncoated, but I’m thinking that I’ll probably drill a small hole in the deck above each unreachable compartment, pour in some of this very thin epoxy and give it all a hearty shake, then pour out the excess. That’s the best I’ve been able to come up with so far. Sounds great in theory…

Yes, I expect to be using P38, Bondo, whatever I’ve got to try to achieve that elusive silk purse result.

Are you about to start planking something?

John

George, meant to ask, have you got any photos of your Paul Archer’s interior? I’d be very interested to see them if you have.

John