planking

[Tony BurtonParticipant @tonyburton83970]

Does anyone know where I can obtain  ready marked sheet (plywood) in the u.k for decking. Possibly 48th scale

Tony

[Tony BurtonParticipant @tonyburton83970]

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Tony

 

I always use white cartridge paper with pencil lines and always start with a perimeter edge and with a few hatches etc drawn on.

 

Pasted on the deck, stained with water based Acrylic paint and satin varnished

 

See my galleries……………….Bob

[Tony BurtonParticipant @tonyburton83970]

Thanks bob

I`ll Try that

[Rick DevonshireParticipant @rickdevonshire]

I like your method Bob, it can be hard to rule lines onto ply with a marking pen when the deck is in place.

Rick.

 

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Tony,

I have just had a look at your Broads boats- aren’t they lovely? I have spent many happy holidays at Martham in the Broads and know these boats well- in fact I’m going again next year for a week in one of their riverside cottages with my 12′ gaff dinghy. It’s great for model boating too as the water is at the end of the garden!

With regard to decking I have always laid individual planks but thought I would have change on my last boat (Lesro Sportsman) and drew them with a Rotring type pen. What a nightmare- I did it after the decks and cabins  were fitted. Having said that the laid deck is very laborious- see Siver Mist in the gallery- and I always aproach it with a heavy heart. Bob’s idea sounds good, must give that a try one time. Could you be a bit more specific Bob about which photo we might see that in?

 

Have fun all,

Ian.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Ian, Rick and Tony

 

The pictures that used to show the paper planking clearly, have since been wiped off!

 

But, here`s one that shows what I mean……

 

Not bad?……..Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

You can make things even easier if you go down to your local arts supplier who will have very thin card in a number of beige or cream shades which means you don’t need to stain it, just varnish over the pencilled planks. Choose a shade a bit lighter than you think you want as the varnish will darken it slightly.

 

Colin

 

Edited By Colin Bishop on 18/11/2009 11:53:59

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Here`s card decking on my Jeanie Deans

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Very neat Bob, much neater than mine. Just goes to prove that you don’t HAVE to lay the planks individually to get a decent effect.

 

Colin

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi all,

I don’t think anybody was saying you HAVE to lay planks individually, just a personal choice. I tend to build to scales of 1:16 and above that makes individual planks a bit easier to do. Those photos certainly look very good.

 

 

Ian

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you Colin and Ian

 

I like the card method, as you can make the planking as fancy as you like….with hatches etc

 

You need to use very thick card………I think it was called 300kg quality

Too thin would cockle up

 

Bob

 

PS……..Just realised!………Don`t need to find the old photos……..I`ll take some more……….right now!

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Here`s Jeanie Deans planking.

I used this method for the first time on this model…….Couldn`t face the real stuff!

 

Bob

[Tony BurtonParticipant @tonyburton83970]

 Thank everyone..I think I might try the card method. It sounds better than individual planks.

 

Ian, glad you liked “juliette”. Martham Broad Boat Builders always named the boats with girls names beginning with the letter J, except for 2 named Jubilee for the Queens jublilee.

We hired Julliete IX. in the early 70`s. When I started model boating in the 80`s I got in touch wih  Mr Curtis who then owned the company. He invited me down and gave me the plans for Juliette and a smaller one called Janet, both of the plans were at 1/12 scale and he scaled them up for the full size boats. I believe they were built around 1950 and there are still several of them on the Broads , most of them now privately owned. As you probably noticed, I build the drop roof as was original. Later on they had drop down sides and roll back canopies fitted.I thin originally there wer 10 classes with about 9 in each class.

 

Tony

 

 

 

 

                                                                                    

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the information- I do admire those boats. As I said I have been going to that area for holidays for twenty years now and have often stayed at Martham and have hired their boats. There have been many changes over the years and as you say, the wooden fleet has diminished, many passing into private ownwership.

A couple of years ago the old green shed was knocked down which seemed a shame but you can understand that it wasn’t very suitable for a modern business- just sad for nostalgic old buffers like me! As a footnote, although, it’s lovely to see these old boats still in use, we hired a small wooden gaffer  a few years ago and when it rained it leaked like a sieve- not many people understand that this is the nature of the beast and are prepared to put up with it.

Bob, the planking on Jeanie Deans looks tremendous- what’s happened to the chap in the blue boiler suit !? Thanks for putting these photos on- I will have to have a serious think next time I do a deck.

 

Regards to all,

Ian.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you for your very kind words…..

 

The man lying down is mending the winch mechanism.

 

The figures are Scalex crew!

 

Bob

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Bob,

Of course if I had been viewing in the flesh I would have realised. I think these little vignettes always bring interest to a model. One thing I have been meaning to ask- I often see your completed models in your workshop so how do you keep them so clean looking? Do you cover them up with anything or have them elsewhere between times. I have to keep stuff where I’m working and they inevitably get covered in dust- haven’t quite solved the problem yet.

I have put a couple of photos of my first model started in 1974- the Steam Yacht Greta drawn by Jim Pottinger – it wasn’t finished at this stage hence the blu-tack holding the boats down! One  shows a little scene on the bridge deck. The model was subsequently demolished by a lunatic dog at the pondside and I never had the heart to put it back together!

 

All the best,

Ian

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Ian

 

Don`t kid yourself………My boats get covered in sawdust………Had to specially clean up Jeanie Deans for the photo

 

For heavy sanding jobs, I go outside these days……..Especially the Slo Mo model

 

Your steam yacht looks quite nice………You should bite the bullet and finish it!

 

Bob

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Bob,

That somehow makes me feel a bit better .Wouldn’t it be nice to have a shed dedicated to model boat storage? Maybe one day.

Unfortunately the steam yacht exists only in these photos and my memory- as I said a mad dog ran it over at the water side many years ago and I disposed of the remains some while later when I knew I wasn’t going to do anything about them. It’s on my ‘ boats I’d like to build if I live to be 140’  list.

 

Ian.

[michael kemishParticipant @michaelkemish72883]

Hi,  I know that is’s a bit late for this post, but I’ve just finished planking the deck of Matilda.

There about 150 bits of veneer stuck down, including the for’d hatch. Next is sanding and varnishing.  

The satisfaction is enormous. Next time I might try the paper system.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I think that the choie of whether to actually plank a model or go down the drawing route for best effect rather depends on its scale.  If the scale is such that you would expect to see individual planks differentiated by subtle changes in grain or colour then planking will give a better result (if done properly!). If it is a small scale model say.1:100 or so then the planks wil all look the same and you will get a good and maybe neater result from drawing them on. However you must use paper or card which has no visible grain itself. If you were to try drawing on to a sheet of thin plywood it would be immediately apparent on close inspection what you had done.

 

I remember a competitor at one show complaining to the judges that his planked deck had not been taken into account. He hadn’t provided this information on his entry form and had done such a good job that it looked exactly as if the planking had been drawn on. No doubt he was very satisfied with the result but visually you couldn’t tell the difference!

 

Colin

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Michael,

A very nice deck and one you can be justifiably proud of.  I was reading a book by  Richard Webb recently where he describes a method of painting each edge of the plank before laying  and then sealing it. I think this would be worth trying at some stage- I am in the process of planking a deck and the card method brings all sorts of problems especially around the bits where they are joggled into the margin planks. I worked out that the card I used is probably a bit overscale but I like it!

 

Like your boat by the way, what is it?

 

All the best

Ian Gardner

[hammerParticipant @hammer]

A method I have used when the scale is very small (48th scale even 6″is only 1/8″). Is first varnish a sheet of thin ply ( about 2mm )making sure all the grain is full.  Then score plank lines (straight edge and modlling knife). Paint all over with thined black paint, and rub of with a rag and turps subsitute. the paint will remain in the cuts. add another coat of matt varnish and I rub with wire wool, not to hard to remove any sign of gloss, this may not be necessary . Geoff Yarham.

[michael kemishParticipant @michaelkemish72883]

Thanks Ian, I drew down one edge of each plank with a black felt tip pen to give the caulking effect, at this stage it seems to work.

It’s  scratch built off a plan I found on the net. I believe the style is a “Mistral” , quite a 1950’s ish gentlemans cruiser.

 

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Michael,

Just the job. It would be good to see more photos as it progresses. If you like that sort of thing (and I do) you might be interested in Silver Mist which is a motor yacht I am building at the moment. There are some photos in the gallery.

 

All the best,

Ian.

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