Hi roycv,
Depends on which model it is. I assume you have their 100mm wide by 2mm thick basswood sheets, which I have used. If it is a sheet steel hull and deck then lay as sheets or plates of steel. Not all boats were planked but those that are can be either curved to match the edge of the deck and to meet a king plank on the centre-line as you mention on yachts and other top build boats, but could easily be straight planked. It is up to the individual.
Most straight planked boats have a curved plank to start with anyway, all around the deck edge and mitred frames around deck openings, the rest of the deck is straight and I usually draw the lines on bass sheets with a fine pen or black ballpoint to simulate this.
More often though, I prefer to slit the plank into scale widths and lay individually using either a contrasting wood veneer strip on edge between each plank or strips of artists colored heavy cartridge paper also stuck on edge in the same way. (Tip:- use a paper guillotine to slice long lengths of card or veneer)
A lot of modern vessels now use a type of silicone between planks as the sealer (Caulking) and this is often grey or even white and gives a nice contrast with varnished or stained basswood (or Obechi) clearly doing it this way is a lot more work but does look really nice when rubbed down and varnished.
Aeronaut, many years ago did a decking sheet which was prelaminated with caulking lines, the most common being mahogany (Sapele) and boxwood or obechi veneer. It is very hard to find this now so I laminate up my own blocks for decking in the same way and slice them thinly on the bandsaw.
If you use their basswood/obechi cut into strip and want to lay it curved you may have to soak it or use steam to get the curves, it being a very close grain hardwood, but this is very effective too.
I use aliphatic resin glue for doing this type of work but medium viscosity cyano (Superglue) is quicker....watch your fingers!.
Hope this helps, questions about planking will normally get everyone telling you how they do it...so I'm probably the first in a long line of hints, tips and methods....have fun.
Ron Rees.
