So
Brian60 says......
'I wouldn't bother too much about the planking, most planked ships you see have a few that don't lay completely flat'I do agree here Danielle..... maybe time to take a rest & have a few glasses of Schnapps & think about the final external surface of the planked hull
Will it be simply painted just like real ships that show the planking lines?, or bogged up with filler and externally fibre glassed?....
I understand your preference for an authentic planked look ....so why not try & understand the whole concept
So for water tight integrity, most employ the glass + resin, although this can be applied internally & leave the externals to be varnished or painted
Some could rightly suggest this manner will leave the external planking subject to mechanical or impact damage in the water, and yes this is so......if or when it happens you follow the same procedure as real vessels and put the model on the slips and correct the damage
In the 4th Century BC, the Chinese painted the undersides and some externals and the internals of their wooden vessels with
TUNG Oil...then after a drying period painted some externals with bright colours
TUNG Oil is commercially available in 1 litre tins for about $54.00........all just food for thought
............Derek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_oil