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Author Topic: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.  (Read 1110 times)

Rodgearing

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Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« on: January 02, 2022, 03:09:10 pm »

I am scratch building 'A Tug'The hull will be the same as The ANTEO,  The superstructure will be something else.
I am using , as said, the plans for an ANTEO hull and have put in the farmes decks etc and ready to plank it.I have had a couple of goes back last year.It got to the stage where by I gave up and put it, the hull negative covering, back on the shelf.Any one got any ideas how I can cover the hull other than planking?GRP?  any other ways?I need help or it says on the shelf gathering even more dust and spiders.




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chas

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2022, 03:47:44 pm »

Tell us what went wrong when you tried planking, it must have been traumatic to have put you off so badly.

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dougal99

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2022, 05:29:11 pm »

Planking can be a pain but not so bad you give up. I have planked several hulls over the years but covered them all with fibreglass tissue, Rounded sterns in particular are b*gg*rs so I resort to carving block.
I have an article on the basics, which is too big to attach (8 pages). If you pm me your email I will send it to you.
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SteamboatPhil

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2022, 05:39:53 pm »

You could go Old school and use brown gum strip paper, however you will need a lot of stringers over the bulkheads to keep the shape, and then maybe blocks for the bow and stern.
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Colin Bishop

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2022, 06:25:54 pm »

Some people make the mistake of trying to bend the planks in a way that they don't want to go in order to keep them next to each other! If you are building a hull like the Anto then just lay the planks along the frames without forcing them and working down from deck level and up from the keel. Stick them together at the middle of the hull where there will usually be a good fit. You will get a lot of gaps at the ends but these can be largely filled with 'stealer' planks which are short lengths tapered to a point at one end and inserted into the gaps. They can be stuck to the frames where possible and to the adjacent planks. You will still have some cracks but these can be filled with suitable wood filler and the whole hull rubbed down flush. It doesn't matter what it looks like as it will all be painted over. You just need to get an even thickness of wood & filler over the frames, it doesn't much matter how you do this.

If it makes things easier to get a better gluing surface you can 'thicken' the frames with balsa sheet trimmed to match the frame shape.

As Phil says, if the curve (particularly at the stern), is too great to allow the planks to bend then insert balsa blocks between the frames and carve them to shape to match the frames but in this case you will need to add material to the edge of the frames to allow for the planking thickness on the rest of the hull.

Finally you can cover the hull if you wish with fibreglass tissue or lightweight cloth as Dougal suggests. It's a good idea to paint the inside with fibreglass resin as well.

Colin
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Rodgearing

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2022, 06:41:59 pm »

Thanks for all your responses.
Balsa wood blocking looks like the route to go.
Might give that a go especially the front and rear ends.
With the balsa wood blocking as the way to go what size balsa wood would you suggest (thickness)
Thanks

Aye Fred
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grendel

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2022, 06:44:00 pm »

on my boat I steam bent the planks, clamping them to the hull, then next day gluing that plank and steaming the next on the other side, always start the bend at the point with the biggest curve.
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Colin Bishop

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2022, 07:02:50 pm »

Quote
on my boat I steam bent the planks, clamping them to the hull, then next day gluing that plank and steaming the next on the other side, always start the bend at the point with the biggest curve.

Yes, that's the 'proper' way to do it, especially if the planking will be visible but it can take a long time! Most people won't have the patience, particularly if the object is to create a 'shell' hull which will be painted. I generally favour what I call 'composite construction' whereby the hull is made up of a combination of bread and butter, sheeting, planking and blocks as is appropriate to the shape of the model.

My liner Miltiades hull features a bread and butter base for the turn of the bilge, sheeted midship sections with planking fore and aft except for the counter stern which employs balsa blocks.



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Klunk

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #8 on: January 03, 2022, 04:48:12 am »

Always infill between the bulkheads with polystyrene foam (not expanding). Once dry, sand to shape then cover with fibereglass an resin, then pour acetone inside on the foan to melt it. Messy though!
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JimG

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Re: Planking or an alternative way to cover the hull.
« Reply #9 on: January 03, 2022, 11:40:00 am »

Always infill between the bulkheads with polystyrene foam (not expanding). Once dry, sand to shape then cover with fibereglass an resin, then pour acetone inside on the foan to melt it. Messy though!
If you want to go this route and intend to use polyester resin then the foam must be well sealed and coated, generally with paint. Otherwise you wont need to add acetone to dissolve the foam, the resin will do this while glassing it. Using epoxy resin stops the need to do this as it doesn't dissolve foam.
Jim
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