Hood Build - Week 29/34

Part 1 -
Second planking starts, I will not be following the magazine instructions/order, as I prefer to plank my way..be it correct or not, its my preferred approach. Nothing much to talk about here apart from trying to get as good as possible 2nd planking as possible, trying to correct any areas you think may show with either dips or bumps, sand the first planking well will set you up perfectly for the second and last layer on our ship. Once again a little time taken over the 'thinner' planks supplied by bevelling them to butt up against each other were needed, this will mean you sanding will be minimal.

Some outdoor sanding, the rain stopped and the wind was in a good directions..perfect day for sanding the hull!

Always look at the hull from different direction with the light coming from various directions, this shows any imperfections better.

I laid the hull against the drawing to see how the ply stern area compared, you can also see the port holes are a little out here..

With some degree of trepidation I started the second and what will be a final layer of planking, I was first mulling over what to do to hold the planks down while the glue dries..as I'm using Aliphatic wood glue this tends to have a high tack if spread well and just hold off a few seconds, then apply the plank, maybe as in this case (picture) a single tack with the elastic band doing the business the other end. The futher along the hull the plank laid nice and flat with no need for tack (nails).

As mentioned before about bevelling your planks, this picture shows you what I mean, the main picture is one of the second layer planking laid in place, the gap shows up...inset picture show a small amount of sanding the edge of the plank (bevelling) and again laid in place...your choice...less sanding!

As you can see I'm only working on one side first but still stepping the planks but not as shown in the magazine....my favoured choice no other reason.

As you can see here Ive decided to add and single plank along the stern ply area where the rudder and screws will be, I wanted a nice clean shape here, so by adding that single piece all other planks butt up against it, giving me a uniform shape to work with.

I spread the Aliphatic glue over the area to be planked..as opposed to glueing the plank, let this dry a little before offering up the plank, once the plank hits this area is really does hold firm, a damp cloth wipes away any excess glue.

The start of Issue 34 has more planks but this time starts the upper section of the hull but not planking right up to the decks, hopefully Issue 35 finished this off. Do remember not to over sand this area and we want that small lip.

Well that is it for now, I'll be working more on the second planking over the weekend and during the week, I'll post up some progress shots in a new 'Part 2' post.


Aliphatic Rapid Glue
Outperforms traditional white glues with it's super fast grab time and superior sanding qualities. It will bond most porous materials such as balsa, plywood, spruce, obechi etc. and it is water and shock resistant. Useful for joining aircraft cowling blocks, wing skins, fuselage or hull planking. In fact, it is useful for any joints where the glue line needs to be carved or sanded afterwards. The glue joint will not show - unlike normal sanded PVA glue joints.