Ok so sheeting the bottom of the hull is a real pain in the A$$ well not the actual bottom more so the curves. inch: The wood just isnt sitting right. I think I am going to do a hybrid of sheets and planks before i fiberglass it. I plan to use sheets for the flat bottom portions and planks of the same thickness for the curves. This SHOULD save me from frustration all though it will take significantly longer. as always thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
Well first I tried to use 1/32 ply and it sorta work but it kept popping off so I started to use 1/64 but after the curve when trying to atach it to both ribs, one being not as wide due to the shape of the hull, it did this not so pretty bend in the middle. So i think I will use 1/32 stuff for the flat bottom portion and then switch over to small strips of the 1/64 stuff for the curve. Does this seem like a god plan?
Ok so I went down to my ship and started to fiddle with it. I tried another piece of 1/32 on the bottom and curve and this time it worked perfectly. I think I just was working a little to fast last night so it caused the weird bend. We shall see.
You should consider something besides your stuffing tube carrying the load of the stern there (and anything piled, dropped, etc on the stern) Might be a little overly paranoid, but that's not something you want to be having to rip out down the road.
I completely agree with you Nick. It is on my to do list to reinforce it completely. Right now although it looks to be holding up that stern section it really isnt. It is sitting a very very very small fraction above it almost to the point you cant see. The connection is still very weak indeed though. I plan to either fill around the tube with wood filler and then use to pieces of 1/8 birch on either side to add the true support. Or I may just not do the wood filler and just do the support pieces of 1/8" birch. Any suggestions?
She looks great! Very nice to see. When I planked the Rodney, I started planking her at the bottom, closest to the bow and stern keel and alternated side to side, even strips. If you wet your balsa wood, I mean soak it in a bathtub with hot water, it will bend super easy. Even a large flat pan with water should do. I used gorrilla glue - so the moist ribs will work to your advantage. Then use lots of small plastic clamps. You can buy a whole crap load of them at a hardware store, at various sizes. Its sometimes good to have extra hardwood strips to lay in between if you feel like. I also used large T head pins or large pushpins from my wives sewing basket to pin the planking in place. Angle it a bit so it pushed the balsa against a previous set piece and to hold it against the rib. Rubber bands can work as well.(gorilla glue foams...although they have a good superglue that is very strong, and does not seem to foam all that much also - but expensive.) Or, if you feel like it, you could use Super Glue...and the accellaertor. Glue, stick, spray - DONE. That easy. And with superglue, the glue litterly seeps into the balsa. You will never get that off. The balsa around the glue breaks first. Then you can always go back and use expoxy or whatever. If joints are poping out, you can add very thin superglue in there as well. Now thats only for the bottom area...the impenetrable area. CA glue should be ok with the penetrable area, although you wana use the very thick stuff from what I've read, so it does not soak/harden the balsa more than necessary to glue the joints. Then sand - a bummer about the super glue method is, that glue hardened balsa will not want to sand easily, so be careful. And dont force the wood too much. Shave off and sand off areas, especially the joints. I cut mine at an angle so they fit better. Tedious, but then you dont have weired gaps or ridges. Its a labor but so much fun. Check out how modelers plank the real wooden ships, in scale or in real life. You will learn alot about how to plank a boat. Cheers, Thomas PS: I add lots of stringers around the base of the hull to help with the gluing, planking since that area is always very curvey. Some extra work, but you get a much stronger hull, straighter, not subject to warping, and lots of glue area for your toughest planking. The flat sides are easy...its the bottom thats the hardest.
I am actually continueing on with useing the sheets of 1/32 and 1/64 ply. it bends pretty well and I have been useing CA glue with a little bit of tighbond2 to double up on the connection
Aircraft Plywood? I like that stuff. But no wonder you have a hard time bending it... Expensive too. Since the volcano erruption in Iceland, which killed of lots of trees, the pricess have climbed astronomically...at least for the Hobbyshops up here in AK.
Ya I got it from that same place I got my rib materials and it wasnt to bad but I'm not sure what the market price should be. Oh and it bends easy enough, its just preventing the little bit of bend after the curve.
Looks good but should you double the middle and do a waterchannel? Now's the time instead of going back. Makes me want to build a wood hull....
The middle portion of the keel is actually a double keel set about 2" apart (hard to see in the pics). It runs approx 1/2" the entire length of the ship.
If you look on the second page of this thread you can see a photo of the ship upside down with the double keel showing. The middle portions have now in fact been cut out creating the water channel . Building is fun haha
Tirpitz is in a holding pattern at the moment. Waiting for construction materials to arrive at the ship yard. Mean while I have a Lutzow recently added to my fleet almost done with her refit/mini overhaul. She is scheduled for sea trials sometime next week if her parts come on time haha.
The Planks for the Tirpitz have arrived so construction is going to be back underway tonight after work It has been to long sense I was able to get anything done on her. Also the Lutzow is just about ready for a float test followed by sea trials after her refit/overhaul Just need to connect all the wires together haha
Planking is not hard to do but is time consuming that is for sure. More pictures of the progress to come.
