First Layer of Planking - Part 1

I haven't been here for a while. Between some 'daily business' i found some time (and courage) to start one of the parts that should be both hard and fun: the planking.

The hull is prepared and after fitting on the large parts supplied with the kit, it was time to start the real work.

The internet was again very useful. You can find plenty of tutorials in all languages and for all levels of knowledge and skill.

The first few planks were easy to fit. Shorter and without a real need to be bent, they went on their places without putting a fight on.

If you look at the picture careful, you can see the rest of the planks soaking in water and preparing to be bent for the more complicated part of the hull.

 The procedure is very close to what is usually used in the wood industry: the wood is soaked in water or steam then it is bent using heat or hot objects. With my girlfriends help I was able to use a 'hot object': the hot iron used to curl the hair :). The idea is not new, of course. It is very simple and probably this is why it work really good, at least with the wood i had provided in the kit.

According to the tutorials (the best one I could find is here), each plank is unique and you will need to tapper each one to fit perfectly. Because my model is double planked, there will be another layer on top of the first one, so there is no need for perfection. But, being my first attempt i thought it will be better if  I am going to learn as much as possible about how to do it the right way from the beginning. This should make my chances to get a nice hull in the end much better.

So, I started to bend the planks and tapper them to fit properly. I did not followed all the suggestions from the guide, of course...

This is how it looks after a few days of working. Soon, it will be closed, but you can already see the shape of the hull.

See you soon with a completed hull :)