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Royal Louis - Mamoli

I’m now moving on to second planking the lower hull using 4x1mm walnut strip. I once tried using the supposed correct method of planking but without a great deal of success so I’m not going to start like that again on such a difficult hull. I’ll just concentrate on getting the planks down flat and neat with only one eye on a sort of correct flow so if pointy bits offend your eye look away now. I use both white glue and cyno for attaching the planks. I have already sanded the edges of the planks to get a nice clean fit, also to help a clean looking fit after I’ve laid each plank and whilst the glue is still moist I lightly sand the area, this removes any surface glue and at the same time fills any gaps with sawdust, especially helpful where I’ve put in fillets. I found that the way that I introduced the rabbet line has worked very well.


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Vfordyce said:
Have you tried stealers in the past? They didn’t seem to be so hard to make.
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Agreed. Plan the stealers out, identifying pinch points or expansion point areas, and make them in pairs, port and starboard. Draw pencil lines on the loose planks you about to tape and attach, and test fit. Once you get used to the thinking involved in predicting where to install stealers and drop planks, it does get easier. No pointy planks required.
 
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Ken said:
I’m now moving on to second planking the lower hull using 4x1mm walnut strip. I once tried using the supposed correct method of planking but without a great deal of success so I’m not going to start like that again on such a difficult hull. I’ll just concentrate on getting the planks down flat and neat with only one eye on a sort of correct flow so if pointy bits offend your eye look away now. I use both white glue and cyno for attaching the planks. I have already sanded the edges of the planks to get a nice clean fit, also to help a clean looking fit after I’ve laid each plank and whilst the glue is still moist I lightly sand the area, this removes any surface glue and at the same time fills any gaps with sawdust, especially helpful where I’ve put in fillets. I found that the way that I introduced the rabbet line has worked very well.


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Lovely Ken. Very neat planking. Cheers Grant
 
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Vfordyce said:
Have you tried stealers in the past? They didn’t seem to be so hard to make.
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Hi Vic. Yes I would normally use stealers and I think with reasonable success, so I’m with you on that.
 
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
Agreed. Plan the stealers out, identifying pinch points or expansion point areas, and make them in pairs, port and starboard. Draw pencil lines on the loose planks you about to tape and attach, and test fit. Once you get used to the thinking involved in predicting where to install stealers and drop planks, it does get easier. No pointy planks required.
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Hi Kurt. I totally understand what you’re saying and seeing your work I can see why you would like to see all hulls done that way. This will most likely be my last build, I know what I can achieve doing it a simple way, this will be a difficult enough hull to do as it is so now is not the time for me to push the boat out. I’m afraid that you’ll have to turn a blind eye to it. Ken
 
Ken said:
Hi Kurt. I totally understand what you’re saying and seeing your work I can see why you would like to see all hulls done that way. This will most likely be my last build, I know what I can achieve doing it a simple way, this will be a difficult enough hull to do as it is so now is not the time for me to push the boat out. I’m afraid that you’ll have to turn a blind eye to it. Ken
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I understand. We have to work within our limits. Thanks Ken!
 
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Good morning, as you can see it's a nice sunny day, hopefully were coming out of winter and into some better weather. This is just a short pictorial update showing my humble effort at planking. I'm happy so far, the seams are tight and there are no sprung planks.


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Ken said:
Good morning, as you can see it's a nice sunny day, hopefully were coming out of winter and into some better weather. This is just a short pictorial update showing my humble effort at planking. I'm happy so far, the seams are tight and there are no sprung planks.


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Hi Ken,

very nice progress.

Unfortunately, now that the weather has turned and we have some sunny weather, I have received new orders from my commander - garden! Hopefully, I can keep my build going, and do all the other "stuff". If it stays nice we will try to have a ride up your way and drop in to say hello.

Dom
 
I’m making fairly rapid progress on the build. I’ve finished the second planking except for covering the stern post it does need a good sanding before I decide on a finish, stain or paint, not sure which yet. I did make it difficult for myself, I soon realized that I wasn’t going to have enough planks, I was about eight short, I’d used the hull planks to sheath the prow and keel by mistake. .5x3mm were supplied for that, I didn’t have any 1mm walnut in my stash so I glued .5x3mm strips together to make them 1mm thick and I used them towards the bow where I would have needed to taper the 4mm planks anyway. It worked okay, I think that I just about got away with it, I must pay more attention.


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First of all Ken, I wish you all the best and a very happy birthday Birthday-Cake.

Your hull looks great,. You are making ncredible progress.
 
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Ken said:
I’m making fairly rapid progress on the build. I’ve finished the second planking except for covering the stern post it does need a good sanding before I decide on a finish, stain or paint, not sure which yet. I did make it difficult for myself, I soon realized that I wasn’t going to have enough planks, I was about eight short, I’d used the hull planks to sheath the prow and keel by mistake. .5x3mm were supplied for that, I didn’t have any 1mm walnut in my stash so I glued .5x3mm strips together to make them 1mm thick and I used them towards the bow where I would have needed to taper the 4mm planks anyway. It worked okay, I think that I just about got away with it, I must pay more attention.


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Hi Ken,

Looks really nice, I find it annoying that they don't include enough spare strips in kits (10%) to allow for "accidents", the cost would be minimal. Finish is always a tough choice, varnished looks nice but the ship would have been painted which would cover up the nice walnut. I was trying to find some old photographs of the large model of the Royal Louis that they have on display at the Maritime Museum in Paris that I took when I was there. I think it is an 1/12 scale (5.2 m length) that was used for training cadets on construction and rigging back in the day, very impressive model, but a bit too large to have sitting on the sideboard!

Dom
 
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DomCee said:
Hi Ken,

Looks really nice, I find it annoying that they don't include enough spare strips in kits (10%) to allow for "accidents", the cost would be minimal. Finish is always a tough choice, varnished looks nice but the ship would have been painted which would cover up the nice walnut. I was trying to find some old photographs of the large model of the Royal Louis that they have on display at the Maritime Museum in Paris that I took when I was there. I think it is an 1/12 scale (5.2 m length) that was used for training cadets on construction and rigging back in the day, very impressive model, but a bit too large to have sitting on the sideboard!

Dom
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Hi Dom. I agree that a wood finish would be nice and is my preferred look, I’ve a bit to go yet before I decide. The planking always looks poor when it’s first done, the finish is often disappointing prior to sanding. I’m going to rub in some coloured filler between the planks that should disguise some of the odd flow of them, then I’ll stain which should give a more even colour so that it will look a little less patchwork, a coat of sealer will smooth out a lot of the grain, then finally a coat of matt varnish. If that gives an acceptable finish I’ll leave it a wood finish, if it doesn’t look as good as I hope I’ll paint it an anti foul with perhaps a small amount of weathering. There, that’s my thinking. The bulbous hull at the bow caused me some difficulty, it would have been nice to have had plenty of planks to use in a trial and error way to get a better flow but that was not to be and I ended up using scraps, as you mentioned kits aren’t very generous when it comes to supplying enough
 
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