well then how's how is your math? take the span and divide it by 16.....each plank would still be the same width, making up the difference of that half-plank.
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I'm not sure I understand your question. The whole point of using proportional dividers when lining off planking is to evenly apportion the widths of each plank at each frame, so you don't end up with a "fraction of a plank" over the whole distance of a frame face. I suspect that, as is often the case, you have been misled by kit assembly instructions which address the use of pre-cut straight "strip wood" pieces, often uniformly about a quarter inch wide, which the kit instructions refer to as "planking." It is possible to develop the shape of a hull using uniformly shaped strips of wood such as are provided in many kits to simply "sheath" the frames, without regard to prototypical planking shapes and appearance, and with voids filled with putty, sanded fair, and painted. This is not the sort of "planking" we are talking about here, though.
If the planking is properly lined off, there should always be the same number of planks of equal widths crossing each frame face in the section of planking. There are instances at the extreme ends of certain hull shapes where the width of the plank will need to be considerably wider than the width of the same plank at its center. In order to conserve materials, "stealers" or "drop planks" are used, consisting of essentially a short "wedge-shaped" plank that serves to permit the long planks from having to be got out from such wide stock. These matters are discussed in greater detail in the below articles, as well as in many published treatises on full-sized and scale hull planking methods.
In prototypical planking practice, separate sections or "belts" of planking are often lined off, frequently two to four of each to each side of the hull. The planking widths within each of these "belts" should be equal to each other but will vary from the uniform planking widths of planks within other planking "runs." Breaking up the planking into sections permits a variation in plank width where the shape of the hull will accommodate the use of wider planking stock, such as at the first two or three planks between the garboard and the turn of the bilge, or where its more sharply curved shape demands the use of narrower planking stock to avoid the necessity of major "backing out." "Backing out" is the necessary hollowing out of the back faces of planks which must fay fairly against a sharply curved frame face. This generally requires a thicker planking stock because the center of the inboard face of the plank must be a concave curve and the outboard face of the plank a convex curve so as to create a plank with a "cupped" sectional shape.) As with "stealers" and "dropped planks," sectioning is addressed in the articles linked below.
Since the widths of each plank will vary at each frame depending upon the shape of the hull (theoretically, though much less so on a "flat" sided hull shape), the usefulness of proportional dividers in lining off planks is the ease with which any distance between two points can be divided into any number of equal parts. This is accomplished by measuring the face of each frame crossed by a section of planking. This distance must be exact. As it is a curved shape, a "tick strip" should be used. This is a piece of paper or tape laid flush against the curved frame face with a "tick mark" made at the top and bottom of the frame face where the planking run has been lined off. The distance so marked on the tick strip is then divided into the number of planks in the planking section with the dividers and marked off. As this process is repeated for every frame face, the actual shape of each frame may then be constructed by laying out the length of each plank with the planking widths drawn at each frame and the end points of the plank width distances connected with a drawing batten or ship's curve to define the exact flat sawn shape of each plank such that when it is offered up to the frames and bent so as to lay flush to the frame faces will fit perfectly next to its immediately adjacent planks. Assuming the frames have been accurately made and set up, this division of length across frame faces must be done for each frame, or nearly so, it again not being so critical where the hull is "slab sided" (flat) as where it is curved at the ends. This is a tedious exercise. The distance along the curved face of each frame must be divided into a number of segments of equal length, one for each plank which crosses the frame face. Proportional dividers do this equal division of segments of a known length mechanically. An alternative, but arguably more cumbersome, method is the use of what is known as a "planking fan." This is also described in the below articles.
Planking Downloads and Tutorials and Videos
modelshipworld.com
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