What a beautiful build so far! The deck planking comes right to life with the oil you treated it with. So much to learn and we newbies have you guys to show us the way. Amazing! ZHL seems to really get it it right....
jeez your fast. super job but.
Than you Folks I've not had much time to work on the ship the past couple days as I have been making room for some family coming up from the Carolinas till the storm blows over. I did get the transom Planked and the start of the Hull planking. I had fully planned to Spile plank this hull instead of the Dutch style planking that's always much easier. I ran into an issue with the Wood for the planking in that its WAY to soft and yet Brittle I don't really like it at all other then its so soft I can just straight plank this ship with very little clinker. the problem comes when I use my bending tool it smashes the wood nearly flat. and that breaks it easier then normal. so for the moment I'm stalled till I can find some Planking. I like this kit but honestly the planking wood with it is just crap and Balsa like. I have looked online and cant find any 2X5mm planking here in the US and I don't want to order it elsewhere as in the past it comes to me in broken bits from shipping. I need 50 planks to do the hull, that will give me 10 for mistakes. so I have a decision to make wait to find good planks or just go with this junk plank and pray for the best. I suspect Ill need a lot of filler and hopefully the second planking will come out ok the second planking is the same as on the decks and its decent wood unlike the first planking.
I planked this transom with Limewood I had from another kit I wish I had more of it, it works well for planking. the planks at the Bow are the wood that came with the kit. by the time it was bent into shape it now isn't as thick as the Bulwarks and Wales as it should be it will require a lot of sanding or filling.
I planked this transom with Limewood I had from another kit I wish I had more of it, it works well for planking. the planks at the Bow are the wood that came with the kit. by the time it was bent into shape it now isn't as thick as the Bulwarks and Wales as it should be it will require a lot of sanding or filling.
Ladies curling iron & a little soak in warm tap water ( 5 min on the bend section) will bend wood like butter and hold shape. Jut dont let her see you!
Yeah I use a curling iron but the wood crushed down when it comes in contact with the iron on the inside of the bends. I have the technique down my problem is the soft balsa like plank wood. I think the wood issue is due to it being laser cut it's getting so dried it its extremely brittle. The wood given to plank with is called Paulownia
Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, and warp-resistant. It is the fastest-growing hardwood. It is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). Its low silica content reduces dulling of blades, making it a preferred wood for boxes to hold fine Japanese edge tools. The wood is burned to make charcoal for sketching and powder for fireworks, the bark is made into a dye. The silvery-grey wood is sliced into veneers for special visiting cards.[10][11]
More recently, it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars and as the core for lightweight touring skis.[citation needed] It is often used in guitars as the core body, then laminated under a more durable wood, such as the Dean ML XM that is made of Paulownia as the body but is topped with mahogany
Paulownia was recently used in the making of a Brad Paisley Fender Telecaster guitar.
These curling irons ?
just rub back and forth across it. no damage to wood.
More recently, it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars and as the core for lightweight touring skis.[citation needed] It is often used in guitars as the core body, then laminated under a more durable wood, such as the Dean ML XM that is made of Paulownia as the body but is topped with mahogany
Paulownia was recently used in the making of a Brad Paisley Fender Telecaster guitar.
These curling irons ?
just rub back and forth across it. no damage to wood.
I see, Thanx for the Info on it I hadn't heard of it before. My guitars are all heavy I believe Beachwood bodies with for sure Maple necks. I think what has happened is due to them Laser cutting the wood it does something to the cellulose structure or something? because this wood is definitely not hard by any stretch of the imagination its seriously like Balsa, I can literally squeeze it between my fingers and crush it flat. I wonder if its actually as advertised wood type. I cant even dent limewood doing the same. I use a curling iron similar to that one but with a large barrel for making big curls in hair. I soaked the end of the plank for 10 min in hot water if that doesn't soften the wood I soak it again in hot water and ammonia. This wood though I honestly am only soaking it and pre bending it so it has no spring back. I can almost bend it around the bow without having to do anything to it prior.
I'm gonna go for it with the wood that came with the kit. I have a whole other hull and decks from the crappy ebay kit so if the planking doesn't work out to well Ill just order better planking and start over with the Ebay kit till I reach the point I'm currently at. plank it with good planking and then use the remainder of the ZHL kit. Both kits are identical except the ebay kit had like 10 strips of definitely Balsa planking and missing a ton of brass parts nail. eyebolts blocks are wrong size dowels were to small and not enough to do more the one mast no rigging line it was a nightmare kit lol I'd hate to start over, but I want this ship to be really nice for my Grandson. I'm gonna try and get rolling on the planking today, but I'm not sure I'll get to it with family here from out of town.
If you look at the picture of the 5 small plank pieces I installed you see there is a gap between them this is from the wood compressing so badly its like squeezing out the sides and preventing the planks from getting tight together I'd have to sand that edge to get good fit up, but the wood is so brittle it will break during that sanding so all I can do is go for it hope for the best and pray the second planking goes down over it nicely enough to hide any issues. I have a bunch of thin second planks from other ships because if I do a good job on the first planking I don't bother to use the second round of planks.
I'm gonna go for it with the wood that came with the kit. I have a whole other hull and decks from the crappy ebay kit so if the planking doesn't work out to well Ill just order better planking and start over with the Ebay kit till I reach the point I'm currently at. plank it with good planking and then use the remainder of the ZHL kit. Both kits are identical except the ebay kit had like 10 strips of definitely Balsa planking and missing a ton of brass parts nail. eyebolts blocks are wrong size dowels were to small and not enough to do more the one mast no rigging line it was a nightmare kit lol I'd hate to start over, but I want this ship to be really nice for my Grandson. I'm gonna try and get rolling on the planking today, but I'm not sure I'll get to it with family here from out of town.
If you look at the picture of the 5 small plank pieces I installed you see there is a gap between them this is from the wood compressing so badly its like squeezing out the sides and preventing the planks from getting tight together I'd have to sand that edge to get good fit up, but the wood is so brittle it will break during that sanding so all I can do is go for it hope for the best and pray the second planking goes down over it nicely enough to hide any issues. I have a bunch of thin second planks from other ships because if I do a good job on the first planking I don't bother to use the second round of planks.
Last edited:
here you have a look at these Pics I squeezed the edge in both width and thickness with jus the fleshy parts of my index finger and thumb you can see it compresses badly and this was with little pressure. applied. I added a strip with no squeeze to compare 
Tks. Pass info onto Max, maybe he can resolve it for you.
But I think, that this timber can not be realy used for the planking......
I'll try that One thing I noticed with the planking wood is its not the length of the ship so it would have to be butted up its short from reaching stem to stern by 3" this really isn't a huge issue I can just do a staggered butt planking which I planned on anyhow, but in all the kits I've built the planking is always long enough to reach stem to stern, even the junk ebay ship had long planking. I'm wondering if the wrong planks were sent by mistake as I haven't heard of anyone else with plank issues from ZHL kits, but I also don't know if Max laser cuts all planking like this stuff is.
I agree I think it wont end well if I try and use it.
Well I tried to get Max to send me some new Planking for this ship. Since Friday 9-14-18 He just keeps saying nothing is wrong with what I have. I would love to know how he comes to that conclusion since I have the Bad Planks and he doesn't. I have been literally begging him to send me some planks for this ship, but as I expected Its not gonna happen. Pity as I was just about to buy another kit from him and no doubt many more in the future. I hate being robbed, just doesn't sit well with me and if he were closer I'd absolutely pay him a visit.
so I guess I'm buying new planking for this ship so I can complete it. I'm sorry if I hurt some feelings, but I will deter folks from him every time ZHL comes up on a topic. I have run my own business in the past and I would never do this to a customer. I work with customers ll day every day on my Job and I'm probably the fairest tech my company has. Customer Support is everything and I'm sorry to say ZHL's absolutely sucks the worst of any business overseas I have ever dealt with. I did let him know I will deter folks from dealing with him, he thinks That's a threat, I call it a Promise.
so I guess I'm buying new planking for this ship so I can complete it. I'm sorry if I hurt some feelings, but I will deter folks from him every time ZHL comes up on a topic. I have run my own business in the past and I would never do this to a customer. I work with customers ll day every day on my Job and I'm probably the fairest tech my company has. Customer Support is everything and I'm sorry to say ZHL's absolutely sucks the worst of any business overseas I have ever dealt with. I did let him know I will deter folks from dealing with him, he thinks That's a threat, I call it a Promise.
Sorry to hear about the poor customer service, I hope you get back on track with the build. It's good to hear the good and the bad about company's and hopefully Max will realize customer service can make or break a company. You would think since he is on the forum that he could see something isn't right with your planks. Good luck Joe.
I sent him pictures of them and told him that some folks don't think it would work out so well to use them. I have heard stories of dealing with China companies, but to date my experiences with them have been pleasant until now. I guess I found one of the don't care ones.
I spoke with Max again just a few min ago I think our language barrier may have been an issue. He thought I was asking for a better grade of Plank wood when I wasn't. I was asking for the same wood and it was misinterpreted as wanting better grade. He has agreed to send some new Paulownia wood so I can get back to this build. In the mean time I will rig the lights and start rounding all the Blocks so they look nice when rigged.
Hi Joe,
...had some time on my hands and read through your pearl. Your a genius and full of energy is all I can say. Your workmanship is precise. Those LED’s. I got mine from Evans, but I see you opted to roll your own.
...had some time on my hands and read through your pearl. Your a genius and full of energy is all I can say. Your workmanship is precise. Those LED’s. I got mine from Evans, but I see you opted to roll your own.
Thank you Brother This ship is for my Grandson so I want it to be a nice build unfortunately I ran into Planking trouble but hopefully Max has some planks OTW to me I was hoping to plank this ship using the Spiling method and end up not having to use the second planking but I think the Paulownia wood will just be to soft. its usually not easy to get a nice smooth finish sand job on soft wood because it gouges easily even with the smallest of grit. Ill do the best I can with it and Skim coat the whole hull to fill any cracks I want a good finish for when I lay down the walnut planks. The second planks Ill run a 4 plank stager and spill those in for the best look. Genius I wish, But thank you. Who is Evans ? is he a member here I got my led's from Digikey and they were a pain to hold while I soldered the wires on they were to tiny for my alligator clips so I laid them emitter side down onto some non hardening modeling clay I dug out a tiny depression with the tip of an exacto blade and set the led in it while I soldered the magnet wire to it. I have a ton of different size magnet wire I use to make actuator coils for RC planes the actuators have a tine magnet in the center that I attach to the control surface so when you pass voltage through the wire coil it creates a magnetic field and attracts the magnet to the right or left depending on which direction voltage is passed through the coil. here is one of the 1/72 scale RC Warbirds I make. This is 6" Wing span 
2 channel RC Ive made these for years and have one of each WWII fighter plane
2 channel RC Ive made these for years and have one of each WWII fighter plane
Hi Pat What wood are you using is it the Paulownia? Mine was very soft and Brittle soft as in I could compress it a lot with just a squeeze between my fingers and brittle because even on a 20-30 min soak in hot water I had to bend It extremely slowly or it would snap. when I say slowly I mean very slowly like it would take me 10 min to bend a large radius 90* bend in it. I think I just got some bad wood or maybe it was damaged from laser cutting as I haven't heard of anyone else have much trouble with the wood type. Softer woods tend to be easier to bend into tight radius and I've seen some bent in near scroll type bends so that's another reason I think I just got a bad or damaged batch. I usually use nails but this is to soft IMO for them. I haven't used white glue or even Tightbond for glue up on these planks yet because I have only laid in a couple down and I chose to do those with CA one thing I did notice is in the past using Balsa wood when CA applicators contacted the wood they would try to stick to it instantly when the two met. I get this same type of thing happening with the Paulownia wood So this kind of gives me clues that Paulownia is possibly in the wood type as Balsa. It could all be that I'm just Spoiled to using Limewood for first planking jobs lol
You mentioned ealier in a post that you may not want to go with a darker look on the peal build. What color are you looking to use?