caulking

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i was just wondering why model builders will always show caulking between deck planks but rarely if ever show caulking between hull planking?

 

[Pathfinder65]

i was just wondering why model builders will always show caulking between deck planks but rarely if ever show caulking between hull planking?

Very interesting question, I've often wondered about that also.

Jan

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Hahn caulked between hull planking and that is rare to see in general model building.

 

[Don Case]

Is hull planking usually dark? Maybe it just doesn't show.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Is hull planking usually dark? Maybe it just doesn't show.

in some cases the planking is dark and others lighter wood is used like in the sample above. So wood color may not be the main reason.

 

[Alexander74]

in some cases the planking is dark and others lighter wood is used like in the sample above. So wood color may not be the main reason.

Dave, hi. I will try to answer this question. The caulking of the planks of course was. The cladding boards were fitted close to each other. The gaps that remained between the boards reached only a few millimeters. Then they caulked. Imagine the size of a real ship with this caulking gap and tell me on what scale it is possible to repeat it. I think that even on the 24th scale it will not correspond to the real one. In addition, the lower part of the hull was usually covered with a special compound so that the boards would not rot in water or be painted. Depends on the country and the period of construction. The cauliflower is still not visible.
Many modelers omit this point because it will not be true to scale.
This is my opinion, I think so.

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Cauliflower?


Translation from Russian to English or English to Russian has so many quirks!

 

[Mikeyt]

Were not the white hull bottoms painted with white lead paint, and if so I was born at the right time because I remember helping my Dad piant our basement window frames and the first floor window frames and door frames with white lead paint, which lasted forever. I remember that it's consistancy was quite thick and it filled the small cracks in the wood frames, so that's what I asumed they painted the white bottoms of early ships with it, prior to coppering, I may be wrong but my experiences with it on windows and planked flat bottoms, it sort of makes sense.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

actual ships were painted from the keel up to the railings

there is a big difference between building a model ship and building a scale model of a ship.

most model ships are not painted even though the real ships were.

real ships had caulking between hull planks model ships do not

real ships used iron planking spikes models use out of scale wooden dowels

the point is "in model ship building" it is rare to find builders simulating caulking in hull planking but go the extra step to include it on the decks. If you are going to include the detail of caulking on a model why just the deck and not the rest of the model?

if you were going to paint the hull of your model like a real ship then i can see why you would not include caulking because you will be painting over it.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

after some "light" researching it seems the admiralty models are what we consider the state of the art in model ship building.

The admiralty models from what i can find did not simulate caulking on the decks or on the hulls. Alexander74 in post #6 is on to something. Caulking would be out of scale so it was omitted.

The cladding boards were fitted close to each other. The gaps that remained between the boards reached only a few millimeters. Then they caulked. Imagine the size of a real ship with this caulking gap and tell me on what scale it is possible to repeat it. I think that even on the 24th scale it will not correspond to the real one.

just the seam between planks would be enough to suggest caulking. I did find a reference to admiralty models used thin sheets for decking and the upper hull planking and the seams were scribed in then ink was used to inhance the seam.

so adding thick dark caulking seams to a deck is a contemporary trend in model building. If you did the same to the entire hull the model would look like a horizonal zebra with black stripes unless it was done oh so very subtle.

 

[Sailor_ed]

I did a bit of internet research on the Charles W Morgan which is an original whaling ship moored at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, USA. She has been restored and maintained with attention to historical accuracy.

Here is a drawing of her typical planking.


Notice that while the planking may be spiked each would be bunged (with wood plugs). The wales were treenailed. Not sure why the difference as treenails were common fasteners and in some respects better than iron.

Below bottom planks are being replaced. Blue shows a proper seam:triangular with the interior of the seam as tight as possible and open to the outside for caulking. Red shows a seam that is very difficult to caulk as the caulking when driven in will tend to just go all the way through.





The next photos shows a seam being caulked. At this point she is just starting inserting material, later she will pound it in as in the seams above. Later the seam will be painted to protect the caulking. I think these are not hull seams however.


This photo shows the hull in general. Looking at the painted top sides you can see that the seams are quite apparent (but not the caulking).



To my mind wood pegs on a model done as close to treenail scale as possible are entirely appropriate on the usual model of a historic wooden vessel.

This model shows topside seam treatment that I would aspire to had I the talent.

Ed