Issue with Mississippi 1870 steamboat model

[DanceWithGoats]

Newbie here. I've started my second project - the Mississippi 1870 steamboat from ZHL - and encountered a problem with the hull planking. The planking strip is not long enough to reach stem to stern. It's a couple inches short. I'm fairly certain I constructed the hull correctly because it lines up perfectly with the images in the instructions (see attached images).

Do you think it is a mismatched quality control issue due it being a cheap Chinese kit? Or am I supposed to use two planks per strake? Or am overlooking something? Thanks for your guidance.

 

[fourseas]

Since that is hull planking strips in your photo there is nothing wrong with making butt joints on the ribs. I would use doublers on those ribs to give a better surface attachment. Just curious, is that knots in those planking strips or the result of prolonged packaging marks? If it's knots I would definitely go to a better brand of kit for your next project.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the planking you show in the picture looks log enough for the bottom of the hull. how much planking is in the kit and is it all the same length?
Do you think it is a mismatched quality control issue due it being a cheap Chinese kit? Or am I supposed to use two planks per strake? Or am overlooking something? Thanks for your guidance.

i do not think it is an issue with the kit because a prototype is always built first before it goes into production. If there was a problem, it would be caught.

as for the side planking you may have to butt planks to get enough length