Step 5:
The planks are prepped by lightly sanding each face and rubbing a pencil across the edges using the instructions I found
here.
I plank out the false deck using contact cement as suggested by the instructions. I could have used a wood glue and I don't think there is really 'right' answer to which glue is best. One thing I will note is that as thick as the glue was coming out of the pot, it was quickly absorbed by the wood and I wish that I had applied a second coat to either the plank backs or the false deck prior to mating the two surfaces. Not shown is how to glue up the backs of the planks. This
video shows the process.
Step 6:
the planking is cut back per the instructions.
Step 7:
The plan show to mark the butt ends at 100 mm intervals with adjacent planks staggered by 50 mm. I once again go my own way and mark the butt ends of the planks using the following ratio: 5:2:4:1:3 (in my case, I stay with a plank measuring 100 mm, so I have a repeating pattern of 5 'starter' planks with the following lengths: 100:40:80:20:60). I also omit penciling in any nail plugs as I have read that they would not really have been visible at this scale.
Step 8:
I skip for now.
Step 9:
The two decks are glued onto the bulkheads and held tight using rubber bands. At this point, I installing planks to both the upper deck and to the vertical bulkhead I had skipped in steps 2-3. I also shellaced the deck planks at this point. Maybe I should have waited, but I knew I would be handling the model quite a bit while I faired the hull and installed the planking so I decided to protect the deck now. Bull's Eye shellac says NOT TO THIN...like that, in capitals. Well, it goes on way too thick and it took me a few attempts to get the finish right. I really should have experimented on a small mock up before shellacing the deck, but I did learn how to turn a heavy handed finish into something that looks pretty good. Going forward, I WILL THIN the darn shellac and I WILL test the results before applying it to the model! As a side note, shellac is quite the rabbit hole if one is inclined to learn about it as I was forced to.