I just tried it on my Polaris build and it worked really well. My 15 5mm planks fell into my 3 bands very evenly with very little bending needed and 3mm at the stem. Might not be so easy on different bow shapes though. I'm sure when I get more experienced I'll be able to lay the planks without this method. One thing for sure is I didn't want to lay them down per instructions. (full planks where you can and fill in the rest)I have never seen this done but it sure looks like it is worth a try.
Allan