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Why not more kits with spiled planking?

U

ubjs

Joined
Sep 5, 2018
Messages
180
Points
88

Why aren't there more models with spiled planking?
Considering how many questions and how many people struggle with the planking on their boats,
I find it strange that there aren't more ships with spiled planking.
I built the hull for Poldolsk from Master Korabel and it was significantly easier than building conventionally.
Considering that the technology has been around for a long time,
you wonder why more manufacturers don't catch on?
 
Great question. Maybe it is about the cost to first develop the shapes and then the cost to cut the shapes or it could be that some kit manufacturers just have no idea on how to do it. Unless this kind of thing costs them sales, there is no reason for them to invest in this kind of improvement.
Allan
 
What is sad to me is that the Asian companies do more research on European ships than most, if not all, European kit makers. Resting on one's laurels will catch up with them eventually.
Allan
 
I've done two PoF models with laser cut spiled planking and it was a nightmare. With little changes in the shape here and there during construction, the parts weren't a perfect fit. After extensive modification, they still weren't great. I ended up scanniing them in advance, modifying in Illustrator, and laser cutting myself with pieces that were a little fuller.

The other way you can do it, and I found one kit that does this, is to supply sheets so that you can spile them yourself (Philadelphia, Model Shipways). That one wasn't too big of a lift, big pieces.I think one or more of the kits from Syren require spiling as well, but I don't know from sure. Chuck Passaro has some nice videos of him doing it on his commercially available kits. When he has them in stock.

Maybe kit manufacturers think that if someone is buying a kit, they may not have the skills to spile the whole thing. And "sticks" are ok for a big part of the hull as well.
It would be nice if the price of the kit was all inclusive, but there's nothing stopping the builder from buying sheets and spiling the hull, or at least the sections that really need it.
 
When I built the OcCre Revenge I bought some sheets of 1mm thick walnut and cut spiled planks. This worked well up to a point but when the lower level planks were cut they needed quite a sharp curve. This meant that the grain was compromised and bending round the bulkheads near the bow resulted in breaks. Spliling with thin plywood would be better but would not present a pleasing surface unless the model is painted or coppered. Or perhaps 1mm plywood cold be veneered with walnut or (ugh!) sapele before cutting. Spiling is tedious but makes a change from tapering/chamfering/fitting drop planks.
 
You might think I suggested that regular kits should be banned. :)

I just think that this spiled planking is a good idea for those who don't like hull building and I also think it can be good for beginner models since you have so much else to get organized anyway.

There is nothing that prevents you from just using spiled planking on the first layer and then building the second layer conventionally. Many experienced builders still buy better wood than what comes with the kit.

Personally, I don't have any major problems with planking the regular way, but I also liked Poldolsk.

Some of the answers above are perhaps part of the answer to my question.
You should do as you have always done, otherwise you might as well build Lego or plastic models. :)
 
I think one issue has to do with the fact that not all kit builders fair bulkheads/frames to the same degree of fairness and symmetry, which could cause problems with pre-shaped planks. From that point of view, spiling to your as-built reality is likely to produce better results.
 
On the frames of the Podolsk there was a laser-marked line that you had to file against.
Very good, especially if you are new to ship model building.
On my first models I sanded too little so a guide line would have been good.
 
ubjs said:
Why aren't there more models with spiled planking?
Considering how many questions and how many people struggle with the planking on their boats,
I find it strange that there aren't more ships with spiled planking.
Click to expand...

There aren't more ship model kits with spiled planking because consumers will only buy a ship model kit if they believe buying that kit will enable them to build the model pictured on the cover of the box.

Ship model kit buyers purchase ship model kits because they want to think of themselves as "ship modelers" and have others agree with them. Building a ship model without a kit requires the prior acquisition of highly-specialized and extensive knowledge, experience, and skill in amounts which most find prohibitively daunting. Ship model kits purport to provide the opportunity to purchase everything one requires to build a ship model, including the knowledge of how to do it, packaged in a box. To various degrees of success, this is what ship model kit manufacturers do. One of the ways they do it is by employing hull fabrication methods which do not require "higher learning" of skills such as spiling planks.

Dimensioned strip wood planking is a creature of the ship model kit industry. Most ship model scratch builders spile their own planking and would not be inclined to engineer a model hull in the way the kit manufacturers do. To understand dimensioned strip wood planking, it's helpful to understand how it came to be widespread in the world of ship modeling kits.

Ship model kits are marketed aspirationally. Aspirational marketing is marketing that focuses on selling a vision of transformation rather than just products. It taps into the identity that customers wish to achieve, answering questions like “Who do I want to become?” and “What kind of lifestyle am I striving for?” For example, brands like Nike don’t just sell sneakers; they sell the identity of an athlete -- someone disciplined and powerful. Similarly, ship model kit manufacturers don't just sell ship model kits, they sell the identity of a ship modeler -- someone disciplined, skilled, patient, and highly knowledgeable who does something for a hobby that most others cannot. (Evidenced in large measure by the popularity of "monster" models such as Victory, Wasa, or San Filipe as the uninformed novice's first build.) This approach makes the customer the hero of their own story, with the product as a key tool in their transformation: "Buy a ship model kit and you will become a ship modeler."

The effectiveness of aspirational marketing lies in its ability to resonate with consumers' emotions and self-perceptions. It bridges the gap between their current selves and their ideal selves, leveraging the human inclination towards self-improvement and social recognition. This is why ship model kit advertising subtly promises that people will be impressed with you when they see your models and you will feel proud when they say, "I could never have the patience to do that!" Be ye "butcher, baker, or candlestick maker," (or these days perhaps "broker, accountant, or orthodontist," groups with whom it seems Harley Davidson's aspirational advertising particularly resonates, :p ) you'll really be somebody when you build ship models.

Aspirational marketing relies on three primary strategies:

Authenticity: Brands must maintain at least the appearances of honesty and transparency in their messaging, avoiding unrealistic promises. Authentic stories and testimonials can enhance credibility. Unfortunately, the realities of inadequate instructions, sub-par materials, and flawed accuracy are often obfuscated by choruses of "satisfied customers" on social media platforms effusively congratulating each other on their frankly mediocre models. It's no surprise that folks are hesitant to criticize a beginner's efforts and to what purpose when constructive criticism often occasions bruised egos? In this fashion, ship modeling has become like the Special Olympics: everybody gets a prize for participating... and buying a ship model kit is the only entry fee.

Understanding the Audience: Marketers should deeply understand their target audience's aspirations, fears, and self-image to create effective aspirational messages. And indeed, they do. Most ship model kit manufacturers are ship modelers themselves.

Balancing Inspiration and Attainability: Successful aspirational marketing finds a balance between inspiring consumers and presenting attainable goals, ensuring that the aspirations portrayed are relatable. This is perhaps the greatest challenge ship model manufacturers face. It's relatively easy to "reel in" a customer that has already "swallowed the bait," but something else again to "land that fish" so they complete their first model and come back for more as a "habitual kit modeler." (God forbid they "go over to the dark side" realizing they can build ship models without buying kits and start scratch building!) In reality, though, it seems the model kit industry has "priced in" the risk that customers will buy but one model that they'll never finish and not ever buy another one. Anecdotal reports are that it happens a lot, but, given the kit companies' continued solvency, P.T. Barnum's maxim that "There's a sucker born every minute." seems to apply.


Most any "investment grade" planked ship model in a private collection or a museum will have spiled planks. "Strip wood" planking is a creature of the ship model kit industry that began to become commonplace among kit manufacturers beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century. The simple explanation for this is that strip wood is cheap and few, if any, of the consumers purchasing ship model kits know how to properly spile and hang plank. There was a time when "old sailors" and shipwrights were the primary population that built ship models and they knew how ships were built, so that's how in large measure they built their models. Modern kit purchasers are often not directly familiar with the maritime subject matter they are modeling and, as a group, have little, if any, experience or understanding of how wooden ships are built, how wood and metal are worked in a scale modeling context, or, in many cases, any interest at all in learning all that. Their background is often in the assembly and painting and weathering of plastic model kits which provide the modeler with a complete set of highly accurate injection moulded parts to glue together without further fabrication short of cleaning off casting flash and sprue "nubs." Plastic modeling demands a different skill set.

Prior to the last quarter of the 1900's, ship model kits were quite basic compared to present-day ship model kits. American kit manufacturers such as Model Shipways, Marine Models, Bluejacket Shipcrafters, sold "kits" that, by today's standards, would be equivalent to "scratch builds." They would contain a set of plans, usually two or three 14" x 22" sheets of lines drawings, a sail plan, and a variety of deck furniture and rigging details. "Instructions," such as they were, often were little more than a letter-sized sheet of text explaining the general chronology of a build and a schedule of paint colors. Also included would be a roughly, but accurately, machine-carved solid wood hull, usually of well-seasoned basswood. (Reportedly, these became popular following WWII when a number of otherwise very expensive duplicating carving machines formerly used to manufacture gunstocks became available on the post-war government surplus market.) Lastly, the old kits provided a bag of rough metal castings, wire, and string, providing the detail pieces in an amount and quality which varied according to the price point of the kit.

When plastic modelers began to demonstrate an interest in "classic" wooden sailing ship models they found themselves frustrated by the then-currently available ship model kits which presumed the buyer came equipped with considerable specialized skills, The kit manufacturers sought to satisfy this demand by offering model kits which as closely as possible replicated the assembly technology of the plastic kits the consumers were used assembling. At first, they printed the wooden parts on sheets of wood for the builder to cut out. Some manufacturers provided die-cut parts on wooden sheets. When CNC laser cutting technology became available, many kit manufacturers have now embraced this technology to pre-cut wooden kit parts. Notably, the "double-plank on bulkhead" and "plank on frame" construction approaches evolved to eliminate much, if not all, of the buyer's need to know how to read ships' plans and loft hull shapes as in full-size shipbuilding practice. Here also began the practice of "planking" with uniform dimensioned strips of wood applied to an armature of "bulkheads" or "frames" as if it were lathing and thereafter filled with putty or plaster and sanded fair before painting. This approach yielded an acceptable hull if done artfully. Dimensioned wood strips and sheet stock are relatively inexpensive in terms of materials and fabrication, compared with large carved blocks of clear basswood. Most significantly, in theory, at least, the modern kit assembly engineering permitted modelers to simply assemble a "museum quality" ship model based on step-by-step instructions without any prior experience or skill whatsoever. At least, that's what the kit manufacturer's advertising copy says.

Both the options for engineering a scratch-built ship model's construction and for engineering a ship model kit are therefore to these extents dictated by the builder's knowledge, experience, and skill. Each approach is capable of producing a satisfying result for the model's builder. There's never any "free lunch," of course. Each approach has its advantages and its limitations and the choice between the two has its consequences as well. It's up to the individual modeler to consider their goals and objectives and the level of their knowledge, experience, and skill in choosing between a kit or not a kit. "To spile, or not to spile, that is the question." And as been said before, let the quality of the resulting model speak for itself.
 
Last edited:
glennb17 said:
Maybe kit manufacturers think that if someone is buying a kit, they may not have the skills to spile the whole thing. And "sticks" are ok for a big part of the hull as well.
It would be nice if the price of the kit was all inclusive, but there's nothing stopping the builder from buying sheets and spiling the hull, or at least the sections that really need it.
Click to expand...

Oh, that's not a "maybe" at all. They know it's the case more often than not. The point is, nobody's going to buy kits that they can't build, regardless of the reduction in finished model quality, so the kit designers "dumb it down" so they can sell kits to people who otherwise wouldn't know how to build them.
 
Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) said:
i my personal opinion pre shaped hull planking reduces building a model of a ship to nothing more than assembling a jig saw puzzle. It kicks skill and knowledge of model ship building out the window.
Click to expand...

That's certainly one way to look at it. I think it is "its own punishment," though. Or let's call it a "consequence" instead, since a valid case can be made for why a person would want to put together a jig saw puzzle or build a ship model kit purely as an exercise in and of itself. Some people elect to assemble ship model kits and willingly accept the limitations inherent thereto. At the end of the day, the model speaks for itself, as someone once said, and it speaks for its maker. That's certainly neither here nor there to me, unless they ask my opinion, of course... but most know enough not to go there! ROTF ROTF ROTF
 
Short John Bronze said:
When I built the OcCre Revenge I bought some sheets of 1mm thick walnut and cut spiled planks. This worked well up to a point but when the lower level planks were cut they needed quite a sharp curve. This meant that the grain was compromised and bending round the bulkheads near the bow resulted in breaks. Spliling with thin plywood would be better but would not present a pleasing surface unless the model is painted or coppered. Or perhaps 1mm plywood cold be veneered with walnut or (ugh!) sapele before cutting. Spiling is tedious but makes a change from tapering/chamfering/fitting drop planks.
Click to expand...

Just sayin', but plywood is a poor choice for any sort of bending because the grain orientation between the laminations alternates 180 degrees and compound curves of any type are categorically impossible.

Also just sayin', but I have never seen walnut that was suitable for any modeling purpose due to its open pores. It could be filled, of course, but at that point one has to ask why they would bother trying to finish it bright.
 
ubjs said:
There is nothing that prevents you from just using spiled planking on the first layer and then building the second layer conventionally. Many experienced builders still buy better wood than what comes with the kit.
Click to expand...

I've never understood why anybody would plank a hull twice when you plank it once with half the work.
 
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