Planking a scale model.

[wonwinglo]

The term 'planking' as applied to a scale model has been used for many years by scale modellers,the technique is particularly useful where a compound curve is involved in the structure of the model,take for example a typical fuselage of a fighter aircraft like the Spitfire or Hurricane,the shape changes dramatically where the nose underneath meets the wing root,and then aft of the trailing edge blends in nicely with the fuselage.Such a compound curve can really only be successfully tackled by planking,it is not difficult but does require a bit of planning and know how to do the job properly.Firstly select a few planks of balsa sheet with a medium density and aim for a straight grain if you can,we can tackle the planks in two basic ways 1/ Planks cut parallel or 2/ Planks cut with a taper,experience will tell you what to use at which position,but as a useful guide if the curve tapers towards the tail or nose then you need to cut the planks respectively,lay out a selection on the bench and make sure that you have enough to complete the job in hand ! for the sake of instruction we will be planking a Hawker Hurricane fuselage,you will have pre-sanded the formers with a Permagrit block to account for the taper of the cladding,start by laying the first one mid way on the fuselage side,this plank will be a parallel one because it is a starting datum piece,everything relies on this single point,as we add further pieces note that as the wood takes the curve it needs to be slightly chamfered at the edges,to do this use a trusty and invaluble razor plane,just run the plane from one end to the other but dont get paranoid ! any discrepencies can easily be accounted for in the glueing process,this is not a precision process so dont get the micrometer out,it is a case of adjusting,sanding and curving,only do a few planks at a time and use those super 'T Pins' obtainable from either model or craft shops,forget the glass headed pins that break and can be dangerous.You will slowly get to the point where things start to require a dramatic curve,dont worry just stop at that point in the planking and make a new datum with another strip of wood,the gaps in between can easily be plugged with pieces of balsa,this is sculpting balsa wood at its best,so relax and enjoy it,another tip is to curve the planks as well especially with a large compound curve to deal with,take a strip of wood and draw it under a round object such as a pencil,this will break the fibres of the wood and make it more manageable,continue until you meet the top and bottom of the fuselage,by this stage it will look like a crazy porcupine but that is how it should look at this stage,now comes the interesting bit ! remove all the pins and once again take the razor plane and slowly and carefully run it along the planks from nose to tail,then reach for some coarse glasspaper wrapped around a piece of cork or balsa block and just keep sculpting and sanding the shape until you are happy with the profile,this is a very satisfying process as the model starts to come alive and a thing of great beauty,carry on by using finer grades of paper finally finishing off with a fine garnet or my old favourite grey crocus paper,this will leave a fine shine to the balsa,hold the fuselage up to the light and place a straight edge against the wood,as you run it along the surface you will note any bumps in the surface,just rework these areas with your abrasive papers until you are happy with the result.

For adhesives use Aliphaetic resin glue,this yellowy mixture sands well and does not have the rubbery quality of ordinary PVA for this particular job,a medium sized bottle will last a long time.

We are going to finish the planking properly in another tutorial,forget the heat shrink films for this one,I am going to show you how to do the job properly as the modelling crafstmen of yesteryear used to,and get a great finish at the same time,meanwhile grab a cuppa and admire your handiwork !